Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

That's awesome, and makes sense.....here's hoping another company will pick up the product since all the hard work is already done!

Today I talked to the people at the plastic molding company that was going to do the manufacturing. They report that the production tooling was completed some months ago but the company that was going to market the grille didn't place a production order (presumably because of their difficulties during the pandemic), so as far as the plastics company is concerned everything is ready for production if another company is interested.

 

[jscherb]

The pandemic has taken a toll on new product development at MORryde, but they're getting some traction now - yesterday UPS delivered a preproduction Trail Kitchen Sink Kit for me to evaluate. The kit includes a hinge-out tabletop, a collapsible sink, a demand pump, a faucet and the necessary hardware and plumbing.

I don't have a Trail Kitchen in a Jeep right now so I installed the parts on a Trail Kitchen on a cart in the garage. I'll install the full Kitchen in a few days and take some photos of the new sink.

The pump mounts on the front of the Kitchen enclosure, or it can mount anywhere else that makes sense for the particular configuration of the vehicle it's being installed in:

The sink table is hinged so it stores below the drawer tabletop and the collapsible sink and the faucet fit nicely in the drawer. In this photo the Kitchen is fully extended and I've put the faucet on the outboard edge of the table. The faucet bracket slips in place and is secured by the sink rim, and it can mount on three sides of the sink to the user's preferences.

The plumbing includes quick disconnects to make it easy to stow everything and connect whatever water source the user prefers.

More photos when it gets above freezing here (should be in the next few days).

 

[Tkhawk]

Any leads on where to source just that sink? I can't find a collapsible one with a good drain/stopper that also has a good lip for dropping in a cutout like this.

 

[jscherb]

Any leads on where to source just that sink? I can't find a collapsible one with a good drain/stopper that also has a good lip for dropping in a cutout like this.

I don't know where MORryde sourced the sink, sorry.

 

[TheGuyJones]

That sink looks a lot like this collapsible container. Cut a hole and add a regular sink drain.
Wakeman Outdoors 10-Liter Collapsible Portable Camping Wash Basin (kohls.com)

 

[Tkhawk]

That sink looks a lot like this collapsible container. Cut a hole and add a regular sink drain.
Wakeman Outdoors 10-Liter Collapsible Portable Camping Wash Basin (kohls.com)

That's what I was thinking, ordered this one yesterday : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NALJOWF/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_P7k4FbNQ6JG9A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 and a rv sink drain.

 

[jscherb]

Those look like the right one.

Using an RV sink drain (or a bar sink drain), one thing that I find very useful is an adapter from the drain threads to garden hose threads - that makes it easy to run the drain water in to an empty Rotopax (for example) or if appropriate to the location and it's environmentally sound (always use biodegradable soap), a longer piece of garden hose can run the drain to the ground off the the side of where you're camping.

 

[jscherb]

A "Tool Belt" for the Roll Bar

Tool belts are very convenient - many of the things that are designed to attach to them have clips that simply slide over the belt making it easy to attach/carry/detach things. How about a tool belt for the roll bar?

This is a quick prototype I sewed the other day. In the JKU:

And in the LJ:

In the JKU it's as long as it can be; if I did a TJ/LJ version it could be about 6" longer due to the longer length of the bars over the door openings in that model.

The black pouch is a Molle pouch intended for hold shotgun shells but with the elastic shell holder removed from the inside it makes a perfect sunglass pouch. The tape measures have tool belt clips on the back, and the green pouch also has a tool belt clip on the back so they all just slide onto the belt easily.

The limitation of putting this on the roll bar above the door opening is that you probably don't want to have things attached to it that hang down very far, they'd get in the way of ingress/egress. But there are lots of smaller things that be very handy to hang up there.

I sewed this prototype from scraps of canvas and leather left over from other projects, and now that I've tried it in the Jeep and find it useful I think I'll sew some using all black materials - black canvas and black leather with black thread. Those will blend nicely with the roll bars. And I'll sew longer ones for the LJ so they span the entire bar over the door.

 

[jscherb]

I just learned that MORryde released their Power Panel for the Trail Kitchen but it's not just for the Trail Kitchen - it can be very useful for powering a standalone fridge plus other kitchen accessories and also provides USB outlets for other devices: https://www.morryde.com/products/power-panel/

These are a few photos from their web site and the instructions for the product; it comes with a roll bar mount but can also be mounted to other places in the Jeep, the last photo from the instructions shows it being mounted to the MORryde inner fender ammo can tray...

I've been testing one of their preproduction prototypes for a while and I have it mounted to the side of the Trail Kitchen:

I plan to throw the Trail Kitchen in the back of the JKU this morning to finish the sink option installation; photos to come later today.

 

[14JKURX]

I like it.

I did not see a price or a recommended wire size for the power panel .

 

[jscherb]

I like it.

I did not see a price or a recommended wire size for the power panel .

If you're connecting the Power Panel in the back of the Jeep to the main Jeep battery, you should run 10-gauge wire from the battery to the Panel. I also recommend putting a 10amp fuse near the battery to protect the entire circuit.

I don't know the price and the Panel hasn't made it to retailers yet, so if you want to find out the price or you want to order one the best way to do that is to contact MORryde. You can either call them at (574) 293-1581 and ask for Sales, or email them at sales@MORryde.com.

 

[jscherb]

I completed the Trail Kitchen sink option installation this morning.

The sink in place. The faucet clips on to the sink countertop and is held in place by the sink rim; it can be mounted on three sides of the sink (two sides if you've got the clip-on extension table install as I do for my stove(s)).

Faucet on the long side of the sink:

Faucet at the forward end of the sink; it can mount here when the clip-on extension table isn't installed.

Water supply is a Rotopax mounted to Molle panel on the side of the kitchen but you could use any source that makes sense for your Jeep configuration.

Pump installation. The pump power cord is coiled up on a piece of blue cardboard so it's visible; the black cord on the black carpet wouldn't be visible in the photo.

The power panel mounted on the side of the kitchen enclosure; the top plug is the pump and the bottom one is the fridge. This is a preproduction power panel and I believe it differs slightly from the production version.

MORryde has just a few details to finish up so hopefully the sink option will be released very soon.

 

[jscherb]

Photos I forgot in the last post - MORryde supplies a quick-disconnect for a Rotopax cap:

 

[Zeep]

What is the capacity of that particular Rotopax?

 

[jscherb]

What is the capacity of that particular Rotopax?

2 gallon