Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Here are some photos of the work-in-progress on a prototype of the tailgate accessory mounting system I showed concept drawings of yesterday. I haven't done the top bracket for the Hi-Lift yet, probably will get to that this afternoon. This is really just a proof-of-concept prototype to see what dimensions work best; I'll need to do a test install on an actual JK (instead of just the tailgate in my workshop) so I can finalize dimensions and a few other details.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments you might have; your input will help me finalize the design.

 

[Jorsn]

Here are some photos of the work-in-progress on a prototype of the tailgate accessory mounting system I showed concept drawings of yesterday. I haven't done the top bracket for the Hi-Lift yet, probably will get to that this afternoon. This is really just a proof-of-concept prototype to see what dimensions work best; I'll need to do a test install on an actual JK (instead of just the tailgate in my workshop) so I can finalize dimensions and a few other details.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments you might have; your input will help me finalize the design.

What about adding a step to access roof racks? For instance take the base plate that's holding the hi-lift jack, flip it upside down, move it up to the top right and use it as a step. Is that area around the top hinge strong enough to have a step there?

 

[jscherb]

What about adding a step to access roof racks? For instance take the base plate that's holding the hi-lift jack, flip it upside down, move it up to the top right and use it as a step. Is that area around the top hinge strong enough to have a step there?

My LJ with similar hinges and also the tailgate reinforcement I designed passes the 225-lb. gorilla test just fine. Once I get the prototype installed on a JK I'll do some testing; I expect that mounting a step on the grid would work just fine, although I'd only step on it with the tailgate closed .

I do also plan to also do a tailgate reinforcement for the JK, haven't had time to get to that yet.

 

[jscherb]

I finished up the Hi-Lift mount today; here are a few photos of the prototype, some primer and paint and it'll be for some road testing.

The Hi-Lift mount consists of two parts, both of which can mount anywhere on the grid. The shovel is mounted with two Quick Fist clamps, which also easily bolt to the grid. Also I've implemented a low-cost way to allow the various accessories to be bolted to the grid without having to remove the grid from the Jeep, which makes it quick and easy to change the configuration of stuff on the grid.

 

[Jorsn]

My LJ with similar hinges and also the tailgate reinforcement I designed passes the 225-lb. gorilla test just fine. Once I get the prototype installed on a JK I'll do some testing; I expect that mounting a step on the grid would work just fine, although I'd only step on it with the tailgate closed .

I do also plan to also do a tailgate reinforcement for the JK, haven't had time to get to that yet.

You sir have thought of everything! Pretty impressive!

What do you mean by reinforcement?

 

[jscherb]

You sir have thought of everything! Pretty impressive!

What do you mean by reinforcement?

The TJ tailgate is far too flexible for today's large spares, so I designed a reinforcement which is now marketed by Gr8Tops called the Exogate. The JK tailgate is far stronger than the TJ tailgate, but still could be well served by some stiffening, so I plan to do something similar for the JK. The working name I'm using for the JK version is the GateZilla, because it will have monster strength and load carrying capacity .

 

[jscherb]

Tom came over this evening so we could do some more work on his barn door, but before we got into that we checked the fit of the accessory rack on his JK. He's holding it in place in this photo, we didn't take the time to bolt it on because we had lots to do on the barn door and limited time. But anyway, the rack fits very nicely and we'll get around to road testing it very soon.

 

[jscherb]

We got the barn door bolted in place tonight, and had lots of fun opening and closing it, slamming the door, etc. The heavy duty hinges are really smooth, and the barn door slams with a satisfying solid sound (it might not sound that way on this video, the bass response recording may not do it justice). The glass isn't in place right now, nor is the wiper blade or wiper cavity cover on the inside, but anyway here's Tom playing with his new toy...

 

[TCook]

In the above video you can see the ModuluS tailgate system in a configuration to hold the barn door with the large uprights. Since it is modular in design the idea was to have it configurable for several different options.

Here's a pic of the base configuration I used this past week to carry a fire extinguisher and Molle packs holding my first aid kit and extra storage for food. As you can see there is still additional room on the bottom for additional quick fists or other items.

 

[TCook]

There were a few requests for different mounts across the forums so here are a few quick ideas of what they may look like mounted on the base plate.

Rotopax and a Hi Lift:

Maybe a tube for transporting fishing rods.

You could remove the hi lift and get two poles:

cb antenna maybe?

full size shovel or ax?

Just a thought.

Oh and a shark with lasers. I want a freekin shark with lasers

Unfortunately it appears the shark is larger than the Jeep but here he is: (Note: We have no plans to make a shark with a laser so your on your own )

 

[jscherb]

The JK Safari Cab design is modular, with the roof, sides, rear panel and door jambs being separate components. When all of the parts are installed, it would look like this (this roof panel shows four alpine windows and a sunroof installed, all of those are optional):

The roof panel can be removed separately, leaving the other parts installed:

My plan is to also do a soft cover for the JKU Safari Cab. It would provide for a nice waterproof cabin when snapped in place, but very quickly removable for a full open air roof experience.

One of the features that's an option with both of the trailer tub kits I designed is a soft tonneau cover. It's completely waterproof and snaps off in seconds, and I think it would also make an excellent removable soft roof.

 

[jscherb]

Tom and I got a few details done on his prototype barn door installation today. We did an almost final trim on the outside of the barn door to perfect the door gap; also we checked the fit of the barn door against the factory liftgate weatherstrip and it's perfect all around, a tight seal.

The wiper cavity has the cover on in the photo of the inside of the door, although the wiring that runs from the barn door to the tub hasn't been clipped in place nicely yet, Tom will get to that soon. The wiper runs great (the arm and blade aren't installed in these photos because we don't have the glass in place). It took quite a bit of troubleshooting to get the wiper running properly with the Jeep's factory wiring because the Jeep factory service manual is incomplete - there's an important connection that's not documented in the FSM and we had to find that by tracing circuits with an ohmmeter. But we figured it out and everything works great.

Next we'll installing the defroster on the glass, and then it's pretty much ready for paint prep and paint. I'm off to Las Vegas tomorrow for the SEMA Show, so we won't get much work done on it this week.

 

[jscherb]

I did a few paint simulations on the photo I posted earlier. On the left, I've "painted" the barn door in Anvil to match the Jeep. On the right, the barn door is also Anvil, but I've painted the wide edges of the barn door to match the hardtop so the overall effect is the barn door looking the same width as the tailgate.

 

[TCook]

Here's another variation of the hinge mount. You will also have the configuration to carry dual rotopaxs and have enough room on the plate by the tire to mount a set of quickfists.

A great setup would be to carry the hilift and two rotopaxs. Here is what it may look like, we will have to do some test fitting to see if this will actually work and it would probably only work on the hinge like mine with the offset hinge pin.

All of these will be tested in the coming weeks with pictures on a JK.

 

[jscherb]

The hinges I developed as part of this project:

A spare-mounted jerry can holder that works with pretty much any vehicle that has a vertically-mounted rear spare, including the JK, TJ, YJ and CJ:

A side-mounted jerry can carrier; it's got a receiver that bolts to the frame (no drilling) and the jerry can bracket slips into the receiver making it easy and quick to install and remove (works with TJ and YJ Wranglers):

And a folding cargo rack/trail table that hangs over the spare tire:

This morning we discussed the idea of organizing an introductory group buy for forum members for the hinges or other products and they were very open to the idea.