Converting a factory JK/JKU hardtop to modular

[mightykais]

i have a 4 door JKU and I have two ideas on the hard top that I am wondering what the best/simplest route would be. The first is to mimic the new Ford Bronco and try to create two more freedom panels that go over the rear seats. The second would be to have a removable panel over the rear seats but keep the fiberglass instead of adding a moon roof like in previous posts. I am wondering if weatherstripping like the below link would add enough to the panel to avoid adding on fiberglass to the panel. If I did the extra freedom panels I would hope to have the new panels slide into some type of weatherstripping and hopefully just use the existing screws that hold the front part of the panels to the roll bar.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions on how the best route?

Thanks.

Black U Channel Edge Trim Seal EPDM 15/32" high x 19/64" Wide (3 Feet) - - Amazon.com

Black U Channel Edge Trim Seal EPDM 15/32" high x 19/64" Wide (3 Feet) - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[jscherb]

i have a 4 door JKU and I have two ideas on the hard top that I am wondering what the best/simplest route would be. The first is to mimic the new Ford Bronco and try to create two more freedom panels that go over the rear seats. The second would be to have a removable panel over the rear seats but keep the fiberglass instead of adding a moon roof like in previous posts. I am wondering if weatherstripping like the below link would add enough to the panel to avoid adding on fiberglass to the panel. If I did the extra freedom panels I would hope to have the new panels slide into some type of weatherstripping and hopefully just use the existing screws that hold the front part of the panels to the roll bar.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions on how the best route?

Thanks.

Black U Channel Edge Trim Seal EPDM 15/32" high x 19/64" Wide (3 Feet) - - Amazon.com

Black U Channel Edge Trim Seal EPDM 15/32" high x 19/64" Wide (3 Feet) - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

The seal you've linked to is a solid seal and is unlikely to provide the sealing you'll need. Take a look at the Freedom panel seals, the door seals and the liftgate seals - they're all bulb-type seals. They are bulb seals for a reason and that's what will serve best for the applications you're considering.

I would recommend a push-on bulb seal like these from Trim-Lok: https://www.trimlok.com/rubber-extrusion/trim-seal.

A push-on bulb seal was used for the Freedom panel pop-up skylights posted earlier in this thread.

 

[mightykais]

Do you think this would give me the necessary overlap between the new panel and hardtop to avoid fiberglass work?

Or will I still need to add some fiberglass to the top so that the new panel will have something to rest on?

 

[jscherb]

Do you think this would give me the necessary overlap between the new panel and hardtop to avoid fiberglass work?

Or will I still need to add some fiberglass to the top so that the new panel will have something to rest on?

If you plan to use the piece you cut out of the hole to be the removable panel, the answer is no. You'll need about 1/2" overlap in all directions in order to get a good seal. You may not be able to tell from the photo, but the glass panels in my last post overlap at least that much and completely cover the bulb seal.

Also, the piece you will be cutting out of the roof is likely to be only 1/8" thick, depending on exactly where you cut it. That will not be rigid enough to cause enough uniform pressure on the bulb seal to be waterproof so you will need to reinforce the panel. Look at how rigid the Freedom panels are and how much they overlap the bulb seal and you'll have a reasonable example of what you need to do (any many people still complain of Freedom panel leaks).

You'll also need to figure out what type of latches to use and how many you'll need to get even pressure all around the perimeter of the opening. Best practice with bulb seals is to get 35%-50% compression for best results, so the latching needs to be done with the proper pressure.

BTW if you examine the Freedom panels they take a "belt and suspenders" approach - if the seal fails there's still a channel that will direct a reasonable amount of water away and keep it from leaking in.

Getting a weatherproof seal isn't rocket science - there are best practices that can be followed to achieve success, but taking any shortcuts will result in leaks.

 

[Bobs85Reny]

I really like those pop up skylights on the freedom panels. Now that I just recently got a JK this is something I would really like to do. Is there a kit available?

 

[jscherb]

I really like those pop up skylights on the freedom panels. Now that I just recently got a JK this is something I would really like to do. Is there a kit available?

I like them a lot too, they're a nice alternative to getting a little more light and some air without the hassle of where to store Freedom Panels in the Jeep when they're removed. My Safari Cab hardtop doesn't use Freedom Panels so I don't use them myself but occasionally they get used on my son's 2dr JK.

