Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

And also while in ********'s I came across this tent, it's also designed to work with a canopy (the blue canopy isn't part of the product, it's in the photo to illustrate how the tent is intended to be used):

Says it can sleep 4, I'll bet with only some minor mods could be a Jeep camping tent, set up off the back, with the tailgate open and the hatch up:

And when camping like that, you could add DIY magnetic screens like these to the windows for more ventilation...

For less than $100 bucks you could turn your Jeep into a camper.

Just another idea.

 

[southpier]

i'm really confused and in all honesty haven't read all 92 pages of this thread.

Q: is the top an aftermarket GR8TOP?

Q: is the back door an aftermarket door?

Q: are those cute little windows aftermarket?

in another thread I was informed this was all one-off invention and fabrication, but i'm so easily confused these days, I figured I would ask at the source. thank you.

 

[jscherb]

i'm really confused and in all honesty haven't read all 92 pages of this thread.

in another thread I was informed this was all one-off invention and fabrication, but i'm so easily confused these days, I figured I would ask at the source. thank you.

Everything in this thread was designed and built by me as a hobby. Sometimes companies license my designs and they become aftermarket products.

Q: is the top an aftermarket GR8TOP?

A: The JK Safari Cab is my design and I built the one pictured in this thread in my home garage. I don't have any plans at this time for it to be an aftermarket product, although I have kept the molds so I can make more if I ever have a reason to.

My LJ/TJ Safari Cab design has been licensed by Gr8Tops and is available: https://gr8tops.com/shop/jeepmodels/...b-full-hardtop

Q: is the back door an aftermarket door?

A: The rear barn door is another design of mine that I made in my home garage. Like the hardtop, I've kept the molds in case I ever find a reason to make more. If a company is interested in turning it into an aftermarket product I'd be happy to talk to them.

I've also posted several times in this thread about the idea of offering DIY kits for the barn door consisting of the fiberglass parts; the buyer would install his choice of window in it and mount it on his tailgate, but when I've posted about that there's never been enough interest to make it worthwhile to pursue the idea.

Q: are those cute little windows aftermarket?

A: The powered pop-out vent windows in the JK Safari Cab are custom and are not available aftermarket, I made them myself. I have, however, designed a slider window kit that installs in the factory hardtop and that is available: http://www.retrofitoffroad.com/product-category/jeep-wrangler-jk-factory-hardtop-slider-window-kit/. That link is for the 4-door kit, the 2-door slider window kit should be on the market within about 2 weeks from the same source.

Many of the other designs in this thread have become commercial products, they can be found at www.retrofitoffroad.com, http://www.morryde.com/product-category/9-jeep-accessories, www.gr8tops.com and www.dinoot.com, to name a few.

Happy to answer any questions you might have about any of the designs in this thread.

 

[AdventureHare]

If I had all the spare time in the world, ...

Well, if you didn't get my spare time, who did?

Just like to say how much I appreciate you sharing what you're doing. It's entertaining, informative and inspirational. Thanks.

 

[jscherb]

Well, if you didn't get my spare time, who did?

Just like to say how much I appreciate you sharing what you're doing. It's entertaining, informative and inspirational. Thanks.

Thank you very much for the kind words, I appreciate it.

Haven't had much time to work on projects or post much in the last month, I've been traveling a lot. First a two-week trip to Colorado for some off-road adventure in the LJ Safari, then 4 days at home, and now I've been in Florida for the past two weeks helping mom move into an apartment. Drove the Wrangler pickup down to move furniture and boxes; the move is done so today I escaped to Sanibel Island with my bicycle for a little r & r. Took a few cell phone photos of the pickup on the Sanibel Causeway, I park there and ride the bike onto the island, today I went all the way to Captiva Island to look for shells at Blind Pass Beach.

I'll be back home next week and I've got a bunch of projects to catch up on, stay tuned.

Travel resumes at the end of October, I'll be driving the JKU Safari to Las Vegas for SEMA and afterwards spending a few days RTT camping in Death Valley.

 

[unkamonkey]

The pictures sort of put a different spin on things from the news. Two of my friends and his mother moved inland to a motel and got kicked out of there and had to go to a shelter for a few nights. After 2 nights they were allowed to go back to the condo. Fun, no power or water... They are situated close to Sanibel Island.

 

[southpier]

...Happy to answer any questions you might have about any of the designs in this thread.

thank you for the blow x blow answers; appreciate your time. I've bookmarked this thread for one of my next "reading sessions".

 

[jgaz]

Dang! That is a sweet looking pick up

 

[jscherb]

Dang! That is a sweet looking pick up

Thank you very much. I call it the "Retro Wrangler" pickup - it was my very first Jeep design and fabrication project, I built it in 2008, nine years later now it's got 105,000 miles on it, it gets pretty much daily use hauling things around and occasional trail use. I designed it to be a modern version of the classic Willys pickups.

Back when I built it I also made a soft top for it, but I like the hardtop look so much I haven't used the soft top in about 8 years.

If you've got back issues of JP Magazine around, it was featured in the June 2009 issue: http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehicles/154-0906-2006-jeep-wrangler-tj-unlimited-truck/

 

[southpier]

good call on the "hardtop". great looking truck.

 

[jscherb]

Forgive me for another off-topic photo... today I trimmed the trees in mom's front yard, but even with a 12' pole saw some were too tall for me to reach, so I used the Retro Wrangler as a garden tool - as a platform for my stepladder I then had enough reach to finish the trimming.

 

[unkamonkey]

Jeff, I like the way you think outside of the box. I used to have contractors that didn't want me to leave because I could find a way to get things done in new ways and I knew how to use tools that were over 100 years old. Just how I was brought up. Or as my mother would say, dragged up.

 

[Ultralite]

It appears the top on your personal Jeep adds some height but the JK drawing doesn't? I like the height it adds on your personal Jeep. (I like the lines and appearance too). I've slept in the back of my JK and would benefit from another 2 inches or so in height. I plan to build a sleep platform over a fridge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jscherb]

It appears the top on your personal Jeep adds some height but the JK drawing doesn't? I like the height it adds on your personal Jeep. (I like the lines and appearance too). I've slept in the back of my JK and would benefit from another 2 inches or so in height. I plan to build a sleep platform over a fridge.

Yes, my Safari Cab hardtop does have more headroom than a factory JK hardtop.

I've also been thinking about alternate roof styles for the hardtop, with the modular architecture of the Safari Cab it's possible to build new variants of the top by swapping out components for different ones, such as the roof.

I've posted this photo before, the AADS (Africa Automotive Distribution Services) sells militarized JK and J8 Jeeps to "Governmental Organisations". One of the vehicles in their brochure they call the "Enhanced Command Vehicle":

The same idea could be applied to the Safari Cab to make a "sleeper cab" roof that would allow for a sleeping platform above a fridge/kitchen/storage system in the back.

The alternate roof would bolt right in place of the current roof.

Another idea would be to do a pop-top roof, again this would swap in place of the "standard" roof. I'd make it something like the pop-top I did for my Jeep-tub trailer.

A benefit of this design is that the pop-top roof could be easily removed/stored when not needed on the Jeep, so rather than having a complete one-piece camper top, only the roof panel would be the camper and could be swapped for a "normal" roof easily (or for a "soft roof).

The "soft roof" concept:

I'm not sure how far I'll push the development of the Safari Cab hardtop, but these are some of the ideas I've planned into the base design.

 

[southpier]

"... not sure how far I'll push the development of the Safari Cab hardtop..."

you'd only have to push one as far as new england!