Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[TCook]

I received the KC Highlites Cyclone LED Lights on Sat and got some time in the dark to play with them. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with how much light the clear ones put out for how small they are.

Obviously capturing pictures on an iPhone in the pitch dark is not the most scientific method but these were the tools I had at my disposal. These were taken around 10PM here in NY.

For a single light it does exactly what I wanted, a broad area flood pattern to provide some light behind the Jeep. They have them marketed in a kit for underhood so I moved it under there and was very impressed, I'll probably add one here to:

I'll keep looking around for other flush mount LED lights but these are the ones I'm thinking of moving forward with at this point unless someone else has another option they have seen.

Here's what they would look like on the longer pod:

 

[TCook]

After I tested the white LED's I hooked up the red LED to see how bright it was and if it could be used as a brake light. It is noticeably dimmer than the clears luckily which means you can use it for a third brake light and not blind anyone behind you.

So there is the option to remove the long thin third brake light off of the pod and replace with a set of these but I thought another good option may be to center mount in the spare.

**Where legal, some states may require to be above tail lights**

A quick trip to the shop and I found a thin piece of aluminum sheet (you could also find at Lowes). Since these mount with just a single screw through the center I whipped up a quick pattern and cut out a piece that could simply fit behind the spare.

For the wire I had a plastic grommet left over from holding on one of the plastic pieces or you could get a rubber grommet. Then simply remove your spare, install the sheet metal piece. The light is held on with a 3/8-16 button head, lock washer and nut (.12 cents at Fastenal). Run your wire through the grommet and splice in to the factory wiring.

For some reason I thought the third brake mount was bolted to the tire carrier like the TJ's instead of molded as one piece so I will need to cut mine off when I plan to remove permanently.

 

[jscherb]

Back from my Alaska trip, time to get back to work on this project. I'm preparing to put a window in the barn door. The window opening has been trimmed to final size, and the gasket has been installed.

 

[sseaman]

I love the look of the sliding windows, it's the one thing I missed from my LC80

 

[jscherb]

I got the "window" installed this morning. Actually it's a piece of 1/4" plywood painted white. I installed plywood for two reasons - since this unit will be used for the initial wiper installation, there's no need to subject a piece of glass to any risk from the work that will happen during that installation, and second, the plywood will be a perfect pattern for the glass shop. I can take the plywood to the shop and ask for a piece of safety glass that exact size, and I'll know everything will go together perfectly.

A production barn door could use either a gasket+glass type window like I'm doing on this prototype, or an aluminum-framed RV window.

Next for this unit will be the wiper installation.

 

[jscherb]

A few more shots of the barn door with the "window" installed.

 

[jscherb]

Another JK project I've working on a project I call Gatezilla - a heavy-duty tailgate reinforcement/spare carrier/gear carrier. Part of the Gatezilla design includes heavy duty hinges, and they're designed so than can also serve as direct bolt-on replacement hinges for a stock JK tailgate - they're exact-fit bolt-on replacements for the factory hinges. There's a grease fitting so they can be lubricated, and the bushings are removable so the hinges can be rebuilt in the unlikely event the bushings wear. And unlike the factory hinges, they don't have plastic covers that can fall off or get broken.

I'm building some prototype Gatezilla hinges for testing, here are a few photos of a one compared to a factory hinge:

Bolted to a tailgate:

An open view showing the grease fitting:

The holes in the leaf of the hinge are visual design elements and provide access to the mounting holes to bolt them to the tailgate, but they also provide mounting points for accessories, such as a Hi-lift carrier or a jerry can mount.

This is still in the prototype phase, there are a few minor tweaks I plan to make before considering the design final.

 

[sseaman]

Another great idea

 

[greggNJ]

I'm eagerly awaiting this projects development. I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on the teraflex before I saw this thread.

I hope you had a great time in Alaska. It's on my bucket list.

Another JK project I've working on a project I call Gatezilla - a heavy-duty tailgate reinforcement/spare carrier/gear carrier. Part of the Gatezilla design includes heavy duty hinges, and they're designed so than can also serve as direct bolt-on replacement hinges for a stock JK tailgate - they're exact-fit bolt-on replacements for the factory hinges. There's a grease fitting so they can be lubricated, and the bushings are removable so the hinges can be rebuilt in the unlikely event the bushings wear. And unlike the factory hinges, they don't have plastic covers that can fall off or get broken.

 

[jscherb]

I've been working on a 1/24 scale model JKU. It's a cardstock model I found online, although I've modified it to suit my needs.

Of course I installed a barn door instead of the factory hardtop liftgate :

I built this because I've done several designs for the JK Safari Cab raised roof, and I want to do 3d mockups of the different designs so I can decide which one I like best. I can easily make the roof panels out of cardstock and install them on this model, and while they won't be precisely correct because they're cardstock, they'll be close enough that I can decide which one I like the best and then I can move on to a more accurate 1/10 scale model, and then on to the actual full scale molds.

And about the barn door project, I expect to get back to work on that Thursday - next I'll install the wiper assembly.

 

[jscherb]

Here's a quick cardstock mockup of one of the JK Safari Cab roof designs.

This design has a raised roof to provide more room inside, "Alpine windows" on the top edges of the roof, and "Opera windows" on the back on each side of the barn door. Here's a stock JKU compared to one with a Safari Cab roof panel:

A few more views, you can see the barn door and the opera windows in the back, and how the Alpine windows wrap over the roof a little bit.

The cardstock model isn't intended to be a precise representation of the JK or the Safari Cab, it's just mean to show general shape, proportions and placement of windows. Once I decide on the final details, I plan to built an exact 1/10 scale model.

Not shown in this quick mockup are the soft sides which can be swapped for the hard sides. It would also have built-in support for roof racks/roof-top tents built in (no exocage required).

This is just one of several design variations I'm considering, I'm working on cardstock models of several other versions, including one inspired by the '64-'72 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser .

 

[p8ntbill2]

Wrangler JK 2 door rear side sliding windows?

jscherb,

Have you put anymore thought in to the sliding windows?

Bill

 

[jscherb]

jscherb,

Have you put anymore thought in to the sliding windows?

Bill

Yes. Sliding windows are definitely part of the JK Safari Cab design.

 

[lax71vcu]

SKILLS

JScherb two things 1. You have skills. 2. Welcome back and congrats on the completion of an epic adventure! That one is on my list of to do's.

my father is an architect and I still remember building balsa wood models with him of additions, decks, and houses. The cardstock photos were a blast from the past. Well done. I also applaud your hinges excellent design.

However,
I am still most interested in the barn door. If you need to know what one looks like in black I am willing to help out! :sombrero:

 

[jscherb]

JScherb two things 1. You have skills. 2. Welcome back and congrats on the completion of an epic adventure! That one is on my list of to do's.

my father is an architect and I still remember building balsa wood models with him of additions, decks, and houses. The cardstock photos were a blast from the past. Well done. I also applaud your hinges excellent design.

However,
I am still most interested in the barn door. If you need to know what one looks like in black I am willing to help out! :sombrero:

Thank you. It was a great trip! Now I'm getting ready for a two-week offroad trip in Colorado for early September, only a few weeks away.

I pitched the hinges to a company that recently signed up for several of my other Jeep accessory/hardware designs. No commitment from them on the hinges yet, but they do plan to show their versions of my designs at this year's SEMA show, hopefully they'll also pick up the hinges and we'll see them at SEMA too.

The barn door will be completed fairly soon; tomorrow I'll be installing the wiper assembly in the first barn door. Once that's done, Tom and I will install the wiper in his.