Land Rover ideas for Jeeps

[jscherb]

Earlier in this thread I posted this item:

I've been thinking maybe an auxiliary panel like that custom-fit to the Wrangler dash might be useful, so I did a quick concept design and printed it on cardstock. There are a few places on the dash it could be fitted, in this photo it's at the top of the LJ's center stack:

Being there it gets in the way of the dash-top tray, so in this photo it's moved in front of the tray:

But in front of the tray it gets in the way of the defroster vent, so in this photo it's on top of the instrument panel:

The same three positions in the JKU. The top of the center stack is a little narrower in the JK so it looks slightly wide here:

But in the JK it doesn't interfere with the defroster vent when placed in front of the tray:

In the JK the instrument panel is lower relative to the steering wheel so to make the switches visible there I had to tilt the steering wheel down a bit, since I'm tall I normally have the wheel tilted all the way up.

It's just a cardstock idea for the moment, but if I decide on a good place for such a panel maybe I'll make a mold and do a few prototypes to try out. Suggestions and criticisms welcome, you can help me decide if I take this idea any further.

 

[Zeep]

Not sure how much space is available inside. But, what about the center windshield trim, above the mirror on the LJ?

 

[jscherb]

Not sure how much space is available inside. But, what about the center windshield trim, above the mirror on the LJ?

Could put it there, this cardstock mockup might be a little wide but it's just a printout so it can be made the right size. I think running all wires up there for whatever switches and gauges might be there could be a problem?

For me that location wouldn't work because that's where my GPS lives:

 

[Zeep]

I thought I remembered you having something up there. Your threads are getting so long, it's hard to remember what is in what! I've never had my trim off, so I don't know what kind of real estate exists behind the panel. Always thought it would be a good place to mount something along the lines of your panel.

 

[jscherb]

Converting ex-military Defender ambulances to campers is not uncommon in the U.K., I've posted several examples over the course of this thread, here's one:

What about a military ambulance version of the Wrangler that could be converted? A company called AADS specializes in the design, manufacturing and supply of military Jeep vehicles, and that includes a JK8-based military ambulance.

More AADS vehicles: https://aads-gib.com/jeep-vehicles.html

With that flat roof it wouldn't be too hard to convert it to a pop-top...

 

[14JKURX]

I like the JK8 Ambulance but it doesn’t have a Barn Door.

 

[jscherb]

I like the JK8 Ambulance but it doesn’t have a Barn Door.

Maybe they should have asked me for help with the design

 

[14JKURX]

I bet you could have fixed them up!

 

[jscherb]

I bet you could have fixed them up!

Here you go, fixed it with a few photo edits...

 

[pith helmet]

Here you go, fixed it with a few photo edits...

That gives me butterflies like the Sears catalog at Christmas.

 

[jscherb]

Exmoor recently posted this photo on Instagram to promote their Canvas Rear Door Card with pockets:

More info on the product here: https://www.exmoortrim.co.uk/canvas-door-card-rear.html

I'm not aware of any similar products for the Jeep. There are lots of MOLLE panels for Jeep tailgates, and Bestop has a product called the Roughrider Tailgate Organizer that consists of two pouches that hang on a mounting strip that attaches to the tailgate , but nothing that I'm aware of with pockets like the Exmoor product above.

I wonder why there are no pocket products for Jeep tailgates?

Back in the dawn of the TJ era, Bestop offered a tailgate pocket product, I've got an example of it on my Safari Cab trailer tailgate:

I find it very handy, in fact it's more handy to me for how I use the trailer than a MOLLE panel would be. If I wanted a MOLLE panel, I'd install an Overland Outfitters TJ Tailgate MOLLE panel there but the Bestop pockets serve my needs better than MOLLE would. I guess the Bestop product wasn't too popular because I believe it was discontinued after only a few years.

I've got a pocket panel in the back of my LJ pickup cab, and I do use it. It's actually Overland Outfitter's Gladiator Storage Panel that I made a minor adaptation to fit the hardtop bolt spacing of my pickup. OO tells me it's a fairly popular product with their Gladiator customers.

