ZONE ZERO
Active member
thanks, I really appreciate it. the back barn doors been on my mind for a Jeep since I owned yj years ago
Maybe something different 2018 unlimited Kalahari addition
- Thread starter ZONE ZERO
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thanks, I really appreciate it. the back barn doors been on my mind for a Jeep since I owned yj years ago
ZONE ZERO
Active member
33x9.5r15s god I miss those tires and my YJ I use to run them on an xj I’d kill for a true skinny for the JK
ZONE ZERO
Active member
Well I’m not dead yet still making progress after some failed attempts these are damn close to being ready one is with a place for a factory jk wiper motor the other is with out , both would have factory type glass with defroster.
‘I’m open to suggestions the goal is factory look and quality and ease of installation .
‘I’m open to suggestions the goal is factory look and quality and ease of installation .
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ZONE ZERO
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Well it’s been about a year since I’ve posted up, but I have a bunch of progress on a few projects.
The jeeps going in tomorrow for 4.88s and a rear locker. They are also going to look at the feasibility of removing the factory cage and moving everything up and out of the way to give the interior more room.
The rear hatch is finished and on the jeep I need to do some minor tweaks and find some better gasket material for the window but it’s water tight, quiet and the best part, it’s completely 3d printed out of ABS/carbon fiber with M5 brass inserts to attach the brackets to the tailgate .
I finished it with high build primer and 3 light coats of bedliner. The brackets are just aluminum flat stock and L channel I’ll need to clean them up and finalize that part and add nutserts to the tail gate.
I also spent most of last winter working on an E-bike with a custom 3d printed “‘tank” aka storage compartment front fender and a charging cover that al magnetically attack to the frame.
The jeeps going in tomorrow for 4.88s and a rear locker. They are also going to look at the feasibility of removing the factory cage and moving everything up and out of the way to give the interior more room.
The rear hatch is finished and on the jeep I need to do some minor tweaks and find some better gasket material for the window but it’s water tight, quiet and the best part, it’s completely 3d printed out of ABS/carbon fiber with M5 brass inserts to attach the brackets to the tailgate .
I finished it with high build primer and 3 light coats of bedliner. The brackets are just aluminum flat stock and L channel I’ll need to clean them up and finalize that part and add nutserts to the tail gate.
I also spent most of last winter working on an E-bike with a custom 3d printed “‘tank” aka storage compartment front fender and a charging cover that al magnetically attack to the frame.
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ZONE ZERO
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I had a lot of trouble with the T channel around the corners. and the window bond needs to be cleaned off the glass. If anyone knows a good way to get the T-channel to lay flat on a bend I’d appreciate the insight.
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ZONE ZERO
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This last part is the E-BIKE build. the big reason for this was I can’t pedal a bike anymore or for that matter go hiking due to an injury, so this gives me the opportunity to get out and enjoy myself with out having to deal with a motorcycle or dirt bike. I modled the tank/cubby after old British Nortan and triumph bikes.
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ZONE ZERO
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This might interest some of you too , this box is meant for a Jeep JL but was easily modified to work on my hard top with some flat stock aluminum, 4 bolts and a drill bit. The empty weight is around 40lbs it has a removable table attached to the face, and when the doors opened and down it acts as a second table it’s also lockable.
the only thing I would recommend doing is adding better door gasket to the box I found during a rain storm on the highway water found it’s way inside .
the only thing I would recommend doing is adding better door gasket to the box I found during a rain storm on the highway water found it’s way inside .
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ZONE ZERO
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Thanks, it means a lot .
teaching myself fusion 360 and using poly cam was a huge undertaking.
so all in not considering my time.
the hatch cost around $ 8.50 to print
total cost was just about $145.00 because for the tinted window.
i need to find someone with a factory JK and JL so I can scan and make hatches for those models Too.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
One thing to be aware of when doing a barn door for the JL and the later model JK hardtops - the factory liftgate/opening is wider than the tailgate.
