Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Hi Jeff,
Sorry for not replying earlier. Thank you for providing the dimensions. BTW I believe there is a fair amount of interest but perhaps I should have said chuck box or kitchen box instead of cabinet, see https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/pictures-of-camp-kitchens.52557/

Thanks for clarifying. A chuck box makes sense, I wasn't quite getting why people would want a "cabinet" in the Trail Kitchen. I can see how DIY plans for a chuck box for the kitchen as an option might interest some people, but some way to keep things cold would still probably be called for - maybe a cooler on the floor in the space next to the kitchen?

Speaking of Trail Kitchen options, last week I put together a list of the options I've designed and built for the kitchen to describe how I think everything could be organized into a base unit and options. My idea is that the base would be a simple version of the kitchen and everything else could be an option that could be added if and when it's needed. I think all but one of the options in the list I've already posted about; some of the photos are from my prototype wood tabletop version of the kitchen and some are from the preproduction version, I just used photos I had handy.

I look forward to any feedback any of you might have on what's in this list as well as any feedback anyone might have on other options that would be useful to go with the kitchen (like plans for a chuck box?).

This next one is already on the market so it's not technically a new kitchen option, but it works very well with the kitchen:

 

[jscherb]

This morning With the help of an expert cook I experimented with accessorizing the Trail Kitchen to be an efficient meal prep workspace. A quick visit to Walmart and Target provided me with a bunch of kitchen accessories that either worked directly with the kitchen or worked with the addition of some easy mounting brackets. There's a lot in these photos; maybe someone wouldn't use all of this stuff, but it all seems pretty useful to me.

Towel Bar. Walmart, Interdesign brand. $6.22. Direct fit over front of drawer.

Condiment Basket. Walmart Mainstays brand. $9.48. Direct fit on the side of the drawer.

Paper Towel Holder. Walmart Mainstays brand. $5.97. Added two simple hooks to hang it over the table support.

Utensil Caddy. Walmart Mainstays brand. $3.48. Added a simple hook to hang it over the front of the drawer. It could also hang on the side of the Molle panel, where a camo Molle pouch is now.

Pot hanger under the sink. Target. Room Essentials brand Strata Coat Rack. $9.99. Required a small sheet metal bracket that fits under the lip of the sink.

I replaced the fridge handle with an Ikea Grundtal magnetic cutlery holder. A little adjustment to the mounting holes in the Grudntal was required. I believe the Grundtal is discontinued, but the Ikea Fintorp magnetic holder is slightly shorter so might be a better fit. $12.99

I've got the Storegate table down for more counter space, and food stored in the Storegate.

All of these accessories install with no screws or drilling except for the magnetic cutlery holder, which screws into the fridge handle holes. Everything else either slips over the edge of the drawer or table support, or in the case of the pot rack, is held in place by the sink.

How it all stows is in the next post.

 

[jscherb]

All of these accessories just lift off wherever they're mounted so setting up or stowing is pretty quick. They can be stored in a bag in the Jeep and quickly put in place when the kitchen is opened up. Stowing, just pick them off where they're sitting, put them back in the bag, and stow the kitchen.

Here's how it stows.

The stove, paper towel roll and holder and pot holder rack all store in the drawer. There's also room in there for the utensils although I returned them to the kitchen in the house as I was taking these photos.

The sink, sink-top cutting board, sink water supply and drain hoses, towel bar and cutlery caddy all fit in the sink travel bag. There's more room in there for more incidentals, cutlery, etc.

The table hinges closed and then the kitchen slides into the Jeep; the sink travel bag takes up a small amount of room next to the kitchen. The only thing that's still loose is the condiment basket, I stashed that between the kitchen and the sink bag, it's just visible in the photo.

 

[jscherb]

An entrepreneur has contacted me; he'd like to start a Jeep accessories company with the new grille being his first product. He's posted some questions on another forum to do some market research on the grille, what options people would want (where the turn signals should be, for example), how much they think it should sell for, etc. It'll be interesting to see the responses he gets.

I've had several conversations with him and he seems to be a very smart and focused guy, I like him.

