How would you outfit this custom LJ?

[jscherb]

Yesterday I was asked to "prove" that my tailgate reinforcement/large spare carrier design could handle larger-than-stock tires.

Please try to find at least a 33x12.50 and test it on the tailgate. We need proof the weight can be held even a 35x12.50 maybe.

I was trying to decide what would be a convincing test of the weight capacity of the tailgate reinforcement... I thought maybe chaining a cinder block to the spare and driving it around would be a good demonstration... but then I decided that would be risky - what if the cinder block fell off on the road and someone behind me ran into it?

So I just decided to climb up there myself:

I'm 6' 6" and fully clothed probably 225 pounds. Plus the 72 pound spare. Plus the 20 pound barn door upper. Plus the weight of the tailgate reinforcement itself. Somewhere north of 300 pounds on the tailgate in the photo above.

I'm told a 33x12.50x15 BFG KM2 on a 15x8 Cragar Soft 8 weighs about 89 pounds.

But static weight is one thing, and moving weight is another, so now imagine this shot in motion... to really drive the point home, I started bouncing up and down on the spare, I got the Jeep moving up and down about 4" in the rear by bouncing myself up and down on top of the spare. My wife took a video of that, unfortunately it's an AVI file I don't have a way to compress it/convert it for easy viewing on the web. I'll see if I can find a way.

And how did the 225-pound gorilla bounce test go? No flexing of the tailgate, reinforcement or hinges occurred.

I don't recommend you try this with your unreinforced stock tailgate.

 

[jscherb]

A video version for your viewing enjoyment

MP4 format: http://www.long-boy.com/video/jscherb/Tailgate_reinforcement_rotated_HQ.mp4

and WMV: http://www.long-boy.com/video/jscherb/Tailgate_reinforcement_rotated_HQ.wmv

 

[Feileod]

Hinge availability?

Any word on when the hinges will be available for purchase? I have a 34" spare waiting to put them to the test.

 

[jscherb]

Any word on when the hinges will be available for purchase? I have a 34" spare waiting to put them to the test.

In that case, you want both the hinges and the tailgate reinforcement, not just the hinges. That may be what you meant, but I want to be clear that the hinges alone don't do anything to increase the rigidity of the tailgate to handle heavier spares, you need the tailgate reinforcement as well. In the video of me bouncing on my spare, both the hinges and the reinforcement are installed on the Jeep.

Progress is being made... the manufacturing guys are making up prototypes for testing, today I swapped out my hand-build tailgate reinforcement for the manufactured one to see if it performs as well as mine. I'm still running my prototype hinges, a set of manufactured prototype hinges with a few engineering changes I've requested are due to arrive next week. When they arrive I'll swap out my hand-built hinges for the manufactured ones and I'll test the entire manufactured system.

The manufacturing guys are also working on quotes for packaging and a shipping box, which is necessary for these to become actual products, and several hardware parts quotes (bolts, etc.) including options of zinc-plated steel to stainless steel to blackened stainless steel.

All of this should be wrapped within up in a few weeks, so everything is proceeding towards making this a commercial product.

The final caveat, though, is that "the company" I've been working with on the Safari Cab hardtop will need to make a final decision about whether they want to offer this as a product or not. I assume they will, but it's their final decision to make.

It may be that the company will do a short "pre-production" run of these to get some real-world test experience before committing to full production. If anyone's interested in being given the opportunity to purchase a pre-production unit, let me know and I'll pass your info along to the company.

 

[406to417]

I really hope the tail gate setup comes out soon! I have been using a 35 on my stock setup( I know, I know) and it's starting to wear.

I have a trail tray from off road trail tools on my tail gate. Would I still be able to use it with your kits?

 

[jscherb]

I really hope the tail gate setup comes out soon! I have been using a 35 on my stock setup( I know, I know) and it's starting to wear.

I have a trail tray from off road trail tools on my tail gate. Would I still be able to use it with your kits?

I'm not familiar with the trail tray product, but if it mounts on the inside of the tailgate it wouldn't interfere with the tailgate reinforcement.

 

[406to417]

Ok good. Getting really excited about this product.

 

[jscherb]

I received the updated tailgate hinges from the manufacturing guys the other day. I've installed them on my LJ Safari for testing, now I've got a complete set of "manufactured" parts installed, my hand-built prototype has been removed. I'm going to stress-test these for a few days to make sure they meet my expectations, but my initial impression is that these hinges are better than my hand-built prototypes.