On the Smittybilt top and the early JK hardtops, the liftgate is the same width as the tailgate so there are no real complications in making a barn door for those models.
On the later JKs and JLs, because the hatch is wider than the tailgate, part of the hatch is outboard of the tailgate hinge pin. What this means is that the part that's outboard of the hinge pin swings inward as the tailgate swings outward, the result of which is that the combined tailgate/barn door upper won't open with the factory hinges.
The molds I made for my barn door are capable of making early JK or wider late JK barn doors and for the later model barn doors I designed "wide swing" hinges that place the hinge pin at the far end of the liftgate opening. In this photo, the upper hinge is a wide swing hinge, the lower is factory, you can see the different location of the hinge pin in the upper hinge:
The photo above was taken to illustrate the difference between the factory and the wide swing hinges; the tailgate won't function properly with hinges with two different hinge pin locations - both hinges need to be the same
.The JK wide swing hinges are a fairly simple variation of the HD JK hinges I designed for MORryde, so if there was ever a need to make wide swing hinges available probably MORryde could be convinced to manufacture them.
On the JL, wide swing hinges are a little more complicated because the tail light housing is where the hinge pin would need to be, so the JL would required a more complex hinge design to place the hinge pin in the proper location.
Though you might want to know this before going to the trouble of designing barn doors for the later models
The good news is that the Ursa Minor JK top uses the early model narrow liftgate, so the factory hinges woth fine with a barn door on that top.
ZONE ZERO
Active member
I remember that from talking to you and doing some measurements at the dealership, I actually have your hinges on my tailgate and love them. They should have come from jeep like that in the first place.One thing to be aware of when doing a barn door for the JL and the later model JK hardtops - the factory liftgate/opening is wider than the tailgate.
On the Smittybilt top and the early JK hardtops, the liftgate is the same width as the tailgate so there are no real complications in making a barn door for those models.
On the later JKs and JLs, because the hatch is wider than the tailgate, part of the hatch is outboard of the tailgate hinge pin. What this means is that the part that's outboard of the hinge pin swings inward as the tailgate swings outward, the result of which is that the combined tailgate/barn door upper won't open with the factory hinges.
The molds I made for my barn door are capable of making early JK or wider late JK barn doors and for the later model barn doors I designed "wide swing" hinges that place the hinge pin at the far end of the liftgate opening. In this photo, the upper hinge is a wide swing hinge, the lower is factory, you can see the different location of the hinge pin in the upper hinge:
The photo above was taken to illustrate the difference between the factory and the wide swing hinges; the tailgate won't function properly with hinges with two different hinge pin locations - both hinges need to be the same
The JK wide swing hinges are a fairly simple variation of the HD JK hinges I designed for MORryde, so if there was ever a need to make wide swing hinges available probably MORryde could be convinced to manufacture them.
On the JL, wide swing hinges are a little more complicated because the tail light housing is where the hinge pin would need to be, so the JL would required a more complex hinge design to place the hinge pin in the proper location.
Though you might want to know this before going to the trouble of designing barn doors for the later models
The good news is that the Ursa Minor JK top uses the early model narrow liftgate, so the factory hinges woth fine with a barn door on that top.
you can do some pretty wild things with additive manufacturing you just can’t accomplish in other ways.
I’m working on some other projects, but i agree the simplest way around the problem is changing the hinges.
next up is a full rear door, to match a hard top we’re working on .
my wife and I get stoped a lot by people asking about the Jeep or even what is it, where did it come from.
I’ll be the first to admit if I had gone with my original plan and made this out of fiberglass or even sheet metal I would have been done in a few weeks.
I modified, destroyed, reprinted probably 10-15 different designs, then realized “keep it simple” make it work and install easy and not look like it came from Amazon and I might be on to something.
Part of that was trying to get the biggest piece of glass I could to fit without taking away from the strength and shape .
these pictures were after a 3 day print, only To find out it did not seal around the opening of the hardtop
but we came up with a system to attach the pieces together like LEGOs then melt them in place so it essentially become one sold part.
