Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

I ran a 102" whip on my Blazer and Postal Jeep on ball mounts, never tied it down. Ill run a 48" fiberglass antenna for offroad, the 102" will be for daily use.

I think the fender mount of yours should be more then sturdy enough for the 102".

ETA: Does the Rotopax mount work with the Rubican? I cant remember.

If the question is about the Rubicans fitting on the side mount, the answer is yes. If the question is the Rubican compatible with the Rotopax mounting stud, the answer is no - the Rubican mounting stud is different. The price of the Rubican includes the mounting stud though, so unlike Rotopax, when you buy a Rubican you get the stud.

 

[jscherb]

A bunch of random updates...

- The double-extension slide I'll test with the fridge is supposed to be shipping to me from MORryde next Tuesday so it should be in my hands by the end of the week.

I've got a few ideas for mounting the fridge on the slide that I haven't seen tried before - one thing I plan to try is a swivel mount - I've got a 225-lb. capacity TV swivel/extension, and I'm thinking if the fridge swiveled out at the end of the main slide travel it could allow for more room for a work surface. The swivel I have is very similar to this one: http://www.rockler.com/heavy-duty-tv-pullout-slide

Not sure how the swivel will work out or if it will be practical, but seems like it could open up a bunch of workspace so it'll be an interesting experiment.

I've got a few other new ideas to try out with the fridge/slide, stay tuned.


- I got an unexpected package from the window manufacturer yesterday. Opened it up and it was another set of hardtop sliders. It took me a few minutes to notice that this set (bottom of the photo below) has clear glass; the production sets have tinted glass (top set). This set is a mystery, don't know why they were built or why I got them - I never specified clear glass because I don't think anyone would want clear.

- On the same subject, I turned over a final version of the window installation instructions to the company Thursday:

- Also did some work on the JKU Thursday, the flat fenders turned out to be a really handy work surface .

 

[Jeff Patterson]

More than happy to buy the clear version from you... I'll just put window film on them.

 

[jscherb]

More than happy to buy the clear version from you... I'll just put window film on them.

Before I do anything with them I need to find out why they were built and why they were sent to me.

 

[Comanche Scott]

...
- Also did some work on the JKU Thursday, the flat fenders turned out to be a really handy work surface .

I'm telling ya Jeff, the only thing missing on those fenders is a cup holder... :elkgrin:

Something that would be cool is to embed a piece of steel flat bar into the upper surface. This way a magnetic bowl would stick to the fender, keeping all the nuts, bolts and screws secure.
https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W1265-Large-Magnetic/dp/B000N3235E/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_469_bs_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VP8NQJAF8XFYW4MT14V3

When making a trail side repair, having one of these magnetic bowls, and a heavy duty baggy for non ferrous parts, is super helpful.

 

[jscherb]

I'm telling ya Jeff, the only thing missing on those fenders is a cup holder... :elkgrin:

Something that would be cool is to embed a piece of steel flat bar into the upper surface. This way a magnetic bowl would stick to the fender, keeping all the nuts, bolts and screws secure.
https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W1265-Large-Magnetic/dp/B000N3235E/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_469_bs_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VP8NQJAF8XFYW4MT14V3

When making a trail side repair, having one of these magnetic bowls, and a heavy duty baggy for non ferrous parts, is super helpful.

Adding some metal inside the fender would be trivial to do during the molding process - after the first layer or two of fiberglass were applied inside the mold, the metal would be laid in place and the subsequent layers of fiberglass would then be built up over it. It would never be seen from the outside, it would add strength (although the fenders are plenty strong enough already), and you could stick your magnetic bowl to it.

 

[Bam2413]

Looking forward to that fridge project!

 

[akpostal]

Finally got the Morryde HD hinges installed. They dont open as wide as the stock hinges do, the rear glass rubs on the rack.

Im gonna have to push the rack out before putting in the third bracket for the rack.

Pushed the rack out 1/2-3/4" to clear the glass, but now if I add the third bracket on the Morryde hinge Ill only get one bolt into the rack.

The rack is plenty strong as it is on the spare tire mounts.

Since Im now going to mount my CB antenna up front, I tossed my 15 year old camp chair up there, just need some straps.

 

[jscherb]

Don't have the slide yet, but in the meantime I'm about to begin testing a dedicated battery for the fridge. The inner fender ammo can mount is a perfect place to carry the battery, right next to the fridge:

I plan to test how much the battery discharges when running the fridge overnight. The battery will be connected to a switched power circuit in the Jeep to charge it whenever the Jeep is running, so I'll also test how long it takes to charge back to full after running the fridge overnight.