Here's a photo comparing the heavy duty hinge to a factory 03-06 hinge:

And one showing the grease fitting:

The bronze hinge pin bushings and the hinge pin are replaceable as well, should they ever wear.

I'm expecting a final price quote from the manufacturing guys in the next coupe of days, then I'll be done and the company can take over (if they want to make these a product).

 

[bluejeep]

question. You've most likely thought this thru and convered it but, are you protecting your intellectual property (patents) with these items?

 

[jscherb]

question. You've most likely thought this thru and convered it but, are you protecting your intellectual property (patents) with these items?

I am taking protection appropriate to my needs and situation.

 

[bluejeep]

I am taking protection appropriate to my needs and situation.

never doubted it for a minute. I'd be happy to give a quick rundown on...
"searching the patent database, how to become patented, what a patent is/isn't, do I need a billion $ to submit a patent, how do I learn more about patenting and doing it myself?".....

if you'd like.

Offer is open to all board members as well

 

[jscherb]

Yesterday I finished the trailer project...

I painted it a GMC color, it's called Wheatland Yellow. Very close to the color or school buses, many state's DOT road service vehicles, etc. The finish turned out pretty nice, the photos don't really do it justice. In the one below you can see the reflection of the wheel/stand in the tailgate . Also notice how nicely the wheel/stand tucks up inside the frame.

If you look at the front and back panels of the trailer, you'll notice I filled in most of the factory holes, but I left the Wrangler hinge holes in place - that way if I want to build the Safari Cab camper top and switch to swinging tailgates/barn doors, it's a simple changeover. I've got two TJ tailgates in great condition set aside in case I do that project.

More to come...

 

[jscherb]

More trailer photos...

The next photo shows some of the details of the tonneau cover, you can see one of the three bows that supports the cover (they snap in place), and you can see the seal at the top of the tailgate - it's very similar to the tailgate seal on the Wrangler factory soft top. The rear tonneau bar also pulls right out when you need it out of the way. The tonneau side rails attach to the top of the tub using button-head Allen screws and standard jeep rectangular nuts, and the rails still have the standard hardtop holes/hole spacing (easy to bolt Safari Cab parts on to the tub).

There are also 6 tie-down points, three on each side. They're the same tie-downs I have in the bed of the Retro Wrangler, and I use those constantly. The tie-down eyes screw into plates in the bed floor and are easily removable should they be in the way of a particular load.

The tires are brand new 30x9.50 Goodyear Wrangler GS/A's (actually they were factory Wrangler spares that had never touched the pavement). The trailer has more ground clearance than the Jeep does, so it should work well on reasonable trails, and it can also support larger tires - I did my prototyping with 32" tires on Wrangler Moab (Rubicon) rims.

With both the front and rear tailgates down, I can probably just get away with carrying 16' boards (about 3' hanging over the trailer tongue, and about 5' hanging off the back), and since there's 49" between the inner fenders, 4x8 sheets aren't a problem either.

The flat floor area is 7' 2" long by 49" wide, so plenty long enough and wide enough to sleep 2 friendly people if I decide to continue the project and make the Safari Cab camper top.

In addition to the Raptor bed liner covering the entire interior, there's a 3/8" thick rubber mat to protect the floor (the mat weighs about 50 pounds!).

Here's a photo of the secure storage box, I started life as a 30mm ammo can, I modified it to hinge on the long side, and added a locking paddle latch. It's secured to the floor at one of the tie-down points (inside the box, so if the box is locked it can't be removed from the trailer). Removing it is a simple matter of unscrewing the thumbscrew that's inside the box screwed into the tie-down point. The box will be used for straps, the registration, trailer connector adapters, whatever needs to be kept (securely) in the trailer.

If there are any other things you'd like to see or info on particular details of the trailer I can post additional photos or more into, just ask.

 

[jscherb]

And one more...

So now that the trailer is done, I have to decide if I'm going to do phase 2 of the project and build the Safari Cab camper top for it. The basic top would look like this:

And here's one possible version of how it might be outfitted as a camper:

 

[majmjjen]

Neat

Waiting on more info on the hinges, looks like a great solution.