JK Hardtop rear quarter window storage

[expeditionerd]

Inspired by the Storage window replacements for Land Rover Defenders, I thought how awesome would it be if one day these windoors were created for JK hardtops.
Opened up my sketch book garbled something quick and a few moments later I ended up rendering them in SketchUp.

Still need some definition, on how hinges work, how would it properly seal when shut, locks, etc.
The ones I've seen for Defenders have the hinges on top, and are definitively more spacious since there's no rollbar to deal with.
I thought that moving the hinges to the bottom would allow for the windoor to double as a handy fold down tray.

Uploading them here with the hopes that enough rally behind the idea, and luckily, someone with good manufacturing power can bring them to market.

 

[Ursa Minor]

I pencilled something similar but to me it seems the table on a fold-down win-door may be too high to be comfortable. Countertops are at 36", so on a stock Jeep like in your model that's about the top of the fender flare. On any sort of lifted JK, that's about even with the top of the tire tread. I'm going toward a swing up design as a result - John

 

[forsakenfuture]

That is awesome!

 

[Bennyhana]

Awesome idea. The only small problem I can see is if you have the roll bar going through the box, you can no longer remove the top.

 

[expeditionerd]

John, if there' was someone out there that I was hoping would see this thread... that was you!
Excited to hear you were already toying with this idea.

I hear you on the tray being borderline too high. I guess I'm quite biased, since I'm borderline too tall (6'6). Without a lift, a bottom hinge is perfect, and I'll have to crouch on a top hinge.
Let's forget about edge cases like me here.

In the hopes to evolve the idea a bit, what do you think about the shelf and the sealed compartment idea?
On the down side, as Bennyhana mentions, removing the hardtop is not that easy anymore. ( I was thinking this can be solved by having that sealed compartment be bolted on ).
On the upside, if you made use of all the dead space around the roll bar, that's all the vertical space from the top of the wheel well to the ceiling of the hardtop. You also gain a super clean interior wall and at the same time you increase security.

 

[jrueppel]

Excellent idea! Thanks for fleshing th e design out. Similar idea I've seen on a Defender had side tables Hung from the top ofthe tub. The looked like boxes which built out the area from the tub down to the rear fender. When open the table folded down to.a usabl height. The designer is actually here somewhere on the expo. i'll try and find a photo of his work to add here for example when I get off the road. There's probably a few ways to get some mileage out of that space. Parden the typos, this Android phone is doing funky things with the insertion point.

 

[Jorsn]

This is a brilliant idea! I've always wanted to do something with the extra space in that area.

I agree that it would be best to have it bolt on that way you can still remove the hard top.

Also, It would be cool if you could mount a Rotopax water or gasoline pack on the outside. Like make a mold or somehow have it mount to the door then just remove it when you need to open the door. Something like this... http://www.rebeloffroad.com/product_p/roe-jk-wr.htm but preferably not $400 :Wow1:

 

[forsakenfuture]

I would actually like it just to open up to the inside of the Jeep with out storage boxes.

 

[kai38]

I saw this at the TDS Desert Safari a vendor with the rotopack fuel cans mounted there.
I don't have a JK thought it looked interesting.

 

[kb7our]

Great ideas here guys. John - Keep cranking out the J180s and Habitat shells plus the forged parts for early adopters, then when you can take a look at this project how about offering either top or bottom opening and also with or without an insert shelf/cubby? Basically make it modular with a couple different possible configurations to accomodate the various needs. With a Habitat and a planned rear shelf above a combo fridge/stove slide, I would probably be inclined to shoot for a flip down high shelf to set stuff on and an opening into the side of the JK to get to stuff sitting on the rack. Seems like a few options are plausible without getting crazy from a cost/benefit standpoint. I think the Rotopax window is way too costly for what it is - I inquired about storing fuel there (wanted to carry 5G per side) and they said it's only made for the small storage unit so I went with the AEV fuel caddy on the tire carrier.

 

[voodoojk]

that rotopax window is made by rebel off road. Great guys...

http://www.rebeloffroad.com/product_p/roe-jk-wr.htm

 

[Jorsn]

that rotopax window is made by rebel off road. Great guys...

http://www.rebeloffroad.com/product_p/roe-jk-wr.htm

Looks like they are $389 EACH :Wow1::Wow1:

Definitely wayyyy overpriced.

I'm pretty sure that you can only use the black storage pack and none of the liquid rotopax.

 

[ReconH3]

Excellent idea! Too bad I don't use the factory hardtop or I would be one of your first. Client. I may borrow the idea and fabricate my own access hatch for my slant-back hardtop.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

Sent from my iPhone

 

[voodoojk]

its a little pricey...but not far from the cost of the actual oem glass thats about $300 a side

 

[expeditionerd]

For further inspiration, these are the ones I've found for Defenders.

In my opinion, the best looking one, and better finished one is done by Dolium in Australia
http://www.dolium.com.au/Retail_Catalogue_page/LRGD_item.html




These are done by FrontRunner in South Africa
http://www.frontrunner.co.za/fr_products/defender_accessories.php




And a few more from around the interwebs, some I couldn't tell where they are made and some custom solutions:

http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=55634
http://www.flickr.com/photos/footrotdog/4268495872/