Barn Door for JK factory hardtops
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm working on an idea to make use of space in a Jeep that typically goes unused - the space in the hardtop under the roof/behind the rear roll bar. It's a swing-down Molle panel; gear could mount on top of the panel and the panel would swing down for access to the gear. It's positioned so it wouldn't be lower than the bottom of the roll bar crossbar so it wouldn't be visible in the rear view mirror or visible through the rear window (unless you crouched down and looked up). Gear could also mount on the bottom of the panel but that gear would be visible in the rear-view mirror.
The top two concept drawings show the panel stowed, at right there's a 4-gallon Rotopax up there (let's say it has water in it so we don't get into a debate about carrying fuel inside the Jeep
).
The bottom two drawings show the panel swung down for access.
I haven't included any of the support/swing mechanism in this drawing but the mechanism design I've done installs without any drilling and it'll be quick and easy to swing down and put back in the stowed position.
I'm in the process of finishing up the engineering drawings and then I'll make a prototype to test.
The top two concept drawings show the panel stowed, at right there's a 4-gallon Rotopax up there (let's say it has water in it so we don't get into a debate about carrying fuel inside the Jeep
). The bottom two drawings show the panel swung down for access.
I haven't included any of the support/swing mechanism in this drawing but the mechanism design I've done installs without any drilling and it'll be quick and easy to swing down and put back in the stowed position.
I'm in the process of finishing up the engineering drawings and then I'll make a prototype to test.
bobs
New member
http://jeepinteriorstorage.com/shop/jku-4-door/jku-overhead-storage-tray/
https://grabarsusa.com/JKVAULT-CONCEALED-STORAGE-JEEP-LOCK-BOX
I like that most storage in that space has a tray but a low cost alternative / mole version could be really cool.
https://grabarsusa.com/JKVAULT-CONCEALED-STORAGE-JEEP-LOCK-BOX
I like that most storage in that space has a tray but a low cost alternative / mole version could be really cool.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The ones with trays are nice to store random small items in, but I don't think they would work with very long items like a HiLift jack and may not work with other long or irregularly shaped gear.
I'm designing my panel to hold a range of things:
- There are appropriately placed Rotopax mount bolt holes to hold any size Rotopax. Either one 4-gallon or 2 of any other size.
- There's a Molle grid which can hold anything compatible with the Molle system; typically pouches but there are other cargo holding options on the market that work with the Molle system.
- There are two holes specifically for a HiLift type jack
- There are several rows of bolt holes intended for use with "Quick Fist" or similar mounts. These could be used for shovels, axes, etc... https://www.quickfist.com/
- Bungee cords could also be used to secure other items that don't fit into the categories above.
Any of the above can be used in combination; the user can lay out the gear and mounts on the panel to fit his gear storage requirements.
The ones you linked to are also quite expensive... my design goal is a product that if it went into production could retail for under $200 - half the price of the cheapest of one you linked to.
bobs
New member
Agreed, I'd never spend $400-700 on those but $200 for something like you're thinking has alot of merit
ratled
Adventurer
I would be in on one of these at the right price point. There is a guy on E Bay that sells tailgate tables that look like it would be a matched pair to these, maybe he could build the prototype or even be a maker of these.
Any chance they could come off the roll bar instead of the top in case someone wanted to go topless and still carry the gear stowed there?
ratled
Any chance they could come off the roll bar instead of the top in case someone wanted to go topless and still carry the gear stowed there?
ratled
jscherb
Expedition Leader
My design attaches only to the roll bar, so it is compatible with the hardtop, the soft top or no top at all.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm working on the layout of the overhead panel, here's a work-in-progress sketch that shows how various containers would fit - a Rotopax 4-gallon, two Rotopax 2-gallon, three Rotopax 1-gallon; two 10 liter (2.5-gallon) Rubicans, and a 48" Hi-Lift plus two 1-gallon Rotopax. Molle grid hole sizes and spacing in this drawing are still preliminary and haven't added holes for QuickFist mounts yet.
I haven't done sketches with Molle pouches or any gear secured with QuickFist clamps; I'll leave that to the reader's imagination.
I haven't done sketches with Molle pouches or any gear secured with QuickFist clamps; I'll leave that to the reader's imagination.
Bullseye240
Adventurer
Jeff,
I understand this is only for the JK but you have me thinking of something similar for my LJ. The way the Safari Top goes together makes for some mounting options. Not looking to put anything very heavy up there, jackets, bags of clothes or maybe a ground blind (wildlife photography). Maybe something out of aluminum bonded with 3M tape or the like. Hinges could be a simple pivot pin and close with a camper/topper style latch as long as it didn't rattle, but I guess a simple leaf spring pushing back against the tray could solve that.
