Land Rover ideas for Jeeps

[jscherb]

A chop-top Discovery. If you cut the top off a Cherokee you could do a similar half cab soft top...

Maybe add a rear window too.

If I were doing a Cherokee chop-top, I think I'd start by measuring the top of the Cherokee windshield to see if a TJ or JKU soft top could be adapted to fit, then I'd resew the Wrangler top as necessary to fit the Cherokee. Would have to build some new door surrounds for the different shape of the Cherokee doors, but I think a factory soft top would be a good place to start.

When I built my pickup, I shortened the factory soft top to fit; of course it was a lot easier to do that than it would be to fit a Wrangler top to a Cherokee, but assuming a few basic dimensions were ok, a Wrangler top could probably be modified to fit a chopped Cherokee with a little sewing.

 

[wandererr]

Can't really do a similar setup on a Cherokee as it is a unibody and you have to do a cage of sorts to prevent it from folding like a taco

I know a guy who did something like this close to 20years ago and he spent a lot of fab work to do it right but the result was nearly factory look.

Regarding ideas, I know it's not from a rover, but rather from a close cousin of sorts - this to me is the perfect setup for a spare tire and a fuel or whatever else - double gate

 

[jscherb]

Can't really do a similar setup on a Cherokee as it is a unibody and you have to do a cage of sorts to prevent it from folding like a taco

I know a guy who did something like this close to 20years ago and he spent a lot of fab work to do it right but the result was nearly factory look.

A chop-top Cherokee is definitely a solvable engineering problem, and if the solution included a cage there are lots of aftermarket Wrangler half-cab soft tops that work with roll bars that could be a good starting point for a soft top for the conversion assuming a few basic dimensions were close, like the width at the windshield header.

Regarding ideas, I know it's not from a rover, but rather from a close cousin of sorts - this to me is the perfect setup for a spare tire and a fuel or whatever else - double gate

I posted these earlier in the thread, so I guess we can call the double gate idea a Land Rover idea. They both show two spares, but I've seen them with a spare on one side and jerry cans on the other.

Seems like it would be awkward to get into the cargo area with something like this on a Wrangler - you'd have to swing both spares aside, then swing the tailgate aside, then the liftgate. My preference is one operation with a barn door and a tailgate reinforcement that can carry the spare plus a jerry can or propane tank and everything opens in one operation.

 

[jscherb]

Dual spare carriers seem to be more common in Australia, perhaps for those long expeditions in the Outback. Here's one from Rijidi Offroad (https://rijidijoffroad.com.au/products/defender-dual-wheel-and-jerry-can-carrier/) for the Defender which offers either a second spare or optionally a pair of jerry cans and one spare.

Australian company Outback Equipment offers one of the JK (https://www.outbackequipment.com.au/twin-rear-spare-wheel-carrier-to-suit-jeep-wrangle):

Notice in both the Defender and the JK cases, the tail lights have to be relocated to the bumper because the spares/jerry cans obscure them.

The Outback Equipment web site doesn't indicate any provision on their JK carrier for jerry cans, so apparently it only support two spares and not jerry cans.

Here's something interesting from another Australian company, Aussie Offroad - they offer an add-on swing-away jerry can carrier for their bumper (https://aussieoffroad.com.au/dual-jerry-can-holder/). It's only 250 AUD (about $192 US). Pretty reasonable.

If I were to build a dual-gate spare carrier + jerry carrier for a JK, I'd look at starting with a commercial swing-away spare carrier/bumper for the JK and modifying it to place the spare all the way on the right, and I'd see if it were possible to get one of the Aussie Offroad jerry carriers from Australia (their web site also offers the bearing/attachment hardware) and graft that onto the left side of the bumper.

It's not something I'd want on my Jeep though, because even though I have a barn door, it would still be three operations to get into the cargo area - swing away the jerry cans, swing away the spare and then open the barn door. Without a barn door, add opening the liftgate to the process, making it a 4-step operation. And I definitely don't want to add that much weight to the rear of the Jeep, since I already have a fridge/kitchen in the back and the RTT on the roof towards the back. When I need to carry extra fuel I use the side mounts up front or occasionally a single can mounted on the tailgate hinges/reinforcement and those have worked out very well for me.

 

[jscherb]

A couple of weeks ago I posted about Exmoor door cards for Series Land Rovers; I shared this photo Exmoor posted on Instagram:

I just came across a similar product for the Mahindra Thar and since it's for a Mahindra I posted it in the Mahindra thread. The Mahindra doors are not too different from TJ/YJ/CJ doors so these door cards are a good example of what a similar product for those Jeeps might look like.

More in this post: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...mahindra-of-india.222439/page-21#post-2929930

 

[jscherb]

A few weeks ago I posted this piece about an Exmoor Bulkhead storage bag (https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/land-rover-ideas-for-jeeps.218029/page-55#post-2926699):

The other day Exmoor promoted it on Instagram with a photo showing it in a Series Land Rover:

Shouldn't be too hard to adapt it to hang from the back of the rear seat in a Jeep if that would be useful to you.

 

[wandererr]

So I had some time and did a thing

Unfortunately I don't think I'm too happy with the result as the upper corner deflects a bit causing some flex . Might not be an issue too much... Though maybe I will box the upper edge as well and then flip it so that the edges point towards the spare tire . I did the design originally this way to have the rotopax rest on the lower edge as it sat. After mounting it, the flex might be a bigger issue... The joy of designing stuff... Sad part is that I don't really have time for redos...

