Land Rover ideas for Jeeps

[jscherb]

Defender Camper Trailer - every issue of both magazines has a classified ad section in the back. Mostly they list various Land Rover vehicles for sale by owner, but in the July issue of Land Rover Monthly this Defender Camper Trailer was listed:

I think the design of the Defender/Series Land Rovers lends itself well to turning the back half into a trailer or camper.

Back when I first built the LJ Safari Cab hardtop, I did something similar - I assembled some extra hardtop parts into a camper top for my Jeep-tub trailer. I built it just as a proof-of-concept, so I never completed it. After assembling it and loaning it to Gr8Tops to display at a show, I removed it from the trailer and went on to build other things to top the trailer.

I put a barn door on the back and a liftgate (or should I say "catflap"? ) on the front:

Since it's made of Safari Cab parts with only minor adaptations, and since the Safari Cab is in production at Gr8Tops, it would have been fairly easy to turn it into a commercial product that could be used with the fiberglass Jeep-tub trailers offered at dinoot.com. Probably there isn't enough interest in such a camper to make it worthwhile though.

I've still got the parts but I doubt I'll ever do anything more with it.

 

[jgaz]

Old school curb feeler comes to mind

That's the only thing I could think of.

The “cat whisker” was the outer window seal at the belt line……no clue why it was called cat whisker.
We return now to our regularly scheduled Programing.
Sorry for the derailment

 

[jscherb]

There's an article in the current issue of Land Rover Monthly about a Defender built for what the builder calls "wild camping".

I've posted about these ideas before, but he's got "airline tracks" mounted on the side of his hardtop and on those he's got a swing-down recovery tread mount/table.

The Drop Down Table/Sand Track Storage is from Ratel X Industries: https://www.ratel-x.com/

They also make jerry can carriers to mount on the tracks:

Setups like this are not uncommon in the Land Rover world. I wonder why we don't see this done on Jeeps?

 

[derkleinejeep]

You can have such a setup on the Jeep too.
We have mounted also some airline tracks at our hardtop.
First setup was for our skiers to mount them outside of the Jeep.
But it will also be good for water, fuel, sand tracks etc.

 

[jscherb]

You can have such a setup on the Jeep too.
We have mounted also some airline tracks at our hardtop.
First setup was for our skiers to mount them outside of the Jeep.
But it will also be good for water, fuel, sand tracks etc.
View attachment 670903

Very nice!

 

[RainGoat]

You can have such a setup on the Jeep too.
We have mounted also some airline tracks at our hardtop.

That looks great & I’ll bet it’s very versatile-well done!

 

[jscherb]

I regularly see questions on forums from people wanting to implement an internal release for their Wrangler tailgate. This request often comes from people who plan to sleep in the back of their Jeep and want to easily open the rear door for egress. I don't think there's a product on the market to do that for the Wrangler, but Discovery owners who want to open their rear door from the inside can pick up this kit. From the June issue of Land Rover Owner:

The kit is for Discovery 3 and 4. It comes with a flush mount cable actuator that in the Discovery. Seems like a cable actuator like this could be adapted to a Wrangler tailgate latch mechanism. A photo from the kit instructions showing the cable actuator, in this photo it's connected to the Disco's power latch mechanism.

Seems like there would be a market for a kit like this for the Wrangler.

On a related subject, when I first built the LJ Safari Cab and installed the rear barn door, I decided it would be very handy to have a power lock for the tailgate/barn door. I installed an actuator inside the tailgate to move the lock rod, and it worked very well. In this photo the latch cover is removed and the actuator is visible (the orange part to the lower right of the latch mechanism). The JK and later Wranglers now have a power lock in the back, but TJ's didn't so I had to implement it myself.

 

[pith helmet]

Mine isn’t too fancy but a very simple and useful mod for sure I just slipped a small heavy duty key ring around the latch mechanism via the plastic vent and tied the paracord to it.

 

[jscherb]

It's not uncommon for people with YJ's to convert to a CJ-style dash, and sometimes TJs get backdated with CJ-style dashes although those are more difficult to do than YJ's. But I've never heard of anyone with a CJ wanting to modernize to a YJ or TJ dash.

From the July issue of Land Rover Monthly, I guess some owners of older Land Rover want a newer look...

In the Wrangler world, a backdate kit for the TJ that implemented a CJ dash would probably be popular.

 

[Zeep]

I think the dash in the TJ, is part of what made it so popular. Finally a Jeep, with modern HVAC controls.

 

[ChadHahn]

i liked the dash on my YJ. It, and the steering wheel, and the sound of the motor reminded me that it was a truck.

 

[jscherb]

Exmoor is really promoting their door pocket panels lately... recently they posted them on Instagram and the other day they posted them again on Instagram:

For the Jeep: I sewed a prototype of a JL/JLU/Gladiator door pocket panel the other day:

 

[Jim K in PA]

I think the dash in the TJ, is part of what made it so popular. Finally a Jeep, with modern HVAC controls.

Agreed - after having driven CJs and YJs, The TJ/LJ dash was a leap forward for a truck used as a DD. It's one of the few things I have NOT changed.

 

[Zeep]

Agreed - after having driven CJs and YJs, The TJ/LJ dash was a leap forward for a truck used as a DD. It's one of the few things I have NOT changed.

I have a Metra kit to update the head unit to 2din. Still shopping for a head unit.
Thinking I might like to have one with TPMS.

 

[Jim K in PA]

I have a Metra kit to update the head unit to 2din. Still shopping for a head unit.
Thinking I might like to have one with TPMS.

The stock radio is one thing that I will upgrade, and incorporate both rear camera and TPS, if available. I have not pursued this yet.

Hey @jscherb Jeff - Have you done any fiberglass voodoo with the old TJ/LJ center binnacle for the stereo?