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It was a Jeep...built in to a camper... I call it "The JEPER"

DownhomeMoto said:
It's 1100lbs of Jeper and the rivets were 18 bucks for a box of 500! Besides...Everyone has a pop-up. But I have the only Jeper!!!! LOL, I know it's not the best of everything build but I'm ok with that.
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Anyone can buy a camper or a trailer. It's what you build and what you do with it that makes it worthwhile and a one of a kind. I'm also working on a similar concept. Keep going!!!
 
jakbob said:
obvious troll is obvious.

awesome build. i wish i could build something like that.
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my mistake, I thought this was a forum for discussing ideas and alternatives to those ideas :rolleyes:

I said "cool project" and I give him an A for originality and re-purposing. It's not the route I would of taken for a camper but I would definitely stop to check it out if I saw it in a campground.

OP, valid points on weight of Jeper and cost of rivets. Good luck with project, keep us updated. :)
 
Last edited:
Greg... no worries bud... trust me i get a lot of wtf from my dad. He likes it, thinks its cool but every time he comes over he always asks me "why?"... I just tell him "why not?" lol Thanks for ALL the comments guys.
 
DownhomeMoto said:
Greg... no worries bud... trust me i get a lot of wtf from my dad. He likes it, thinks its cool but every time he comes over he always asks me "why?"... I just tell him "why not?" lol Thanks for ALL the comments guys.
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Just tell them "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand" in this case it truly is. You're not alone. I've been in the process of "recycling" or "re purposing" my 99 XJ. Got it dirt cheap in great shape with a bad motor knock. I got got it to feed our other parts hungry Jeeps. The body is in trailer build mode.
 
Well it's not a Jeper. You have the one and only Jeper. We named it ET, short for Exploration Trailer or Expedition Trailer. Or JET for Jeep Exploration Trailer! LOL
 
YELLAHEEP said:
'

Follow this guy's thread. It's lengthy but the meat of the build is around page 30 or so. It's a VW Westfalia pop-top. Modified, but seemingly easy to do. He shows it's a pretty good fit with some minor edge trimming.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/jeep-gon-build-thread-665127/
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Just for those who aren't familiar with the beast, the pre-Vanagon Westfalia campers between 1968 and 79 had two different designs of tops. The earlier one is smaller, and opens toward the rear. I think the change was in 1974. The later one was a good bit longer, hinged at the rear. The luggage rack was forward, and a foot or so smaller than the older design. The one illustrated is the earlier version. Someone on the thread remarks that it was a one-year 1972 type, but I think he's mistaken. Having had a 1971 and a 1973, whose tops were essentially identical, I doubt the 72 differed in any real way. The quality of the canvas in these was very good, with built-in screens and a zip-out opening that allowed access to the luggage rack, but of course it's likely to be hard to find a good one now that isn't rotten or mildewed beyond salvation. The fiberglass tends to mildew pretty nastily on those, and even in their heyday many ended up painted. There also was a big rubber gasket on the lower edge of the originals, and the steel core that clamped to the edges would rust, eventually making it fall off. I see that the person doing this conversion replaced this with a sliced hose, which looks pretty good.

The pre-1968 VW camper had a smaller pop top that went straight up. I imagine that would be an easier conversion if you could find one, but not so neat a fit as the customized one shown here.
 
DownhomeMoto said:
Greg... no worries bud... trust me i get a lot of wtf from my dad. He likes it, thinks its cool but every time he comes over he always asks me "why?"... I just tell him "why not?" lol Thanks for ALL the comments guys.
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This is the way I see it.

It's yours, your having fun building it so it's worth it to you. Why care what other people think or say. Well the wife may have something to say.

I wish I had fore thought to do things like this. I am a person that owns all the tools and knows how to use them. just don't have the imagination. I'm a copier of other peoples ideas because I don't have the money to buy them.

Keep up the good work!

Dave
 
Just an idea but.....
U stated u were thinking running water?
U could use a small air tank with a regulator out of regulator to water tank so u could have water if its not hooked
I saw that on a camper one time and thought thats a good simple design
Just an idea for u
 
t-frady said:
Just an idea but.....
U stated u were thinking running water?
U could use a small air tank with a regulator out of regulator to water tank so u could have water if its not hooked
I saw that on a camper one time and thought thats a good simple design
Just an idea for u
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I'm a bit confused concerning the point you're trying to make...

Are you thinking of using the air to pressurize the water ?? An air over water hydro-pneumatic set up ??

Curt
 
Xtreme XJ said:
I'm a bit confused concerning the point you're trying to make...

Are you thinking of using the air to pressurize the water ?? An air over water hydro-pneumatic set up ??

Curt
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That used to be a common setup on campers. I remember my parents had that on their pickup camper back in the late 60's. It works all right, but it's a bear to pressurize if you're away from a source of air. On any size tank it takes forever to pump up with a little 12 volt inflator. If you don't need instant-on-tap hot and cold water, and have no toilet and shower, you'd do much better, I think, to use a hand-pumped water faucet similar to those found in the old VW campers, or on small boats.
 
Yea thats what I was refering too
was just a thought never used one just heard of it
 
Matthew Currie said:
That used to be a common setup on campers. I remember my parents had that on their pickup camper back in the late 60's. It works all right, but it's a bear to pressurize if you're away from a source of air. On any size tank it takes forever to pump up with a little 12 volt inflator. If you don't need instant-on-tap hot and cold water, and have no toilet and shower, you'd do much better, I think, to use a hand-pumped water faucet similar to those found in the old VW campers, or on small boats.
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My concern was more in reference to the grammar...

I'm familiar with hydro-pneumatic set ups, I just couldn't keep up with t-frady's thoughts... "U could use a small air tank with a regulator out of regulator to water tank so u could have water if its not hooked"

I too have had the hand-pump type of pumps in campers and they seem to work fine... 12v H2o pumps are cheap & plentiful now...

Curt
 
Ya I do plan to have running water. Not so much hot and cold but running. I have a nice 12 volt pump that I was going to use. I'm also thinking about a small sink. there are two camper vans in the JY here. I might grab one.
 
JeepCamper.jpg


I saw this on Jeep's Facebook page. Thought it would fit here!
 
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