Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[rubicon91]

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.

I for one have never owned a hardtop. That being said I am waiting on my new gobi stealth rack so I will be switching to a hardtop when I have funds/find one that is in a reasonable price range. I will need to have the wiring setup etc but I probably will not even bother as I cannot see much out of the back of the jeep as it sits. Probably a good thing snowbirds bad drivers and I hate people riding my back side. I would say an option for someone in my situation would be nice however how many of me are there? That is the big question. Regardless I love the design and wish I had a pinky of creativity but alas I was blessed with impatience more than anything else .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WahooJeep]

I probably in the small minority, but I would like one that is solid fiberglass. I can't see out my back window anyway and run a camera for a rear view. I've broken my hard top glass twice, and would prefer no glass at all.

 

[jscherb]

I for one have never owned a hardtop. That being said I am waiting on my new gobi stealth rack so I will be switching to a hardtop when I have funds/find one that is in a reasonable price range. I will need to have the wiring setup etc but I probably will not even bother as I cannot see much out of the back of the jeep as it sits. Probably a good thing snowbirds bad drivers and I hate people riding my back side. I would say an option for someone in my situation would be nice however how many of me are there? That is the big question. Regardless I love the design and wish I had a pinky of creativity but alas I was blessed with impatience more than anything else .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well if you're going to be running a Gobi rack you'd have to choose between that and the Safari Cab - the Safari Cab is taller so it won't fit under the Gobi rack.

But, the Safari Cab will have integrated roof rack support, so "exocage"-style racks like the Gobi won't be necessary with the Safari Cab.

 

[jscherb]

I probably in the small minority, but I would like one that is solid fiberglass. I can't see out my back window anyway and run a camera for a rear view. I've broken my hard top glass twice, and would prefer no glass at all.

Two comments:

- The barn door parts come out of the molds with no window openings, the windows openings are cut after molding, so there's no reason why a barn door couldn't be made that's solid.

- The framed window in the barn door will be far less susceptible to breakage than the unframed factory lift glass, so I wouldn't expect to see many barn door windows ever get broken.

OK, I guess three comments:

I've got plexiglass in my prototype barn door at the moment, since I'm still in the construction phase of the Safari Cab I didn't want to risk breaking glass while I'm doing so much work on the project, but I wanted a window in there for testing. A plexiglass window could be installed in any barn door, although I'd never run a wiper on it because plexiglass is so easily scratched. But it would be unbreakable.

At the moment all of the windows in the current Safari Cab prototype are plexiglass except for the vent windows, and I may make plexi versions of those too.

 

[rubicon91]

Well if you're going to be running a Gobi rack you'd have to choose between that and the Safari Cab - the Safari Cab is taller so it won't fit under the Gobi rack.

But, the Safari Cab will have integrated roof rack support, so "exocage"-style racks like the Gobi won't be necessary with the Safari Cab.

I would love to see the safari cab. If the price point was right I would definitely think about that. Would have no issues selling the gobi and going that route. I think your LJ looks awesome with the safari cab.

 

[rubicon91]

Also after going back a few pages to read a few things you realize you could easily (well probably not even close to easy) move down here to SW FL for the winter. It is 84 today and I can always assist in helping with the safari cab. Just saying

 

[jscherb]

Also after going back a few pages to read a few things you realize you could easily (well probably not even close to easy) move down here to SW FL for the winter. It is 84 today and I can always assist in helping with the safari cab. Just saying

I plan to spend a good part of January in SW Florida, my mother lives in Cape Coral. I'll be driving the LJ Safari down.

 

[rubicon91]

I plan to spend a good part of January in SW Florida, my mother lives in Cape Coral. I'll be driving the LJ Safari down.

Really! What a small world. I am born and raised in Ft Myers. Reach out when you get here. I would love to say hello see the LJ. Completely shaking my head at that. We are actually heading to kumos right now in cape by Santa Barbara and veterans to eat.

 

[WahooJeep]

Two comments:

- The barn door parts come out of the molds with no window openings, the windows openings are cut after molding, so there's no reason why a barn door couldn't be made that's solid.