The fridge has a built-in battery monitor that can be set to turn it off when the battery falls below a set voltage. This voltage can be set to 10.1v, 11.4v or 11.8v, so I'll experiment with how long the fridge can be run off the battery before it falls to one of those voltages.

The specs for the fridge are that it draws 7a @ 12v and the battery I'll be testing with it has a reserve capacity of 110 minutes. Reserve capacity is defined as the number of minutes the battery can supply 25 amps before it falls below 10.5 volts so if the fridge draws its full 7 amps all the time, that may mean that the battery will get to 10.5 volts after 25/7 * 110 minutes or roughly 7 hours. I assume the fridge cycles on and off once if gets to the temperature it's set for, so probably it doesn't draw 7 amps all the time. If that's true, it'll probably run more than 12 hours before reaching the 10.1v lowest shut-off setting in the fridge. I'll also monitor how long the battery takes to recharge after reaching the fridge's shut-off voltage.

Does anyone know if there are published tests like this anywhere? If so I'd like to read them before starting my tests.

 

[Comanche Scott]

I haven't seen publis he'd tests.
This system also ramps up as needed, so it's not an on/off toggle.
I have the 65qt dual zone version.
Set to +7*F in dual zone format it ran about 40 hours before hitting 11.8V cutoff with interior temps between 80*F, and 50*F on an Oddessey group 34.

 

[jscherb]

I haven't seen publis he'd tests.
This system also ramps up as needed, so it's not an on/off toggle.
I have the 65qt dual zone version.
Set to +7*F in dual zone format it ran about 40 hours before hitting 11.8V cutoff with interior temps between 80*F, and 50*F on an Oddessey group 34.

Thanks for the info, that's very helpful. 40 hours is a lot longer than the 7 hours I calculated, so the fridge obviously averages a lot less current draw than the full rated current. It'll be very interested to see what my test results are.

 

[RubiconGeoff]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for an auxiliary battery mount. I have a Deka Intimidator Group 31 AGM mounted under the passenger side rear seat to power my Edgestar freezer/fridge (with power to it switched through an SPOD which controls a large charge solenoid) but this means I can now only fold down the narrow driver's side of the rear seat. This reduces the Jeep's utility, but the tradeoff is worth it because I'm able to power my Edgestar for 3 days before the 11.5-volt low-voltage cutoff occurs.

I've always wanted to build a fridge slide with integrated battery tray, but never gotten around to it. Something that's relatively easily removable, which securely holds the fridge in back with the battery ahead of it (between the fridge and the back seat), with some quick connects to allow the battery to be removed along with the slide/tray when not needed.

 

[jscherb]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for an auxiliary battery mount. ...

Nothing to come up with, I'll be using the ammo can tray I've already got installed. The full tray and mount isn't visible in the photo I posted this morning because it's hidden by the fridge, so here's a photo of the same thing mounted on the other side of the Jeep.

I've already got a bunch of these, they're a good size for the battery, and they mount the battery very near the fridge so they seem like a perfect solution.

Here's what they look like in their originally intended use, which is ammo cans...

 

[jscherb]

The other day I posted this photo showing two sets of production JKU hardtop slider windows - the top set is tinted to match the factory tint and the bottom set is a mystery set with clear windows. I didn't know why the clear window set were built or why they were sent to me until this afternoon.

The RV window company made an error on the first production run - the windows were supposed to be tinted, but they made them clear by mistake.

The bad news: It'll take another 3 weeks until the window company can re-do the production run with tinted glass, so the release of the tinted windows will be delayed by that much.

The good news: After a discussion between the company that's bringing the window kit to market and the RV window company (I wasn't part of the discussion), it was decided that the clear windows will be sold at a discount. I'm told the clear slider kit will be discounted to $299.99 (I believe the final price on the tinted window kit will be $399.99). Kit will include a left/right pair of sliders, the retrofit kit for installing the windows in the hardtop, weatherstrip, etc., so anyone who wants clear sliders in their hardtop or wants tint but would be willing to install their own tint film can get their windows at a significant discount.

 

[akpostal]

I believe the final price on the tinted window kit will be $399.99. Kit will include a left/right pair of sliders, the retrofit kit for installing the windows in the hardtop, weatherstrip, etc.

That is a great price for the full kit. If there is a list for late model 2 door owners I want to be on it when they come out.