Land Rover ideas for Jeeps
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
One feature I wish Jeep soft tops had is roll-up sides. They've been part of Land Rover soft tops back to the early Series models.
On a Series:
And on a Defender:
I like the roll-up soft side idea a lot, so I designed them as an optional feature of my Safari Cab hardtops, in the summer I remove the hard sides and install the soft sides. This is a feature Land Rovers don't have, the only way to get roll-up sides on a Land Rover is with the soft top, they're not an option for the hard top.
Without the hard rear panel and barn door:
Rolled down:
My JKU Safari Cab has optional roll-up soft sides as well.
BTW Jeep factory soft top sides can be modified to roll up, it's a pretty simple mod to the side panels if you've got a sewing machine. A roll-up factory side on my JKU:
The roll up sides used to be on cj soft tops, not sure why Jeep moved away from them other than they felt it better just to make them removable or they're easier to seal. I know the soft top on my s3 LR is, well, not very water tight. I suppose the easiest way to accomplish the 'look' is to just build some storage straps in to stock soft tops for YJ through JL's as storing them there instead of inside makes a lot of sense.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The extension could be designed so that it folds and stores inside the Jeep and when deployed it would clear the spare on the fully open tailgate. I did some quick photo-edits to illustrate...
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Making roll-up sides weathertight isn't difficult, some common design practices just need to be followed. The roll-up sides on my LJ are completely weathertight, and so are the factory soft sides I modified to roll up on my JKU. For me, both of these solutions are better than trying to store inflexible factory soft top side panels inside the Jeep somewhere.
very nice! Thanks. you have me considering adding a sewing machine to the workshop.The extension could be designed so that it folds and stores inside the Jeep and when deployed it would clear the spare on the fully open tailgate. I did some quick photo-edits to illustrate...
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jscherb
Expedition Leader
I do a lot of design and fabrication - welding, metal forming, fiberglass, electronics, woodworking and cloth projects and I have to say that of all the tools I have my sewing machine is my second favorite power tool. For me anyway, a sewing machine is perhaps the most useful power tool one can have to outfit a Jeep for camping and overlanding. I highly recommend having one.
I actually have two. My first sewing machine is a hand-me-down from my father, he used it to sew canvas for his boat. It's an early 60's Janome New Home Dual Duty, made back when sewing machines were all metal, built to last and icons of Japanese precision. Similar machines can be found on eBay for $100 or so and they run forever so they're a great investment.
I've sewed soft top mods, roll-up soft sides for my LJ Safari Cab, custom Molle gear, the pop-up camper canvas for my Jeep-tub trailer and lots more. There's very little you'd want to do for a Jeep or camper that it can't do.
A few years ago I added a higher-end machine, it's a Sailrite Ultrafeed walking foot machine. It's a powerful machine for very heavy duty sewing and I can do a few things with it that the Janome would struggle with but for almost anything that someone would want to sew for a Jeep or camper, a machine like the Janome is all you'd need.
I'm in the process of drafting a post for this thread for early net week showing some other recent sewing projects, stay tuned.
For me not likely given so many other options but if so, a pannier system like on adventure motorcycles might work. A frame over like some of the racks that work with soft tops with bags that mount securely. But you might need HUGE side mirrors. Since I have no roof rack, I did carry two of my giant canoeing dry bags on a recent Colorado trip in case I had cargo overflow. Figured I’d tie to rear tire if needed.Bags on the sides? Definitely have never seen this on a Jeep. Would anyone do this on a Jeep? Not sure anyone except the military does it on Land Rovers either.
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jscherb
Expedition Leader
HiLift mounted on the spare
HiLifts are not as popular as fashion accessories on Land Rovers as they are on Jeeps, but they do show up from time to time. Here's a mount for the spare. It seems pretty substantial.
I've seen a few Hilifts on Jeeps in the U.S. mounted on the spare, but never "upside down" like this next one on a Discovery. I think they did that so the head of the jack doesn't hang too low and reduce departure angle.
I built myself a similar mount a few years ago:
It used the mounting stud from the MORryde spare mount jerry can holder with a new bracket to suit the HiLift.
HiLifts are not as popular as fashion accessories on Land Rovers as they are on Jeeps, but they do show up from time to time. Here's a mount for the spare. It seems pretty substantial.
I've seen a few Hilifts on Jeeps in the U.S. mounted on the spare, but never "upside down" like this next one on a Discovery. I think they did that so the head of the jack doesn't hang too low and reduce departure angle.
I built myself a similar mount a few years ago:
It used the mounting stud from the MORryde spare mount jerry can holder with a new bracket to suit the HiLift.