The skylights in the photos are a kit that I decided wouldn't be worth putting on the market. When I first designed them I thought it might make a nice DIY kit so I arranged for an RV window company to make the tempered glass panels, I arranged for a hardware manufacturer to make the hinges (they're heat-treated spring steel as per current automotive industry practice for rear quarter vent windows) and I sourced the latch (an overseas Mazda part) and sourced the weatherstrip, so pretty much all of the production engineering and sourcing was done but in the end I decided that not enough people would want to cut holes in their expensive Freedom Panels to make a kit worthwhile so other than the pair in the photos and some extra preproduction parts I've still got on hand, that's as far as it went.

 

[Bobs85Reny]

If they were to become available as a kit I would buy it. Looks like a fairly simple fiberglass project. Keep me posted if you change your mind. I have a 2016 JKU with the earlier version hardtop. You make some great products.

Off topic, I have an exogate on my LJ and its been on there for many years and its a quality product. Is there a version of it for the JKU.

 

[jscherb]

If they were to become available as a kit I would buy it. Looks like a fairly simple fiberglass project. Keep me posted if you change your mind. I have a 2016 JKU with the earlier version hardtop. You make some great products.

Off topic, I have an exogate on my LJ and its been on there for many years and its a quality product. Is there a version of it for the JKU.

View attachment 611669

Yes, there's a JK version, it's been on the market for several years: https://www.retrofitoffroad.com/sho...vy-duty-jk-tailgate-hinges-reinforcement-kit/. A bunch of accessories are also available for it - Hi-lift carrier, Rotopax carrier, over-the-spare rack, etc.

 

[Tkhawk]

Well I messed up somewhere. I guess I didn't sand enough off or clean the surface enough afterwards. Is there anything I can do to salvage it, short of breaking it off and starting over?

 

[jscherb]

Well I messed up somewhere. I guess I didn't sand enough off or clean the surface enough afterwards. Is there anything I can do to salvage it, short of breaking it off and starting over?

Looks like you didn't get a good bond between the new flanges and the hardtop surface - you did use an SMC-compatible resin, correct? Sometimes SMC resins don't bond as well as you'd like if the catalyst/resin ratio was off a bit.

I would try breaking the new flanges off the hardtop panels and then epoxying them back in place, holding the joints together with clamps while the epoxy sets overnight. I'd use West System Six 10 epoxy, it comes in a convenient tub that fits in a standard caulk gun: https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/six10-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/

If you can't break them completely off, perhaps you can pry up the badly bonded sections, insert epoxy in the gap and clamp them overnight while the epoxy sets.

The Six 10 tube is very convenient but coming out of the tube as it does doesn't give you the opportunity of adding tint to the mix to make the epoxy white. If you'd like to do tinted epoxy I'd use West System G/flex 655 (https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/gflex-655-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/) and white tint (West System 501 is one example but most marine stores will carry white tint as well).

 

[Tkhawk]

Looks like you didn't get a good bond between the new flanges and the hardtop surface - you did use an SMC-compatible resin, correct? Sometimes SMC resins don't bond as well as you'd like if the catalyst/resin ratio was off a bit.

I would try breaking the new flanges off the hardtop panels and then epoxying them back in place, holding the joints together with clamps while the epoxy sets overnight. I'd use West System Six 10 epoxy, it comes in a convenient tub that fits in a standard caulk gun: https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/six10-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/

If you can't break them completely off, perhaps you can pry up the badly bonded sections, insert epoxy in the gap and clamp them overnight while the epoxy sets.

The Six 10 tube is very convenient but coming out of the tube as it does doesn't give you the opportunity of adding tint to the mix to make the epoxy white. If you'd like to do tinted epoxy I'd use West System G/flex 655 (https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/gflex-655-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/) and white tint (West System 501 is one example but most marine stores will carry white tint as well).

Thanks, yeah I used the smc all resin. I sill have some 6 ten epoxy and one more mixing tip so I'll give that a shot. I'll just spray some white paint on it if I end up with some visible resin.
Thanks again!

 

[Tkhawk]

Well it's done finally... kinda. I got the wrong black paint and I will eventually clean up the inside where I had to go back and add epoxy under the flanges. But I love it! Thank you @jscherb for the instructions and help along the way!

 

[jscherb]

Well it's done finally... kinda. I got the wrong black paint and I will eventually clean up the inside where I had to go back and add epoxy under the flanges. But I love it! Thank you @jscherb for the instructions and help along the way!
View attachment 624054View attachment 624055

Looks great! Nice how the roof rack brackets support the roof panel. Everything work out ok with the sides/back panels?

 

[Tkhawk]

Thank you! Yeah, I really like how clean it looks.

Yes, I squirted some of the 6ten epoxy into the gaps where it had pulled apart and it's holding good. It's been on for almost 3 months and only one more small section peeled back, so I'll shoot some epoxy into it before I put it back together.

 

[JDaPP]

What rack/rack brackets are those?