 

[jscherb]

Over the last couple of weeks I've been testing the new fridge Dometic sent me. It's basically the same as the original 35 quart they gave me last year with the addition of WIFI support. I've got two observations about the new fridge:

1. The WiFi support is very useful for monitoring the fridge temp and the kitchen battery voltage, and it works at WiFi distances, which are longer than Bluetooth distances. But because of the way the Android phone operating system works, when my phone is connected to the fridge WiFi my other apps don't work because they try to access their servers through the fridge WiFi connection - so I can't receive email when connected to the fridge. So I connect to the fridge WiFi when I want to check the fridge and disconnect when I'm done. I've emailed Dometic support to see if they've got anything to allow full-time monitoring on Android and they've referred the question to their development people. I'll report back if/when they answer.

2. My original Dometic 35 quart maxed out at about 4.1 amps. This new fridge runs with about the same current draw, but can max out at over 5 amps for a short period. That may reduce the total run time on a battery that isn't being charged but I haven't done enough testing to verify. Most of the time though the max draw is still about 4 amps, it only draws more for short periods, usually when the compressor starts. Possibly that will improve as the fridge gets broken in.

Also I've made a few minor improvements to the Trail Kitchen charging system to deliver more charge current to the kitchen battery. After running the fridge all night, if I run the Jeep for about 10 minutes the battery will be back to full charge (12.6 volts). Prior to this getting back to a full charge would have taken longer.

 

[biketsai]

I am working with jscherb to determine how we can get these grills created for everyone in the next few weeks at a quality that you would expect of an OEM part. I have some questions I want to ask the forum members to help us with some market research which will help inform the method in which we get these created. I'm meeting with some plastics manufacturers soon to make sure we could receive an OEM-like quality. I am NOT trying to sell these to you right now; I want to make sure I comply with any forum rules around commercials/advertising (if any mods see an issue, please PM me).

Whether you're interested in a grill like this or not, would love to get your feedback on the questions below:

1. Are you interested in a JL-style grill for your JK?
2. Which material and price point would you be interested in?
   1. $250-300 for a grill like this made out of ABS plastic?
   2. $350-500 for a grill like this made out of fiberglass? (better quality, easier to paint, easier to modify if needed)
3. What kinds of features/build quality would you expect for these different price points?
4. Where do you prefer your turn signals? (See photo, options 1-4. Option 3 will require support trimming).
5. What other features would you need to make this decision?

 

[jscherb]

Preparing for my trip to Overland Expo, I installed an Overland Rack yesterday. This is a preproduction one for testing, but very nearly production ready. Later in the week I'll put the roof top tent up there.

This morning I added the roof rack - Rubicans are mounted in front of where the tent will go, and sand ladders are mounted under where the tent will go (they slide out from the sides when the tent is in place). Also installed a side mount on the driver's side with another Rotopax and a side mount on the passenger side with a jerry can. The DIY awning mounts to the roof rack and shelters the kitchen area.

I'll install the tent on Friday or Saturday - since the Jeep won't fit in the garage with the tent in place that's always the last thing to be installed.

 

[biketsai]

Update on production 5/8

Hi everyone - I've located a local plastics fabrication company to see if we can run this grill through a plastic thermoforming process. I spoke with one other fiberglass fabricator but the price point for the labor-intensive process would be closer to that $350-500 for a grill. By using ABS plastic through plastic thermoforming, we may be able to get to a price point closer to $250-300 for just the grill. I am awaiting a final quote from them after leaving my stock JK grill so they can analyze the part and forming process.
The CAD molding process should allow us to easily move the turn signals to the Safari position without recreating the grill. We will likely have to have the rear mounting tabs glued on to retain OEM fit.

This company created an AC unit cover for a bus part through this process and it is relatively the same size as the Jeep grill. I've attached photos of that grill to give you an idea of what thermoforming can achieve.

 

[jscherb]

Got the July issue of Four Wheeler in the mail today; it's always fun to be surprised by something like this in a magazine...

 

[Matt.H]

Got the July issue of Four Wheeler in the mail today; it's always fun to be surprised by something like this in a magazine...

This part of the thread interests me as I would love to see it implemented on a trailer under your trailtop components. I could see it then being adapted to trucks with tonneau covers, too. Congrats on your continued success with your 'hobby'.

Matt

 

[jscherb]

This part of the thread interests me as I would love to see it implemented on a trailer under your trailtop components. I could see it then being adapted to trucks with tonneau covers, too. Congrats on your continued success with your 'hobby'.

Matt

At your service...

