Wrangler owner turns his rig into a four-wheel-drive hotel.
Every vehicle has its limits, even the Jeep Wrangler. It can get you over rocks, across snowy trails, and through mud, but when it’s time to catch some rest, its not exactly the most comfortable thing to sleep in.
Unless of course you put a tent on its roof, like Marco Hernandez did with his 2015 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Hard Rock. In the above video from TrailRecon, he shows that off and all of the other mods he made to his JKU to get it ready for overlanding.
The 4-5 person tent on top of the roof rack may be the most obvious change Hernandez made to his vehicle, but it’s certainly not the only one. He’s got a multitude of auxiliary lights on it (including under-fender illumination that can alert him to the presence of snakes when he and his wife are out in desert areas), a tweaked suspension, a 10,000-pound winch, and fold-out steps bolted onto the sides of his Wrangler. The tent is filled with a three-inch-thick mattress and a condensation matt, and complemented by a 270-degree awning.
Inside the cabin, there are mounts for Hernandez’s phone, iPad (which runs his GPS), radio, and fridge monitor. That’s right – fridge monitor. Overlanding usually means being hours away from a grocery store, so Hernandez put a small fridge in the back of his Jeep. A propane tank and stove helps him cook meals out in the wild that he can season with the spices in one of his custom aluminum drawers. A section for coffee keeps him bright and alert for his travels. There’s even room for Hernandez’s luggage and tools, as well as a tire air management system.
Surprisingly, there are many things on Hernandez’s Wrangler that aren’t modified, such as the engine (with the exception of dual batteries for powering all of his gear), wheels, axles, and gearing. That doesn’t change the fact that he has a badass adventure vehicle, though.
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Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