I understand this is only for the JK but you have me thinking of something similar for my LJ. The way the Safari Top goes together makes for some mounting options. Not looking to put anything very heavy up there, jackets, bags of clothes or maybe a ground blind (wildlife photography). Maybe something out of aluminum bonded with 3M tape or the like. Hinges could be a simple pivot pin and close with a camper/topper style latch as long as it didn't rattle, but I guess a simple leaf spring pushing back against the tray could solve that.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Actually it's not just for the JK - this evening I placed an order for the hardware I plan to use to mount and swing down the panel, and I ordered enough to build a prototype for the LJ as well as for the JK. I'm doing something unique with the way it'll mount, hinge and latch and the hardware isn't available locally so i had to order a few things. And the other day I picked up two sheets of 1/8" aluminum to make prototypes to install in both the JK and the LJ.
BTW the space over the roll bars in the LJ Safari Cab is very useful for storage and I often use it on expeditions. When I'm doing an expedition that may require negotiating soft sand or bridging gaps, I carry four sand ladders/bridges with me, and I store them above the roll bars:
And on other expeditions, when I've got the half doors installed, I can start the day with the uppers installed if it's cool, and when it warms up I can remove them and store them above the roll bars. In fact there's enough room up there to store both half door uppers and the soft barn door upper if I'm running the soft sides as well.
I've made other use of that space over the years, but those are two of the most useful.
The current project is really just the latest in a series of uses for the space up there in the LJ. It is my first use of that space in the JK Safari, although I've got other ideas in mind for the JK as well.
I'm working on the layout of the overhead panel, here's a work-in-progress sketch that shows how various containers would fit - a Rotopax 4-gallon, two Rotopax 2-gallon, three Rotopax 1-gallon; two 10 liter (2.5-gallon) Rubicans, and a 48" Hi-Lift plus two 1-gallon Rotopax. Molle grid hole sizes and spacing in this drawing are still preliminary and haven't added holes for QuickFist mounts yet.
I haven't done sketches with Molle pouches or any gear secured with QuickFist clamps; I'll leave that to the reader's imagination.
Sign me up!
Brilliant!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to building a few prototypes and getting some testing done.
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jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm in Florida this week and as usual Donny (rubicon91) and I spent a few enjoyable hours together. We talked all things Jeep and had a great time. He's ordered an Ursa Minor for his JKU and in the meantime he's been running an old 2007 soft top, which is perfect timing - as I finalize the design of the overhead storage panel I want to make sure it fits properly in a soft top Jeep. I took this photo in his Jeep to show the limits I'll be working to:
There's 40.5" between the rear hoop supports, so a good width for the panel should be 40". There's roughly 13" from the rear crossbar of the sport bar to the triangular bracket, so that's the maximum width I'll work with for the panel.
I believe the distance between the rear hoop supports might be longer on a later model soft top; I'll have to measure one of the soft tops I've got when I get home.
There's 40.5" between the rear hoop supports, so a good width for the panel should be 40". There's roughly 13" from the rear crossbar of the sport bar to the triangular bracket, so that's the maximum width I'll work with for the panel.
I believe the distance between the rear hoop supports might be longer on a later model soft top; I'll have to measure one of the soft tops I've got when I get home.
Sir, I have a 17 JKUR with hard and soft top.
I run the soft top all summer.
If this storage rack is compatible with the hard and soft top and I would be able to raise and lower the soft top with out removing this storage panel, I need to be on a mailing list when this comes to market.
I enjoy following all your projects but this one has really caught my eye.
Thanks,
Dan
I run the soft top all summer.
If this storage rack is compatible with the hard and soft top and I would be able to raise and lower the soft top with out removing this storage panel, I need to be on a mailing list when this comes to market.
I enjoy following all your projects but this one has really caught my eye.
Thanks,
Dan
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thanks.
Yes, that's the plan - the rack is designed to be compatible with both the hard top and soft top and will not need to be removed in order to change tops or to put the soft top down. The rack will have to be swung down in order to fold the soft top but it won't need to be removed. I'll have to find a friend with a soft top to test with because I don't plan to remove my hardtop just to test that.
If/when this becomes a production product I'll let people know through this thread.
Update on the project... I'm traveling this week but I've gotten enough time with my computer that I've finished the panel design. I'll be home this weekend so I'll make a cardboard mockup of the panel using a printout of the design to verify fit, then I can go from cardboard/printout to aluminium. I picked up the metal in my travels and the pieces I ordered to build the mounting/swing-down hardware should arrive by the weekend too, but not sure if I'll have enough time to do more than the cardboard/printout mockup this weekend before I have to travel again. For now I've got metal to make two prototypes.
And please, "sir" definitely doesn't fit me, I'm just Jeff
.