Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

A few more trail photos today, a bit off the barn door and JK Safari Cab topic but it is applicable to the JK.

Today one of the folks from MORryde was with us on the trail, that's the company that's signed up for a bunch of my Jeep hardware designs including the Excursion Rack, which mounts on the spare tire, so we gave that a good test on the trail today. The rack works on the JK, TJ, and others; today it's obviously on my LJ.

In the morning we entrusted our lunch to the rack in a large cooler; it was holding ice, drinks, lunch, snacks, etc.

After lunch we swapped the cooler for my recovery gear ammo box, which is a bit heavier than the loaded cooler was.

The rack performed great, and we got the MORryde person back to town in one piece too .

 

[kojackJKU]

Hey Jeff,

Just ordered the morryde hinges. Also picked up the MBRP tail gate re inforcement kit and VDP high clearance corners for the front bumper. Looking forward to seeing how the hinges work.

 

[jscherb]

Hey Jeff,

Just ordered the morryde hinges. Also picked up the MBRP tail gate re inforcement kit and VDP high clearance corners for the front bumper. Looking forward to seeing how the hinges work.

Thanks for letting me know. Where did you order them from?

I just spent the morning at the MORryde booth at the Easter Jeep Safari Vendor Expo. There's lots of interest in the hinges.

 

[kojackJKU]

I ordered them from my local dealer. They provide lots of jobs for me with powdercoating etc. So I just ordered from them.

 

[TexasSpeedRacer]

I've got an old 4 Door Hard Top!

I bought one last year from a body shop nearby. I had every intention of creating something very similar to what Mr. Scherb had so artfully accomplished. He was also so kind as to answer some of my questions when I started this project.

My Initial thoughts on my project:
Buy a used hard top (Bought it)
Buy a used soft top (Have my original I never use)
Buy a Front Runner Roof Rack (found one used locally)
Buy some Half Doors ( Found them on Craigslist- ended up being Foretec- REALLY BAD EXPERIENCE!!!!!- But now I have them)


Combine all of these elements into something similar to what has been created here with in this thread.

I was going to use the hard top for the roof and the rear door surrounds and then cut the rest of it off.
Create an interior support frame fro the back of the floating roof panel and it would be held on via this new structure and the supports for the roof rack.
Utilize the cannibalized soft top for the remaining pieces to make it weatherproof.
I also had the idea of creating sides with no windows in them and utilizing sewn in 2 inch wide strips of aluminum to keep them from flapping on the highway (just was a though and have not tested, etc)


I had a couple other ideas, however for the sake of brevity I would bore you with them. Some of them were even addressed in this thread...so I know I'm not completely crazy.


So here I sit and wait to see if this project will got to production. And contemplate the bigger question, will the cost justify the purchase price.


One other random thought......Originally was not going to do the safari top, however my last trip to Crested Butte I couldn't see up the switchbacks, so now I really, really want Alpine windows. So I guess I answered the bigger question above?

Or do I forget the whole hardtop and put that money to a Brute Conversion.

And....Mr. Owl....How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?


TSR!

 

[Jurfie]

And....Mr. Owl....How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

"Ah-thrrrrree!"

 

[jscherb]

One other random thought......Originally was not going to do the safari top, however my last trip to Crested Butte I couldn't see up the switchbacks, so now I really, really want Alpine windows. So I guess I answered the bigger question above?

The trail I was on today here at Moab had switchbacks through narrow canyons, and I was thinking it would be nice to have the Alpine windows to get some more visibility up the canyon walls. I'm driving the LJ Safari on this trip, which doesn't have Alpine windows - I'm looking forward to taking the JK Safari on these trails next year (if my wife lets me - it's her Jeep ).

 

[jscherb]

Hey Jeff,

Just ordered the morryde hinges. Also picked up the MBRP tail gate re inforcement kit and VDP high clearance corners for the front bumper. Looking forward to seeing how the hinges work.

On my way back from Moab I stopped by MORryde and picked up a set of production heavy-duty hinges plus pre-production versions of the Hi-lift carrier and the CB antenna mount that go on the hinges, so today I installed them on the JK...

 

[jscherb]

Also checked the fit of a pre-production Excursion Rack on the JK yesterday.

 

[rubicon91]

On my way back from Moab I stopped by MORryde and picked up a set of production heavy-duty hinges plus pre-production versions of the Hi-lift carrier and the CB antenna mount that go on the hinges, so today I installed them on the JK...

Jeff I was looking at those hinges and pondering getting them. A question for you. Do they stick out any further than the stock ones? I ask as when my tailgate is fully extended it does barely touch my tire swing so if these are wider it would hit an not sure how that would work. Loved the Moab pics and will definitely see you out there next year. I did see the jeep concepts are going to be at jeep beach this year so I am excited about that. Take care my friend.

Donny

 

[jscherb]

Jeff I was looking at those hinges and pondering getting them. A question for you. Do they stick out any further than the stock ones? I ask as when my tailgate is fully extended it does barely touch my tire swing so if these are wider it would hit an not sure how that would work. Loved the Moab pics and will definitely see you out there next year. I did see the jeep concepts are going to be at jeep beach this year so I am excited about that. Take care my friend.

Donny

Hi Donny,
The HD hinges stick out 1.5" from the tailgate. I don't have the stock hinge measurement handy, sorry.

Enjoy Jeep Beach!
Jeff

 

[rubicon91]

Hi Donny,
The HD hinges stick out 1.5" from the tailgate. I don't have the stock hinge measurement handy, sorry.

Enjoy Jeep Beach!
Jeff

I can measure them. That helps a lot to know if it will interfere or not. Thanks a lot!! And I will. Gonna check out Morris 4x4 grand opening this upcoming weekend also so get to see all the vendors as they will be there first. Thanks again.
Donny

 

[jscherb]

Now that I'm back from my Moab trip I can get back to the fiberglass work for the JK Safari Cab. Today I made the upper jamb mold, I described this part a few weeks ago when I finished up the mold master. The mold will cure overnight and tomorrow I'll make the first part in it. I also molded two jambs that go behind the doors and are used with the soft sides. Those get made in the same molds that the hard side panels get made in, but with dams in the mold to shorten the parts. Photos of the new parts soon.

 

[jscherb]

As part of my fiberglass work for the past few days, I molded a pair of rear door jambs for the soft side version of the Safari Cab.

You've seen the parts in this next photo already - the hard side panels bolted to the rear panel with the drip rail clamped on top for now; the drip rail will be part of the roof panel assembly when everything goes together.

Removing the hard side panel, one of the soft side jambs has been put in it's place:

The jambs provide a place for the back of the doors to seal (either the back of the rear doors for the JKU or the back of the front doors for the JK 2dr), and they also provide a place for the soft sides to attach.

A few more views of the jambs in place:

Yesterday and today I molded a few other parts as well, photos of them soon.

 

[jscherb]

Doing a little drawing on the photo I posted earlier, the roll-up up soft side would look something like this when rolled up: