Thanks! I won't get to drive it often, and she'll be very happy with it, but most of it is wasted on her - she would have been plenty happy if all I did was install the barn door with the factory hardtop - easy access to cargo is all she really wanted.

 

Now to get on with some of the reasons for the Safari Cab being a modular design... in this photo I'm pulling off one of the side panels off to check the fit of the c-pillars (rear door surround) for the soft sides...



The c-pillars are what the soft sides attach to at the back of the doors. They're still unpainted white fiberglass, so they need to be painted spice.







A few concept drawings showing what the roll-up soft sides will look like:





Before I sew the soft sides I'm going to sew a final spice cover for the soft barn door.

 

Putting the JK Safari to work this morning doing a little hauling.

 

I started this project about two years ago - the project started with just the barn door, which was to be part of the eventual JK Safari Cab, but also intended to work with the factory hardtop. I built the molds and molded two barn doors and once they were done I started work on the full hardtop. About a year into the project, and long after my design was committed and concept drawings were posted, the Jeep Underground debuted their "Africa" concept. By coincidence, the Africa has a roof that's very similar to the Safari Cab roof, it's got a barn door in the back, and it has side-mounted jerry cans. When the Africa was revealed some people posted that they thought Jeep got their ideas from my postings since my design was posted long before they showed the Africa, but I believe Jeep worked independently to come up with the Africa design - I think the similarities are just a coincidence.

Some of the similarities and differences:

Barn door. The Africa barn door is one piece, and is larger than the Safari Cab barn door. The Safari Cab barn door is two-piece, and works with the factory tailgate and either the Safari Cab or the factory hardtop.

Roofline. The rooflines of the Africa and the Safari Cab are very similar. The Africa roofline is a bit different from the Safari Cab across the back, and this is partly because of the larger barn door on the Africa. The Safari Cab has Alpine windows in the roof but the Africa does not. The Safari has a drip rail all the way around, including over the barn door, the Africa does not have a drip rail over the barn door.

Roof rack. The Safari Cab has integrated roof rack support; the Africa has a drip rail mounted roof rack. The Safari Cab can also support a drip rail mounted roof rack, but I prefer the ZJ Cherokee rack on the Safari Cab for everyday use.

Jerry Cans. The Africa side mount jerry cans are mounted down low and because of that have to be custom - the cans have an angle cut from the front of them so they clear the fender flares. The Safari Cab side mounts are higher so standard jerry, NATO or Sceptre cans (or Rotopax containers) can be mounted. The Africa cans, because they're custom and on a concept Jeep, are non-functional, although they could be made to carry fuel. BTW the side mount carriers on my Jeep are off-the-shelf items, and bolt to existing bolt holes on the Jeep - no drilling.

Modular vs. Full body. The Africa concept is a full body, the hardtop is not removable. The Safari Cab hardtop is separate from the body, so it installs just like a factory hardtop, but it's also modular, which makes it easy for one person to install/remove and easy to store when off the Jeep. The Africa body is lengthened behind the rear wheels, providing for more cargo space. The Safari Cab fits a standard (non-lengthened) JKU tub. (There's also version of the Safari Cab that can be built for the 2dr JK).

Windows. In addition to the Safari having Alpine windows, the Safari has opening power vent windows on the sides - the Africa side windows are fixed glass just like the factory hardtop windows.

Swappable hard sides/roll-up soft sides. Safari Cab FTW .

I thought it would be fun to take some pictures with poses similar to some of the published Africa photos, so here goes.








For a better comparison, I edited an Africa photo to shorten it back to standard JKU length. It's still got some lift and larger tires than the JK Safari though...



I really like the Africa design, but I'd rather have the Safari Cab with it's extra features .

 

I am so impressed with the idea and execution on both of these tops, absolutely fantastic work. Thank you for sharing all the details.

 

I did about 800 miles in the new JK Safari yesterday, I'm doing a last minute road trip/shakedown cruise. The top performed up to expectations, here are a few impressions from the trip so far:

- It's quieter than the factory hardtop. Probably this is because of the insulated headliner, I don't know of any other reason it would be quieter.

- Visibility out the back is much better than the factory tops (hard or soft). The opera windows on the back really add to visibility when lane changing or merging, and not having a wiper motor or third brake light obscuring the rear window improves visibility a lot.

- Speaking of the wiper, I did quite a few miles in hard rain yesterday, and the wiper pattern on the back window provides excellent visibility. Good view behind and of the lane to your left.

- And speaking of hard rain, all of it stayed outside the Jeep. No leaks.

- The power vent windows are the big surprise for me - I used them a lot. Flow-through ventilation is greatly improved when they're open, with the HVAC on the outside air/vent position, when I open the rear vents I can feel a big increase in air flow out of the dash vents. Having the vent windows powered is really handy, this is now one of my favorite features of the top.

- One problem I had to fix - I hadn't tested the rear washer before I left and on the road I discovered it wasn't working. I removed the washed nozzle at a gas stop and poked it with a paperclip - something had clogged it. Now it's working great, provides a nice stream of washer fluid to the back window. (The nozzle is in the barn door, next to the wiper, so it's not visible in any of the recent photos - it's hidden behind the spare and sprays upwards).

 

Parked next to this one during a stop today today. He's got a lift and larger tires than mine, but both Jeeps are about the same height due to the taller Safari Cab.

 

That top

 

I found another use for the Safari Cab vent windows the other day... I needed 10' of molding, which would have fit inside the Jeep, but it was only available in a 16' length, so...

 

I just got the new Quadratec catalog and it has a brand new Smittybilt Safari style top. It actually looks pretty damn good, and the price is reasonable. I'll be looking into it for sure.