- The framed window in the barn door will be far less susceptible to breakage than the unframed factory lift glass, so I wouldn't expect to see many barn door windows ever get broken.

OK, I guess three comments:

I've got plexiglass in my prototype barn door at the moment, since I'm still in the construction phase of the Safari Cab I didn't want to risk breaking glass while I'm doing so much work on the project, but I wanted a window in there for testing. A plexiglass window could be installed in any barn door, although I'd never run a wiper on it because plexiglass is so easily scratched. But it would be unbreakable.

At the moment all of the windows in the current Safari Cab prototype are plexiglass except for the vent windows, and I may make plexi versions of those too.

If you want to sell an uncut one, or a prototype, let me know.

I'm running a homemade soft window in my hardtop now.

 

[jscherb]

Part of the JK Safari Cab design is integrated roof rack mounting points that transfer the weight on the rack to the JK's sport bars - none of the weight up top will be borne by the fiberglass roof.

I used an XJ Cherokee rack on the LJ Safari Cab and it's worked out great, so I'm thinking I'll use an XJ rack on the JK Safari Cab as well. Because of the Alpine windows in the roof, the XK rack will have to be narrowed slightly, which is very easy because of how the rack is constructed. Here's what an XJ rack would look like on a JK Safari with 4 Alpine windows:

With a rack basket on the XJ rack:

Or with a roof-top tent. The Safari Cab barn door would open nicely under the RTT platform.

I like the XJ rack for a bunch of reasons:

1. There were millions of XJ's made, most with roof racks, so they're plentiful and inexpensive in most junkyards ($15 in my local u-pull).

2. They look right on a Jeep because they are from a Jeep. Nobody's ever asked me "is that a Ford Explorer roof rack on your Jeep?" .

3. Because millions were made, there's terrific aftermarket support for things to mount to the XJ racks.

 

[jscherb]

This question came in response to my post yesterday about the roof rack:

...the newest XJ racks are 13 years old. Have you checked out any newer jeep racks like perhaps a Liberty rack?

Even though I'm going to use an XJ rack on the prototype JK Safari Cab, the way I've designed the rack mounting points they'll be compatible with racks from a number of vehicles, and there are also aftermarket racks that would work well too like some of the ones from Perrycraft: http://www.perrycraft.com/c-9851-racks-rails-load-bars.aspx

 

[lysol]

I can't remember if you addressed it already but are you doing storage rack and/or table for the tailgate with your mounting brackets?

It's coming along very well I must say.

 

[jscherb]

I can't remember if you addressed it already but are you doing storage rack and/or table for the tailgate with your mounting brackets?

Tom designed the mounting system we've used on his JK and it's intended to be a more general-purpose mount system than just being for the barn door. Here are a few images he did showing some gear mounted to the mounts (left), a fold-down trail table (center), and a Molle grid (right):

It's also designed to be useful without the barn door, here's a shot of the prototype on Tom's tailgate without the barn door but with a bunch of gear attached:

It's coming along very well I must say.

Thank you.

 

[Jkfisher84]

can the xj support bars be enough for an rtt tho or a large rack? I have an 10 jku and looking for ideas. really like this u have cuz it has a D series feel to it

 

[jscherb]

can the xj support bars be enough for an rtt tho or a large rack? I have an 10 jku and looking for ideas. really like this u have cuz it has a D series feel to it

I mount my RTT on the XJ rack channels, not on the stock XJ crossbars - I use the Surco XJ adapters shown below. The Surco adapters are the black brackets below the aluminum cross bars. The aluminum cross bars came with my RTT, and the Surco adapters enabled the RTT crossbars to mount on the XJ rack channels. And since the rack channels on the Safari Cab are directly supported by the Jeep's sport bars, the RTT weight is carried on the sport bars, no weight is borne by the hardtop itself. The stock XJ crossbars don't even need to be removed, they're low enough that the RTT on it's own bars with the Surco adapters mounts above them.

Things like the Surco adapters are one of the reasons I like the XJ rack - there's lots of aftermarket support for the XJ rack, pretty much anything you need to mount on the XJ rack you'll find a solution for in the aftermarket.