Did some poking around: alternatively, I might just fold back 90 degrees the upper edge towards the tire and maybe 1/4" fold in of the edge of the surface that mounts to the hinge.... It'd stiffen up the mount and it would stiffen up the backplate..... Kinda like they did here:

https://www.quadratec.com/sites/default/files/styles/product_zoomed/public/product_images/gp-factor-hinge-rotopax-mount-jk-lifestyle-bracket-installed-solo.jpg

Should probably invest into a metal brake one of these days... using vice, 20 ton press and a sledge does make it hard to get this done....

 

[jscherb]

Back in November I posted a photo from a magazine showing a propane tank mount on the hardtop (https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/land-rover-ideas-for-jeeps.218029/page-24#post-2853086):

I also posted about the propane tank mount I made for my Jeeps. I didn't post a lot of detail about it then, but I installed it today for a trip so I took a few photos of the install in case anyone else wants to do something similar.

I made a set of brackets that mount to the tailgate hinges. These mount to my MORryde HD hinges, but it would be possible to build something that mounts to the factory hinges. They're made from 1/8" steel plate:

The brackets installed:

If someone doesn't have the ability to fabricate brackets like these (1/8" steel is not easy to bend at home), here's a set of commercial brackets that work very well for this application: https://www.rockler.com/heavy-duty-steel-shelf-brackets-black-finish. I built a proof-of-concept using these commercial brackets and it worked very well:

The MORryde hinges are designed so that things can attach to them using the holes in the face of the hinge. The holes are fairly large (by design) so either a nut plate with a threaded hole in it, a large plate with a hole and then a nut, or a nut plate with a j-nut can be used. I made these simple nut plates out of 1/8" steel with a hole large enough to clip a j-nut into. The plate is large enough to span the hole.

The propane tank tray installed:

These brackets (both the ones I made and the commercial ones) are very sturdy and different types of trays can be bolted to the top of the brackets for different purposes, left to right, a Blitz commercial jerry can tray, a MORryde HD tall jerry can tray, a MORryde ammo can tray with a 60mm ammo can, and a tray I made sized for a propane tank.

To carry a 5-lb. propane tank without making a custom tray, a commercial substitute could be the MORryde ammo can tray (https://www.morryde.com/products/ammo-can-tray/). Jerry can trays are too narrow, but the ammo can tray works fine for the wider propane tank:

 

[jscherb]

From an Exmoor Instagram post the other day:

I posted these items about that bag earlier in the thread:

Over the past year or so I've done some experimenting with various storage ideas on the Wrangler grab bar. I found this leather "biker bag" at Sktcraft Surplus in Orlando for about $10, it's designed to go on the handlebars of a motocycle but I adapted it to the grab bar:

And this is a toiletries bag I found at a Duluth Trading store; I added straps to it so it can attach to the bar:

In the LJ:

At the Bantam Show a week ago, Overland Outfitters announced the availability of their grab bar storage solution, it'll be shipping within two weeks. A few photos of the prototypes:

In a JL:

I took this shot on a recent trip to Florida a few months ago, the bag is very well used by my significant other. In it, left to right - some kind of spicy snack, I'm not sure what she has in the pocket with the flap, her sunglasses on the right, and in the back pocket is a mask, some hand lotion and a receipt for something.

 

[jscherb]

From the July issue of Land Rover Monthly... no room inside? Put your cooler on the roof rack?

It's a Dometic cooler (not fridge):

A ladder would be a good option to have to help you get a cold drink out of the cooler though.

I can't tell why the guy on the third vehicle back is on his roof. Standing on Land Rovers is a pretty common thing I guess.

At least the color of the cooler matches the Land Rover (and the recovery tracks) .

 

[JDaPP]

Here you go (https://military-tent.com/gemifoco4ga1.html):

There's also one with 3 interior compartments (https://military-tent.com/german-military-food-containers--3-part3.html):

The insulated cover I sewed today wouldn't fit this because the top of mine is sloped to match the slope on the cap side of the jerry can - the top of this cooler is level. Easy to sew one with a flat top though.

Received the 3 part container (thanks again for the link) and it works but not quite as well as I was hoping for. Didn't want to bog down your thread so I created a separate thread and would be interested any ideas you might have. Thanks, Joe. Can you make a electric travel cooler out of a Mermite food container? | Expedition Portal

 

[jscherb]

Anyone up for some bulletproof "grillage" (that's their word, see the ad below) on their Jeep? These were recently advertised in one of the Land Rover Magazines...

I was tempted to draw a concept image of something like this on a Wrangler but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

 

[mog]

Anyone up for some bulletproof "grillage" (that's their word, see the ad below) on their Jeep? These were recently advertised in one of the Land Rover Magazines...
I was tempted to draw a concept image of something like this on a Wrangler but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

People put 'Angry Eyes' grills on their Jeeps, so that is proof that some people will put anything on them.

 

[jscherb]

I haven't seen any soft tops for Wranglers in camo fabric. Is that because nobody would want one?

 

[pith helmet]

I was tempted to draw a concept image of something like this on a Wrangler but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

That is pretty ugly although useful. If I was using our JK daily the way I use my truck, I would likely go with a bull bar and expanded metal to protect the dainty grill area.