Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

I've been pretty busy with other things but managed to get some sewing time on the "Tactical Spare Cover", I'm calling it that because in the ACU camo it reminds me of a military tactical vest. The attached photos show the progress. I haven't sewn the pocket on the inside yet, but the zipper and weatherproofing flap over the zipper is in place. There's a fairly large Molle grid below the pocket flap. There are also two small Molle grids on the outside of the cover, they'll end up at the 3 o'clock and 9'o'clock positions when it's done.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Pretty sweet idea Jeff! :beer:

You've given me an interesting thought:
If a heavy duty canvas was used with wire rope to secure it to the tire, a bag could be hung on it to keep the winch/snatch support gear inside.
Need to look at the Warn winch support bag to see what kind of thread they use.
Might have to try this since a "power tool" (aka HD sewing machine) has made it's way into the house.

 

[Yuke]

Why not just go trasharoo

 

[jscherb]

Pretty sweet idea Jeff! :beer:

You've given me an interesting thought:
If a heavy duty canvas was used with wire rope to secure it to the tire, a bag could be hung on it to keep the winch/snatch support gear inside.
Need to look at the Warn winch support bag to see what kind of thread they use.
Might have to try this since a "power tool" (aka HD sewing machine) has made it's way into the house.

I'm using very strong 1000d Cordura coated nylon fabric and a very heavy bungee around the perimeter, so the inside pouch should hold considerable weight. The combination of the coated fabric plus the flap/velcro over the zipper will also make the inside pocket pretty much weatherproof, so whatever is inside will be fairly well protected. The main limitation will be the dish of the wheel - the deeper dish the wheel, the more room for the inside pouch. I haven't sewn the pouch in yet because I'm still working out the best size for it to be.

 

[jscherb]

Finished up the sewing of the Tactical Spare Cover...

This photo better shows the Molle grid on the back and on the side.

The pocket inside:

Next I need to pick up a few ACU camo Molle pouches, I just stuck these black ones on for a quick photo...

 

[14JKURX]

Now that tire over could be usefull.

 

[AZ4X4DUDE]

Awesome setup! Digging the tire cover.

 

[jscherb]

Now that tire cover could be usefull.

Awesome setup! Digging the tire cover.

Thanks! I ran out of time this morning so I didn't get to do any real testing, hopefully will get to that and post more pics tomorrow. Need to get some serious testing done; I proposed the idea to a Jeep accessories company I was talking to at SEMA and they were interested, so now I've got to get enough testing done to work out what changes might be necessary for this to be a production product.

 

[jscherb]

Yesterday I picked up a military surplus ACU camo "sustainment pouch". It's one of the larger military Molle pouches - about 11" tall, 8" wide and 4" deep, I think it was originally designed to hold 3 MREs, but because they're so large they're very versatile, and perfect on the Tactical Spare Cover.

I've only got one sustainment pouch today but I'll probably pick up a few more - two can be mounted side-by-side on the face of the space cover, or one could be mounted on each side. More photos when I get a few more.

Testing my tow strap in the inside pocket, it's a 30', 10,000-lb. capacity strap with d-rings.

 

[jgaz]

Nice design and execution on the spare tire cover.

Another surplus pouch with possibilities:
http://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/pr...d=1131&ItemName=Recon Butt Pack- Army Digital

 

[jscherb]

Nice design and execution on the spare tire cover.

Another surplus pouch with possibilities:
http://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/pr...d=1131&ItemName=Recon Butt Pack- Army Digital

Here's a simulation with that pack, this is roughly to scale:

 

[jscherb]

The retrofit kit for installing slider windows in a factory hardtop is now in production, the company sent me a set to test and they arrived today.

The first production run of slider windows to go with these is underway, they should be ready by the end of the year.

Since the windows are not ready yet I couldn't install the entire kit, but I test fit the production retrofit kit with the prototype slider frame I had from the design phase of this project. Everything fits as designed.

 

[akpostal]

Are these for the JK or JKU? Looks good BTW.

 

[Comanche Scott]

With the bracket kit fitting so nicely into the inset of the top window, this looks sweet.
Great work from the whole team involved. :beer:

 

[jscherb]

Are these for the JK or JKU? Looks good BTW.

With the bracket kit fitting so nicely into the inset of the top window, this looks sweet.
Great work from the whole team involved. :beer:

Thanks!

This one's for the late model (large window) JKU.

The retrofit kit has three main functions:

1. Provide a flat window mounting surface - RV-style windows can't mount to the curved window mounting surface of the factory hardtop.

2. Fill the inset in the hardtop that was taken up by the factory window glass - RV-style window frames can't be bent to the very tight radius of the factory glass

3. Provide a "finished look" so the installation of the window looks like it might have been planned that way from the factory rather than looking too much like an add-on.

It definitely achieves #1 and #2, hopefully people will think it also achieves #3 to some degree .