The hatch above the kitchen will be a pantry compartment, or I may do the pantry in the hatch on the side of the trailer, haven't decided yet:

Stowed:

This TrailTop + Trail Kitchen camper project is a work-in-progress, other things have prevented me from working on it for the past few months but I hope to be able to get back to it soon.

As for putting it in trucks, minivans, etc., the Trail Kitchen will mount anywhere there's a flat floor. There's a no-drill mounting kit for the JKU (and more to come for other Jeeps and vehicles) but it would easily mount anywhere there's enough room and a flat floor.

 

[jscherb]

Anyone going to Overland West? MORryde is using the Jeep in their display in the vendor area at the event so I've got the Jeep outfitted for overlanding with the Trail Kitchen and the tent. If anyone plans to be at the show drop by the MORryde display and say hi.

I put the tent on this morning and as usual I did it solo. It's not too hard to do solo if you do it like this, maybe these photos will help someone else who has to install their RTT singlehandedly...

A pair of 10' 2x6's form a ramp to slide the tent up in place.

To make sure the boards stay in place I put two screws in the end of each one, they act like hooks to prevent the boards from moving.

To pause partway up I clamp vise-grip style clamping pliers on the boards behind the tent.

Doing it this way it's easy to slide it up and onto the rack by myself without risk of damaging the hardtop.

 

[jscherb]

I started a small new project today - hood hinges to match the HD door hinges and tailgate hinges. I've got a bunch of extra HD door hinges from MORryde here so I'm going to use them and make the body side of the hinges to match the factory hood hinges.

In this photo a pair of the HD door hinges are sitting on top of the factory hinges just to show what they will look like.

The HD door hinges are designed for easy installation/removal of accessories, like the side steps, or the HiLift carrier in this photo:

The same HiLift carrier bolts right in place on the hood hinges:

What's nice about installing accessories on these hinges is that they can be installed/removed without removing the screws that hold the hinges to the doors (or hood), so it's very easy to put the accessories on only when you need them and take them off when you're done with them; for example I run the side steps only when I've got the roof rack on top, which is very part time.

The factory hinges have riveted hinge pins so they're not removable like the door hinges are. Since I'm adapting the door hinges for use on the hood, these can be removable - remove the hinge pin nuts and the hood can be slid off just like the doors. Or, I could make left and a right so they can't be removed without unbolting the hinge base just like removing the factory hinges.

I cut out the hinge base parts but I won't get time to assemble them until I get back from my Arizona/Overland West trip.

 

[jscherb]

Arrived Flagstaff yesterday for Overland Expo, which starts tomorrow, so today spent some time playing in the Cinder Hills OHV area. Just outside of Flagstaff, Cinder Hills is a 13,000+ acre area created about 1000 years ago by volcanic activity; the whole area is still covered in cinders. Did quite a few miles on the trails there and stopped to take some photos on a big hill in the Cinder Basin Area (hey, driveway and parking lot photos of the new grille are fine, but this Jeep isn't a mall crawler so some trail photos are in order now).

Some of the surface is loose enough to be a challenge for the overland-equipped/heavy JKU, but all the hill climbs attempted were successful. Views from the top of this hill are fantastic; the photos also show some of the expanse of cinders. And the dust on the Jeep, which I'll have to wash off before letting MORryde use the Jeep at the Expo tomorrow.

 

[rubicon91]

Arrived Flagstaff yesterday for Overland Expo, which starts tomorrow, so today spent some time playing in the Cinder Hills OHV area. Just outside of Flagstaff, Cinder Hills is a 13,000+ acre area created about 1000 years ago by volcanic activity; the whole area is still covered in cinders. Did quite a few miles on the trails there and stopped to take some photos on a big hill in the Cinder Basin Area (hey, driveway and parking lot photos of the new grille are fine, but this Jeep isn't a mall crawler so some trail photos are in order now).

Some of surface is loose enough to be a challenge for the overland-equipped/heavy JKU, but all the hill climbs attempted were successful. Views from the top of this hill are fantastic; the photos also show some of the expanse of cinders. And the dust on the Jeep, which I'll have to wash off before letting MORryde use the Jeep at the Expo tomorrow.

Looks awesome Jeff. Enjoy expo west. Take lots of pics and feel free to share here with all of us that are unfortunately not going. Safe travels my friend!!

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