A few years ago I was in Ikea and came across a few inexpensive pockets that I couldn't resist buying:

I posed them on some tailgates in the workshop to see how they might work out there:

I could see them being used in multiple places in a Jeep in addition to the tailgate. For example, if you punch a couple of holes for the headrest posts in the Stickat pocket it makes a nice seat-back pocket panel:

Exmoor also makes door cards with pockets for Land Rovers and in India there's a company that makes similar products for Mahindra Thars. And little to no MOLLE panels in either of those places.

I still wonder why pocket panels aren't more popular in the U.S.?

BTW I've suggested to OO that they turn these pockets into products - they mount in a variety of ways and places and match their very popular door pockets. They're individual pockets and not part of a single pocket panel like the Exmoor product at the start of this post, but maybe they could start a pocket popularity movement here .

 

[jscherb]

I was thinking more about the Ikea pockets I posted yesterday and thought I'd try them in a few other places. In my last post I showed the black pockets hanging from the seat back, they could also be very handy on the side of the Trail Kitchen (the kitchen isn't in the Jeep at the moment so you'll have to use your imagination a bit). I hung them with magnets rated at 45 lbs. each, probably that's enough to keep the pockets in place on the trail but if not the pockets could be attached more securely.

The holes the magnet clips are using are the ones I made to hang the pocket on the headrest posts a while back.

They black pockets also could be mounted to the hardtop bolts behind the rear seat. Different holes would need to be made in the top of the pocket, but the spacing of the holes in the hardtop is well within the width of the pocket back.

And the wider blue one could hang nicely from the back of the back seat:

The pockets are just posed in the photos above, not really attached, but it wouldn't take much effort to hang them.

FWIW, a couple of Ikea products that cost less than $10 each that could be useful in a Jeep, inspired at least a little bit by all the pocket products available in the Land Rover (and Mahindra) world.

 

[ZONE ZERO]

Not sure if you have seen this company but their interior design work on the defender is breathtaking

outlander

Outlander Vehicles produces the best modified bespoke and custom Land Rover Defender in the world, from Edinburgh Scotland. In addition to commissions outlander also offers teak and walnut deck cubby boxes consoles and music systems. Woven leather and tweed interior also available along with 18&quot

www.outlandervehicles.com

 

[jscherb]

This photo was in the September issue of Land Rover Owner:

I noticed the spare cover has a pocket on it so I looked it up: https://escapegear.com/product/spare-wheel-cover/. It's not expensive - $41-$74 USD, although I'm sure it's not worth the shipping cost from South Africa even if they would ship it here.

Here's another one with a pocket:

That one is from The Overland Co.: https://theoverland.co/products/copy-of-spare-wheel-cover-with-pocket-khaki. I couldn't figure out which country they're from, the photos on their web site show Land Rovers but they say they ship product from Istanbul or Texas.

I don't think I've ever seen a Jeep on the road or trail with a tire cover that has a pocket so I guess they're not too popular here, but there are at least two companies in the U.S. that make them. This one from Boomerang Enterprises is called the Joey (https://boomco.com/shop-by-accessory/spare-tire-covers/joey-pack-cargo-tire-cover/):

And this one is called the Rugged Tire Cover and it's from a company in Florida called SewDope Upholstery (https://www.ruggedtirecover.com/shop/p/scb3vhde56921jcxqhu2rbmqsezo2x):

And here's one from Retrofit Offroad: https://www.retrofitoffroad.com/product-category/tactical-spare-tire-covers/

Pockets in spare tire covers seem useful to me, I wonder why I never see them on Jeeps.

 

[jscherb]

As long as I'm on the subject of spare covers with pockets... I do like the pocket idea and a few years ago (long before I had seen any of the ones above) I designed a spare cover with a pocket; the pocket fits things like a recovery strap nicely:


They're easy to sew, so I made 4 different colors to try out.

I used a tan one on my JKU for quite a while until I swapped it for a spare tire bag that I designed (more on that in another post soon).

I'm using a black one inside the LJ for the next two weeks - I'll be driving to Las Vegas and back to attend the SEMA Show and I'm on a very tight schedule so I'm carrying a second spare because I won't have time to get a flat fixed or a get new tire if something happens on the road (or the trail - I am spending one day on the way out exploring off-road). Using the cover inside the Jeep is nice because it keeps things clean .

In my previous post on this subject I included a link to a spare cover that Retrofit Offroad sells - their spare cover is this design.