Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Hard to tell online, but that looks more like Ranger Green than OD Green. RG, btw, is preferred nowadays in the tactical community.

Exact colors are notoriously hard online. I bought this fabric a year or two ago when trying to pick a color for another project, I'm pretty sure it was advertised to be O.D. Anyway, I have it on hand so I'm using it for this next prototype cover, if the company decides to go for a green they can choose between O.D. and Ranger Green when the time comes. I did order O.D. webbing and velcro for the patches for this one, so we'll have to see how those match up to the fabric.

 

[jscherb]

I heard from the company, they're taking the consensus advice and planning to do black and Coyote first. They will do ACU, O.D. (or some other green or camo) or other colors once they see how the first two colors go. Sounds like they'll do 32" and 35" at first.

 

[Comanche Scott]

That's awesome.
Now I've got a tough choice on color.
May have to do one of each.

 

[jscherb]

That's awesome.
Now I've got a tough choice on color.
May have to do one of each.

Tough choice on color you say? This is what the floor of my sewing room looks like at the moment - Tactical Spare Covers in black, ACU and Coyote, and an O.D. Green one under construction. Any other colors I should prototype while I'm at it, just to make decisions more difficult? They are fun to sew.

 

[justageek]

Tough choice on color you say? This is what the floor of my sewing room looks like at the moment - Tactical Spare Covers in black, ACU and Coyote, and an O.D. Green one under construction. Any other colors I should prototype while I'm at it, just to make decisions more difficult? They are fun to sew.

Plaid!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jynxx1970]

I like what i see.:Wow1: Now i need one to be able to hold a 11# propane tank.

 

[jscherb]

I like what i see.:Wow1: Now i need one to be able to hold a 11# propane tank.

How about this spare-mount jerry can carrier (http://www.retrofitoffroad.com/shop...2015/spare-tire-jerry-can-holder-w-tall-tray/),

unbolt the jerry can tray and bolt this on instead (https://www.amazon.com/Nashfuel-Universal-Vertical-Propane-Brackets/dp/B00EP1S6H4):

Or, the side-mount carrier with the same propane tank bracket bolted to it instead of the container that's on there in this photo:

 

[JDaPP]

While at the SEMA Show last month I posted about the new manufacturer of containers I found there, at the show the manufacturer gave me some containers for testing so when I got home I tried them on the Jeep. I posted this shortly after I got back from SEMA:



When I tried them out I was favorably impressed, so I put a Jeep accessories company in touch with the manufacturer. The company liked them enough to add them to their catalog, so they'll be available soon from that company. They sent me these photos today of part of their first shipment ready to leave the manufacturer.

I thought I saw in one thread you said these cans could be mounted on the rotopax mounts? Can rotopax be mounted on the mounts for these cans? I use the rotopax storage containers but I like these better for gas so it would be great if they were interchangeable.

 

[JDaPP]

I like what i see.:Wow1: Now i need one to be able to hold a 11# propane tank.

I mounted a 11 lbs tank on one of the side mounts on the driver side when I went to overland expo. Only issue I ran into was explaining it to the border patrol guys at one one of the highway stations. They were just curious/confused mostly. I think mine propane mount is a power tank one. I also have a crown gerry can mount on the passenger side. Mounts are very versatile.

 

[jscherb]

I thought I saw in one thread you said these cans could be mounted on the rotopax mounts? Can rotopax be mounted on the mounts for these cans? I use the rotopax storage containers but I like these better for gas so it would be great if they were interchangeable.

They have their own mount that's very similar to the Rotopax mount, and will bolt up to the same bolt holes that the Rotopax mount bolt to, but they are not interchangeable with Rotopax mounts. In the photo I posted of these containers on the side mount on my JK the mount for these was bolted directly to the holes in the side mount intended for Rotopax, no drilling was required.

This photo shows some containers and mounts. What I like about the design of the mounts is that you can add mounts and containers very easily - each mount extension spins onto the previous mount.

 

[JDaPP]

Dang. I was hoping they were interchangeable so I could use my storage containers. Oh well guess I will have to stick with the rotopax. They don't happen to make storage containers like the rotopax do they?

 

[jscherb]

This question was asked in the factory hardtop modular conversion thread but since it's about the JK Safari Cab I thought it would be better to answer it here.

Any chance you're still considering the pop-up top idea?

