Barn Door for JK factory hardtops
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I was looking at the prices of some fiberglass JK parts the other day as I was thinking about whether or not it's worthwhile for me to let a company license the barn door to bring it to market. Some examples: - a Genright JK fiberglass hood is $699.99. RK Sports sells a fiberglass JK hood at $725.99.
Those are fairly simple fiberglass parts, so that could mean that the basic barn door without the wiper or defroster options might be priced in the same ballpark if a company signs up for it. What do people think of that ballpark for the basic barn door? Is that price something people would be interested in paying for the barn door without the wiper or defroster?
I have no idea what a company might want to charge for the barn door or the options, I'm just looking at other products in the market with similar manufacturing costs and thinking a company might charge a similar amount.
For the record: I just do these designs and prototypes as a hobby, I'm not in business. I don't sell anything myself, and this post is not a solicitation to sell anything.
Those are fairly simple fiberglass parts, so that could mean that the basic barn door without the wiper or defroster options might be priced in the same ballpark if a company signs up for it. What do people think of that ballpark for the basic barn door? Is that price something people would be interested in paying for the barn door without the wiper or defroster?
I have no idea what a company might want to charge for the barn door or the options, I'm just looking at other products in the market with similar manufacturing costs and thinking a company might charge a similar amount.
For the record: I just do these designs and prototypes as a hobby, I'm not in business. I don't sell anything myself, and this post is not a solicitation to sell anything.
If you were closer, you could do like Tom did - spend some time here learning a bit about fiberglass and then make your own barn door in the my molds. Oh well, I guess you'll have to wait and see if some company signs up to make it a production product 
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If only I lived in NY!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOO. Long term camping trip maybe.... LOL. Thanks for the offer jscherb! I will certainly hope it gets picked up!
.[/QUOTE]If only I lived in NY!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOO. Long term camping trip maybe.... LOL. Thanks for the offer jscherb! I will certainly hope it gets picked up!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
In addition to the barn door price question I asked yesterday, I've got a question about the options - the wiper and defroster. If you would be interested in having a barn door on your JK, which setup would you want:
1. I'd only want the barn door with both the wiper and the defroster.
2. I'd only want the defroster, I don't need the wiper.
3. I'd only want the wiper, I don't need the defroster.
4. I'd be happy with the barn door without the wiper or the defroster.
Thanks for your input.
And again, for the record, I don't sell anything, I just design these things as a hobby. This post is not a solicitation to sell anything, I'm just gathering input for conversations I might have with companies that might be interested in bringing the barn door to market.
1. I'd only want the barn door with both the wiper and the defroster.
2. I'd only want the defroster, I don't need the wiper.
3. I'd only want the wiper, I don't need the defroster.
4. I'd be happy with the barn door without the wiper or the defroster.
Thanks for your input.
And again, for the record, I don't sell anything, I just design these things as a hobby. This post is not a solicitation to sell anything, I'm just gathering input for conversations I might have with companies that might be interested in bringing the barn door to market.
RangeBrover
Explorer
I would want the barn door with both the wiper and defroster if I had a stock rig. Now? I wouldn't care about either because my AEV Fuel Caddy blocks all of my visibility out of the rear, so they would do me no good anyway.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Interesting. Thanks for the input.
libarata
Expedition Leader
If I owned a jeep and was looking to buy your stuff. I would like to have both wiper and defroster. I rarely, if ever block my rear views. I would probably look at the four door models over the two doors. If I purchased a two door model, then it would be up in the air, but for a DD, at least a wiper.
Justincredible
Adventurer
Ideally Option #1.
Defrost is a must. wiper is nice, but not a necessity.
I wouldn't pay more than $300-$400 for it though, considering it's mostly glass and you've already done all the concept leg work, so all they'd have to do is copy/buy your mold and start churning them out.
Defrost is a must. wiper is nice, but not a necessity.
I wouldn't pay more than $300-$400 for it though, considering it's mostly glass and you've already done all the concept leg work, so all they'd have to do is copy/buy your mold and start churning them out.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thanks for the input.
It's unlikely it would be sold for $300-$400. "Churning them out" costs money. A company will have to make their production molds (mine are just prototype molds), the cost of which needs to be amortized into the selling price; they have the cost of materials (fiberglass, resin, window), there is labor to do the molding/trimming/assembly, there is the cost of the mounting hardware, and they need to factor in their cost of doing business (overhead, marketing, profit). And the defroster and wiper costs parts would be on top of that.
rubicon91
Explorer
I would have to agree on this statement here. If I went with the Barn door option well first I would need a Hard top
but more importantly my LOD bumper/tire carrier and trail rack pretty much make my rearview mirror useless so I would not care about the wiper or defroster at all due to this. I actually am looking at getting a hard top and would love once I do to be able to make this an option. I think it is outstanding. I have thought about changing my rear window in the Jeep anyways to match up to the side windows just due to the fact that I have zero visibility anyways out of it and that way no one can see in. Was even thinking a live time camera with the feed to a screen on the windshield in place of the rearview would be perfect. Anyways that is way off topic. My point is I would not care about either wiper or defroster but I think it would be a nice option for those that would want it.
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rubicon91
Explorer
One other thing I just thought of. You could look at it like Bestop is on their new top that is coming out the Trektop Pro. They have the option to add that in.
Trektop Pro® has an integrated defroster connector that hooks up to your factory wiring bundle on hardtop Wranglers. Bestop also offers an optional harness for Wranglers that didn’t have a hardtop, plus an optional Wiper Motor Assembly.
So in essence a company could offer this as an option.
Trektop Pro® has an integrated defroster connector that hooks up to your factory wiring bundle on hardtop Wranglers. Bestop also offers an optional harness for Wranglers that didn’t have a hardtop, plus an optional Wiper Motor Assembly.
So in essence a company could offer this as an option.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The Bestop wiring harness for Jeeps that didn't come with hardtop wiring only supports the defroster. According to the Bestop web site:
Which means that the Bestop wiper option requires the factory hardtop wiring harness.
I've designed the barn door wiring so that it's compatible with the factory hardtop wiring and plugs directly into the factory plug (assuming you have factory hardtop wiring).
When I designed the LJ/TJ Safari Cab, I also designed an easy to install plug-and-play wiring harness for it for Jeeps that didn't come from the factory with hardtop wiring. The harness also included accessory power delivered to the hardtop for things you might want to mount inside the hardtop, like an overhead-mounted CB, or interior lighting. I wasn't thinking I needed to design a similar harness for JKs, since anyone installing just the barn door would already have a hardtop (and the wiring). But I suppose the JK Safari Cab might go on JKs that didn't come from the factory with hardtop wiring, so either you'd need to install the factory wiring harness, or I'd need to design a wiring harness like I did for the earlier models.