2-Door JK JeepKitchen - AT Chaser - Globetrotter - National Luna build thread

[jacobconroy]

What are your thoughts on the TF Alta rack??

Well, it's heavy and it's very expensive, but I needed the space. It gives me a place to haul dirty stuff, place the heater when it is running, and hopefully store a night's worth of firewood. If I decide to haul a chainsaw instead of firewood, it and the gas will go on the TF rack.

My biggest complaint about it is that it doesn't have grease nipples on the hinge assembly. Makes a horrible squeaking sound when you close the gate since the rack was installed. Didn't do that when it was just the TF hinge.

 

[DallasJKU]

Well, it's heavy and it's very expensive, but I needed the space. It gives me a place to haul dirty stuff, place the heater when it is running, and hopefully store a night's worth of firewood. If I decide to haul a chainsaw instead of firewood, it and the gas will go on the TF rack.

My biggest complaint about it is that it doesn't have grease nipples on the hinge assembly. Makes a horrible squeaking sound when you close the gate since the rack was installed. Didn't do that when it was just the TF hinge.

Well squeaking is a deal killer for me. Anything that add noise is a deal killer for me no matter how well it works or functions.

 

[jacobconroy]

I managed to get a picture of my fathers' overland rig today after our Easter dinner. Thought that some of you might be interested:





He is sneaking up on 70..but still packs this thing up and heads out into the wild to camp for a night or two. Sometimes he makes it over into Idaho. I'll tell you that driving a 1930 Ford model AA over the pass at 45 miles per hour is hardcore.

 

[jacobconroy]

Today I installed my new Alu Cab Shadow Awning. Rin at OK4WD sold it to me along with the Front Runner Slimline II brackets (both US driver side). The brackets seems to be galvanized steel, so I took them to my bro-in-lay for some DIY powder coating:


Next was to remove the Fiamma F35 Pro. This is a pic of my "slipping the guts out" to make it light and easy to work with:


Next came a couple of hours of mockup. Measuring, mounting, do-overs, etc.:


Front bracket:

 

[jacobconroy]

Now, the Shadow Awning didn't arrive with any instructions of any kind, and the cover comes in a separate box than the awning. It took some thinking to figure out how to approach all this. I came up with:

1. Finding the mounting bracket positions.
2. Figuring out if the brackets need to be attached to the awning first...or the rack (the awning won).
3. Drilling new holes in the awning casing where required.
4. Installing the cover over the awning while the cover and awning are both partially open on a bench.
5. Attaching the bracket to the awning with the cover between the brackets and awning (this was a serious PITA on my own, and I wound up putting a hole in my brand new $1600.00 awning). This step:

Wound up resulting in this hole. Of course I didn't find out until I was all done and could open the awning. I was more careful than a Rabbi with a scalpel. Still pooched it. Dammit dammit dammit!


Then on to mounting the rear bracket. I used an awl to mark the hole from the inside, then cut a small cross with my pocket knife, then pushed the bolts through.


Rear bracket installed:


After all the prep work was done, I lifted it up while my wife aligned the holes and attached a strap to hold the weight....and it's mounted:

 

[jacobconroy]

Now the best part! I got to open it. It didn't seem to ship with the part needed to attach to the rack when fully opened, so for now I used a shoulder strap from a Buddy Heater:


One pic:


Another pic from down unda:


And the reason that I went with the Shadow Awning....full coverage for the stove and kitchen if the weather is crappy:


A visual of where rear coverage ends:

A visual of where coverage ends on the passenger side (relative to the rear gate shelf):

 

[jacobconroy]

And, the finally you've all been waiting for....a two-door JK with an Alu Cab Shadow Awning installed. I think this might be the only picture of this config on the entire Interwebs...


An idea of how much it sticks out from the other side:


And, the money-shot of me doin' a little BBQ in the driveway:


So, do I like it? Yes. Cooking dinner out here tonight reminded me what I was trying to set up. Hopefully Rin at OK4WD can point me toward a method to patch the hole in my new awning. It's a tiny hole...just don't want it to get worse. Today was a fun day!

 

[amongmany]

Great setup! Do you have any concerns about the hard top supporting the weight of the tent + occupants? I realize its frame supported in the front, but the back appears to be resting entirely on the hardtop...

 

[jacobconroy]

Great setup! Do you have any concerns about the hard top supporting the weight of the tent + occupants? I realize its frame supported in the front, but the back appears to be resting entirely on the hardtop...

Thanks sir. The rear of the Front Runner Slimline II rack actually passes through the figerglass and mounts directly to the roll bars. It's a heck of a lot of work to install, and is somewhat permanent due to the fact that you have to drill a handful of small holes through your fiberglass top. But, if I wanted to spend a whole day doing it...I could take everything off, remove the top, and put everything back on sans top. Way too much work though.

I do not worry about crawling around up there...and am playing with the idea of installing an Eezi Awn Globetrotter tent on the rack at 220 lbs. The Baroud is about 160 lbs. The awning is about 55 lbs. there is lot of weight up there.

This install sop will give you an idea of what in involved with this 2 door JK rack.

 

[amongmany]

Great setup! Do you have any concerns about the hard top supporting the weight of the tent + occupants? I realize its frame supported in the front, but the back appears to be resting entirely on the hardtop...

Thanks sir. The rear of the Front Runner Slimline II rack actually passes through the figerglass and mounts directly to the roll bars. It's a heck of a lot of work to install, and is somewhat permanent due to the fact that you have to drill a handful of small holes through your fiberglass top. But, if I wanted to spend a whole day doing it...I could take everything off, remove the top, and put everything back on sans top. Way too much work though.

I do not worry about crawling around up there...and am playing with the idea of installing an Eezi Awn Globetrotter tent on the rack at 220 lbs. The Baroud is about 160 lbs. The awning is about 55 lbs. there is lot of weight up there.

This install sop will give you an idea of what in involved with this 2 door JK rack.

Ahhh, that makes a lot more sense. And sounds like a very committed install.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[jacobconroy]

Ahhh, that makes a lot more sense. And sounds like a very committed install.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

LOL. I guess you could say that. The Jeep is only used for camping these days. It's too top-heavy to be a daily driver.

 

[jacobconroy]

Well squeaking is a deal killer for me. Anything that add noise is a deal killer for me no matter how well it works or functions.

I missed your reply. The rack doesn't squeak when driving or using daily. It only squeaks when closing after being open for hours and hours. Not a big deal. Perhaps a grease nipple would fix that problem though.

 

[jacobconroy]

Some pics of the last camping trip:

 

[jadmt]

just saw this thread. Nice write ups Jacob. I am the guy who sold you the aev lift. We got out a fair amount this year, hope you did to. take care jeff

 

[jacobconroy]

just saw this thread. Nice write ups Jacob. I am the guy who sold you the aev lift. We got out a fair amount this year, hope you did to. take care jeff

Hi!
I got out 15 or 20 times this summer. I've stripped the Jeep and am building a van now, but still have the Chaser and all my gear (for use with the Jeep). We will need to get together this spring. I can invite you to some of the local campouts in the Bitterroot area, and you can show me some cool spots up around Zoo town!

Good to hear from you.