Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[JCDriller]

Looking good Jeff!
I really hope this makes it to market.

Mike

+1

 

[Comanche Scott]

The more I see the pictures off the whole top on the Jeep, the more it seems to be better suited to be painted to match the body. Or maybe just the very top in a different color...
Hmmmm???
It just fits so darned well on the Jeep. Man, it looks good! :beer:
Looking forward to seeing your colorized pictures.

 

[jscherb]

The more I see the pictures off the whole top on the Jeep, the more it seems to be better suited to be painted to match the body. Or maybe just the very top in a different color...
Hmmmm???
It just fits so darned well on the Jeep. Man, it looks good! :beer:
Looking forward to seeing your colorized pictures.

I've been thinking about body color sides and a tan or khaki roof. When I get the colorized photos done I'll let Heather decide .

Thanks for the nice comments, I spent a lot of time in the design phase working on the details of the integration with the overall styling of the JK, and the way all the parts would fit with each other, and with the Jeep. For example, check out these 4 photos. Top left is the Jeep Africa concept, I took this photo at Easter Jeep Safari this year because I was working on the details of the roof header design then. The roof integrates beautifully with the top of the windshield. It's a non-removable roof, so they were able to make it fit with a perfect body line, no weatherstrip showing.

The other three photos are aftermarket hardtops, I took these at SEMA a few weeks ago. Not as nice as the Africa.

Even before I had seen the Africa, I planned to do a smooth integration of the hardtop into the windshield (I started the design work on this project about two years ago). Here's how my roof fits, I took this photo today. Fits just like the Africa, except that since it's removable, there is a small bit of the weatherstrip showing, just like it would with the factory top. I haven't trimmed the top or front of the drip rail yet, so ignore that detail for the moment...

 

[en480c4]

I was thinking painted to match, with the roof painted to match the silver Sahara bumper inserts.

 

[Captain Texas]

Looks great!

 

[jscherb]

I was thinking painted to match, with the roof painted to match the silver Sahara bumper inserts.

That's an interesting idea.

 

[en480c4]

That's an interesting idea.

I think it would be a good choice... I fear adding a fourth color would make it unnecessarily busy as you already have the red, black and silver. If you decide to go with a different color, I would suggest removing the silver appliqués.

 

[jscherb]

Threw my rack basket on the rack today to see how it fits.

There will be tie-in brackets between the rack and the roll bars so all of the weight in the rack is supported by the roll bars; I haven't made up those brackets yet though.

The drip rails are also designed to support racks that mount that way.

 

[jscherb]

What the barn door looks like when it's open. I'm holding it in this photo because I haven't bolted it to the tailgate yet.

Also in the photo above you might have noticed the opening rear vent windows.

The wiper motor is in the bottom of the barn door, so unlike the factory hatch, the motor isn't obstructing the view out the back. Also the stalk-mounted third brake light can go away because there's a brake light on the hardtop, which will further improve rear visibility.

Here's an "over the shoulder" view out the back:

The barn door also works with the factory hardtop; in this photo I threw on my very dusty early model hardtop to check the fit.

 

[Jurfie]

Let's see it open air (sans side panels and barn door)!

 

[jscherb]

Let's see it open air (sans side panels and barn door)!

The next time I put the panels on the Jeep I'll take that photo. Took them off yesterday so I could do some work on them.

The best I can do today is this photo I took a while back. The sides are off but the rear panel is still in place.

I'm still trying to decide which style soft sides I'll implement. I've done two styles on the LJ Safari Cab. One version removes the sides and back and replaces all with soft sides:

The other version leaves the rear panel in place and replaces the sides with roll-ups and the barn door upper with a soft upper that's like a half door upper. Soft sides rolled up and the soft barn door upper removed:

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The soft barn door upper in place:

Both designs have advantages, but I prefer the second version because the soft barn door makes it so convenient to get to cargo in the back when everything's closed up - nothing to unzip or roll up, just open the door.

 

[jscherb]

Let's see it open air (sans side panels and barn door)!

Another way to have open air... taking advantage of the modularity of the design by swapping the hard roof panel for a soft roof. The tonneau cover from one of my trailers is pretty close to the right size, so I tried it on. It's a little wide and a little short, but gives the general idea of what a soft roof might look like.

With the soft roof removed:

 

[Septu]

Question (as I haven't seen this come up yet). Any plans to insulate it in any way? Pretty sure the stock roof has some form of foam in the roof.

 

[jscherb]

Question (as I haven't seen this come up yet). Any plans to insulate it in any way? Pretty sure the stock roof has some form of foam in the roof.

I'm planning to do an insulated headliner like I did in my LJ Safari Cab.

 

[jscherb]

Today I cleaned up the garage from all the mess I made trimming and fitting the parts, so I moved everything outside. Here's what a complete set of JK Safari Cab parts looks like - the roof panel, two upper jambs, two side panels, a rear panel and the barn door:

And some "alternate" parts... two side panels for trying out different windows, in this case a slider window and a cargo hatch. The thin pieces in the middle are rear jambs; when the hard side panels are removed and the soft sides are installed, these provide a surface for the rear of the door to seal against, and a place for the front of the soft sides to attach.