I've wanted the J30 for years. Now that I'm finally getting a JKU, the height exceeds the garage height I need to park it in. Used to be 6" over the stock top when closed but their latest design is ~10".

Yes, I am still considering it. Designing and building the JK Safari Cab was a huge and challenging project and now that the basic top is done I need a break from it. I've got lots of other things I'd like to build for it or based on it... I haven't sewn the roll-up soft sides yet, I'd like to do a "JK-8" version with longer side panels (and rear door delete panels for the JKU); I'd like to do the soft roof; and I'd like to do the pop-up camper roof panel (BTW the only part that changes for the pop-up version is the roof panel; all the other modular Safari Cab panels are unchanged). Not sure if I'd do the a front-hinged version like the Ursa Minor or a side-hinged version like the Land Rover Dormobile conversion though, I'll decide that when/if I actually build it. But for now I'm tired of working on the Safari Cab so I'm going to do some other things, mostly I've been doing some smaller "quick" projects like the ones I've done lately in this thread and in the factory hardtop modular conversion thread, but I've got two big projects in mind .

Also, thanks for getting out there and making things. I've been following along on your projects and it's great to see them come to fruition.

Thanks. Most of my designs I build just for my own use; a few I build for companies that want to turn them into products, and for some of my designs the only reason I build them is to see an idea come to fruition - they're things that don't fit into either of those categories but I just want to build them anyway, like my TJ Commando grille/hood conversion. I don't have any plans to use it but it sounded cool so I had to see it come to fruition. My "Retro Rhino" JK Gladiator Grille Kit project may be the same way - I'm not sure I'll actually use it on my JKU but it should be a fun project so I'll do it just to see it come to fruition .

 

[jscherb]

Dang. I was hoping they were interchangeable so I could use my storage containers. Oh well guess I will have to stick with the rotopax. They don't happen to make storage containers like the rotopax do they?

No, they don't make anything interchangeable with the Rotopax. The only containers I know of that will fit on the Rotopax mounting studs are the Kolpin containers; they're more common in the ATV/UTV market, they have pretty much no presence in the Jeep market. Kolpin was showing a new design container at the SEMA show last month but I don't see it on their web site, I don't think it's in production yet.

BTW the odd shape on the side closest to the camera is for their "Stronghold" slide mount. I don't have any photos of the container in the Stronghold mount, but the mount itself is on their site: https://www.kolpin.com/powersports/kolpin-stronghold-auto-latch-mount

 

[jscherb]

In all the months and miles since I've installed the Safari Cab, the hardtop and barn door have been trouble-free and completely leak free. Just one little thing has been bothering me recently...

One of my pet peeves is wipers that don't flip like they should when they reverse at each end of the cycle. The rear wiper on the Safari Cab barn door has been a little lazy lately, and with the snow and road salt it wasn't doing as good a job as it should in cleaning the rear window. I made a minor adjustment to the wiper arm and all is good now. Also slightly re-aimed the washer jet for better coverage.



A shot out the rear view mirror.

BTW some months ago I was contacted by one of the big catalogs, they were interested in both the Safari Cab and the barn door for factory hardtops. I think I posted about it. Back then I told them I couldn't supply them because I'm not in a position to do the manufacturing - if these were to come to market a company would have to sign up to manufacture and market them. Well they contacted me again this week to see if anything had changed. Told them sorry, nothing has changed on my end.

Also I've been contacted by several people in the last month who were wondering if I was going to offer a limited number of fiberglass barn door shells for sale as kits for people to finish themselves. I posted that idea a while back, and respose to it back then was very low, so I decided it wasn't worth doing.

 

[jscherb]

Since I'm going to be sewing Velcro on the green Tactical Spare cover prototype to stick patches to, I stopped by a military surplus store today to see how it's done on actual military gear. I found these examples - above the breast pocket for the person's name: 1" x 5". On the sleeve at the shoulder for unit insignia, etc.: 4" wide x 7" tall. Another one above the breast pocket, 2" x 3".

I'm thinking of doing three places on the spare cover. A piece on the face, just above the flap for the pocket. Thinking maybe 2" x 6", or could be shorter at 2" x 3". And two 2" x 3" pieces on each "shoulder" just above the Molle grid on the side. Like this:

The next time I sit down at the sewing machine I'll be sewing the Velcro on, so let me know what you think - do the locations and sizes shown above make sense? 6" wide or 3" wide on the face?