Chiming In From Oklahoma
First off, so sorry that it took me so long to find this thread and hopefully answer some questions and get some further information out. Versus trying to reply to each individual post, I've made a list of questions/comments/opinions and I'll do my best to address them all in this post, and at least start the baseline for further conversations.
So, as everyone is already aware, we displayed a brand new JKU at Expo with the Gazelle extension kit & new top installed on it. As far as the Gazelle kit goes, it was the 3rd kit ever produced, and is the only one that has ever been imported into the USA. The kit was originally purchased with the intention of installing it for a customer who'd been interested in the kit for several years and we were finally able to get our hands on one that had been sitting here in the USA for a year or so. The customer we built the rig was very enthusiastic with the product and decided to put a proposal together with Gazelle to begin importing the kits (in partnership with us @ EO) and be the exclusive distributor for that product line here for North America.
For the sake of honesty, my expectations were pretty low for the fitment of the kit & components prior to their arrival. I really expected there to be significant issues with fitment/installation and expected it to require a lot more than Gazelle's advertised "bolt on" extension. To all of our surprise, the kit installed very easily, and with a few minor tweaks/changes based on differences between US & European vehicles, everything worked exactly as it should, and the kit works very well. There are certainly areas for improvement on some of the components, and we are addressing those things. A lot of the areas we feel "need improvement" have been addressed in the new production model kit, and we look forward to receiving them in the coming months.
To answer/address some specific items/questions:
1) The rear extension piece is not only a fiberglass piece. It is a stainless steel skeleton with a fiberglass mold around those pieces. On the driver side, the stainless plates bolt into the location of the factory tailgate striker and slider, and on the driver side, into the 6 factory tailgate hinge bolt locations. Inside the extension, the stainless framework extends up into the passenger side to incorporate the mounts for moving the tailgate and supporting the weight of the tailgate. Additionally, in areas where other things bolt in (such as taillights, rear bumper, etc.) there are threaded stainless plates molded into the fiberglass to allow secure mounting of those items. The extension piece itself is much stronger than I expected it to be before installation, there is absolutely no deflection of that piece even with the top off and no floor plates for additional support.
2) To address questions regarding supporting a spare tire, etc. On the Gobi JKU at Expo, we used a TeraFlex rear tire carrier/reinforcement plate to support the 35" spare tire as well as a shovel, Rotopax, etc. on a custom fabricated mount. The "show Jeep" now has about 3000 miles on it (had 34 when we started) and has shown absolutely no issues with that particular system being used and mounted to the fiberglass extension. No damage to the fiberglass, no warping, rattles, etc. Those miles are a mix of highway, offroad including trails in Moab, crappy Oklahoma roads, etc. To be clear, this shouldn't be the only option that someone has to settle for, but I feel comfortable saying it is definitely a viable option and works well.
3) Regarding the rear receiver hitch extension that was used on the Gobi Jeep: That was in no way installed as a support to the bottom of the kit, nor was it installed with the intention of pulling a trailer. We are absolutely aware that having a 14" receiver extension degrades the tow capacity of any vehicle and is not a realistic option for pulling a trailer. That receiver extension was installed because 1) we were on a very tight timeline to get the rig finished for Expo, and 2) we knew that we would be wheeling the Jeep on the way to Expo & after, and we wanted to make sure we had a solid rear recovery point. Thats why in pictures/video underneath, there is no trailer wiring, etc.
4) Regarding the floor, yes, the floor that was in the show Jeep is the floor that Gazelle provided with the extension kit. Out of everything in the kit, it had the most fitment issues. It was CNC routered and cut by them, and can & will be done better on production models. I don't really feel it is fair to describe it as just a sheet of plywood, as it is a little more than that, but it definitely can use some improvements and a little better attention to detail, and that is being/has been addressed.
5) Installing some type of corner armor would be absolutely no issue on the kit, whether it was AEV Corners or a full length style corner such as Poison Spyder. The only issue with using an off the shelf corner would be the fuel door location, so it would take some fabrication to fill in that hole but definitely doable and no reason why they wouldn't fit and protect the fiberglass.
6) Rear bumper - this is a big one. The rear bumper that was provided by Gazelle and installed on the Gobi JKU was 100% and completely fiberglass, minus a very small diamond tread trim piece above the rear step. It fit really well, and looked pretty good. It bolts into the bottom of the extension piece and is pretty well supported. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. We are working right now on several different versions of a rear bumper with some additional options and intend to make them available when they are tested/fitted/ready to go. There are a lot of customers whose use of a Gazelle equipped vehicle would not be hampered in any way by having a fiberglass bumper, and I'm probably one of them. During wheeling tests on some pretty decent trails we managed to "slap" the bottom of the extension/bumper once, and I cringed when it happened (before Expo), but there was absolutely no damage to the bumper nor the extension. The fiberglass is more resilient than I, or a lot of people probably give it credit for. Having said that, we are working on a metal rear bumper, most likely out of aluminum to save weight.
7) Frame extension - Again, a big one, and something that we're working on right now. It will be a bolt in extension, and tie in with both the extension kit and rear bumper. Now, having said that, there is a heckuva lot of liability in production of some of these items, so while they're being looked at and addressed, they won't be available until we're 100% comfortable with them and have tested them well and know that they will fit.
8) We're also looking at quite a few different iterations of the kit past its present form. Options to include, extended top with no tent, options for a 2 door based on lots of requests, miscellaneous interior cabinet systems, etc. Lots and lots of stuff in the works right now and in the pipeline.
9) Pricing - another big one. This product is manufactured currently in Poland, and they do a very good job of it based on what we've seen so far. I can guarantee that regardless of price & profit margins, if it is ever manufactured anywhere aside from Poland and we're still involved in it, it will be here in the United States. We could probably have the kit made in China and be able to retail it for 4K, but we're absolutely not going to even explore that option, because we'd be buying back every 4th kit due to defects. We are exploring North American manufacturing (actively). We've spent the last 4 days completely disassembling the kit and having full high-res 3d scanning done on every piece and part, and we are doing that with the manufacturers/designers from Gazelle's blessing to explore whether it is more cost effective to produce the kits domestically. The pricing on our website that currently reflects $15K is an estimated price, there are a lot of variables that can affect that price one way or another. Additionally, the $15K price estimate includes about $1000.00 worth of components from a MOPAR dealer, as the kits are designed based around 2007-2010 JK rear windows, and thus, for all of us with newer JKs a new rear window and other components are required. So, customers with a 2010 and back JK can expect a savings there as well, and dependent on how much you want to remove from your factory hard top the savings can be extended even further.
As we stand right now, we have 20 Gazelle kits in production, with the first container slated to arrive sometime in September. We are strongly shooting for before Expo East, but its still too early to tell. The kits that are incoming will be available in several different configurations, to include a base system, all the way to a fully loaded system with built-in cabinetry and everything in between. We've got multiple kits spoken for already for customers, both DIY and who want a complete turn-key build, and I think once we have all the details ironed out and more information to provide regarding pricing/options/etc. the demand will grow considerably.
I apologize for the long reply, I wish I'd have seen this thread earlier to answer questions in each individual thread versus a big long post. I hope that this helps answer some questions/disperse a little more information about not only the JKU we built for Expo but also the kits and what the future has in store for them. I am 100% happy to answer any additional questions, and am now subscribed to the thread so I won't miss them. Thanks!
Matt Green
Owner
Exploration Outfitters
matt@explorationoutfitters.com