Mc Jedi
New member
Being in the Pacific Northwest, all I see are branch catchers. Going down a tight forested road with bags hanging off the side just seems to be tempting every bush and tree to do all they can to rip them off.
krick3tt
Adventurer
That is what I see as a problem with the new Defender with the box and ladder on the side. The things with Jeeps, or at least the ones I have seen, and stuff on the sides is that the stuff is within the fenders of the older ones, petrol cans and such, not so much with the newer versions.
We have branches, bushes and trees in CO as well. I have lost side mirrors.
We have branches, bushes and trees in CO as well. I have lost side mirrors.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Been there, done (some of) that, part 7.
This article was about a Land Rover trip to the Grand Canyon.
A few years ago I had a magazine assignment to do a story on the Grand Canyon Railway so I did a lot of what they talk about in this article, although I didn't have time to do the trip down to the river.
Info on the trail to the river: https://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/grand_canyon/peach_springs_canyon.html
For the magazine assignment I was driving a rented 2wd Cherokee out of Las Vegas and I did do quite a few miles on forest service roads to get photographs of the train in scenic wild settings, but the trail from Peach Springs down to the river was way out of the way for what I needed to do for the magazine so I couldn't do it on that trip. We plan to take that trail in one of our Jeeps and camp at the riverside the next opportunity we get.
My article as published:
This article was about a Land Rover trip to the Grand Canyon.
A few years ago I had a magazine assignment to do a story on the Grand Canyon Railway so I did a lot of what they talk about in this article, although I didn't have time to do the trip down to the river.
Info on the trail to the river: https://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/grand_canyon/peach_springs_canyon.html
For the magazine assignment I was driving a rented 2wd Cherokee out of Las Vegas and I did do quite a few miles on forest service roads to get photographs of the train in scenic wild settings, but the trail from Peach Springs down to the river was way out of the way for what I needed to do for the magazine so I couldn't do it on that trip. We plan to take that trail in one of our Jeeps and camp at the riverside the next opportunity we get.
My article as published:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I've gotten a lot of inspiration from some of the "soft goods" for camping and overlanding shown in Land Roverb magazines. Here are some examples:
A "pockety-hangy-downy thing"? Is that Brit for hanging organizer? "Bivvi Organizer" is short for Bivouac Organizer BTW. What's different about this one is that it hangs with magnets.
Canvas Kitchen - If all you need is a simple place to hold some utensils and a work surface, maybe this would be useful.
A bunch of toiletry bags have been covered in the magazines.
Same thing from the other magazine:
Another one:
And some first aid bags:
Next post: some of what these have inspired me to design and sew.
A "pockety-hangy-downy thing"? Is that Brit for hanging organizer? "Bivvi Organizer" is short for Bivouac Organizer BTW. What's different about this one is that it hangs with magnets.
Canvas Kitchen - If all you need is a simple place to hold some utensils and a work surface, maybe this would be useful.
A bunch of toiletry bags have been covered in the magazines.
Same thing from the other magazine:
Another one:
And some first aid bags:
Next post: some of what these have inspired me to design and sew.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I like the idea of the organizers that hang from someplace on the vehicle or perhaps on a tree. I also liked the work surface/table that was part of the "Canvas Kitchen" in the previous post although I don't like the design because the angle isn't adjustable in case it isn't hanging level. I wanted to use those features but also have a convenient way to store and carry the organizer, something like a tote bag that could zip open and hang, so I came up with one basic design that I used to make three different organizers.
First I did a kitchen organizer.
It can hang on the hardtop window using suction cups.
It stows nicely between the back seat and the front of the Trail Kitchen:
Then I did a toiletry bag. Zipped, it looks like this:
I did a work surface/table in this one, it's got a good size glass mirror, places to hold TSA-sized toiletry bottles plus a number of pockets on the inside and on both sides of the outside to hold whatever you might need. Here it is hanging from the hardtop and from a tree:
The third one is a first aid bag.
All three of the bags...
Photos in the Land Rover magazines started me along the path to designing and sewing all of them.
First I did a kitchen organizer.
It can hang on the hardtop window using suction cups.
It stows nicely between the back seat and the front of the Trail Kitchen:
Then I did a toiletry bag. Zipped, it looks like this:
I did a work surface/table in this one, it's got a good size glass mirror, places to hold TSA-sized toiletry bottles plus a number of pockets on the inside and on both sides of the outside to hold whatever you might need. Here it is hanging from the hardtop and from a tree:
The third one is a first aid bag.
All three of the bags...
Photos in the Land Rover magazines started me along the path to designing and sewing all of them.