So your son is a Nittany Lion. Same here. I went there back in the early nineties for Economics and Finance. I am originally from Md. I moved to Florida back about 93 right after school.

 

The SMS process definitely sounds a little unnecessary unless the manufacture was selling them with every other new vehicle. As for the cost of supplies, when you say $600, is that just in fiberglass or is that windows, hardware etc included?
And of course, as I'm sure you realize, I'll take one if you ever feel the need to fabric one for a 4 door JK.
I don't know if it is to personal or out of bounds but I'm sure as the creator of such a product you are compensated by taking this to market. If I knew someone interested in manufacture and distribution what type of arrangement would be the norm. Prepayment for rights, molds, consultation or royalty. I ask only because I work with a few thousand car dealers and I am located in a pretty big "boat production" area. Searay and the like.

 

$600 is the cost of the fiberglass components. After that it depends on how you equip it. If you did slider windows on the sides, a fixed window on the barn door and on either side of the barn door those all could be had for about $200 wholesale from an RV window manufacturer (probably would require a dozen sets to get the wholesale production pricing). The Alpine windows in the roof would add a bit more, and the price of those would vary depending on where you sourced them - they cost me about $12 each including weatherstripping. Adding the wiper/washer to the barn door is probably $150 or maybe a little bit more depending on how you sourced the wiring extension for the wiper. The necessary hardware could probably be sourced for $100. Buying the fiberglass materials the way a shop would instead of paying retail like I do, the total cost in materials would probably be under $1000.

Arrangements for licensing products like this vary, but usually include an up-front license fee and a per-unit royalty on sales. The royalty is usually a single digit percentage of the retail price. If a significant amount of consulting is required to help the company get the product into production, sometimes a consulting arrangement is done as well.

 

This thread is so large I am having trouble finding pics of the JK model you produced. I have only found the design photos (I think that's what they are - photos of a JK done on some type of illustrator with the top to alter the image).
I am surprised that you haven't found anyone willing to produce the JK top. Do you have plans and molds for the 2 door and 4 door? Also I was wondering if it would fit all JKs or only the later models (11-16). I don't think there were any differences in the top for the 07-10 but I know the smallest (unnoticeable to the trained eye) variation could cause it not to be compatible.

 

Here are a few photos of the finished JKU top.





With the sides and doors off for open-air driving...



The top will fit all years. The JKU molds are complete; to make a 2-door top I only need to make the side panel molds; the roof can be made in the same mold as the 4-door, although for production it would be a separate mold.

Three companies have been interested in marketing the top. One had to be ruled out because they would need me to do the manufacturing (it was one of the big Jeep catalogs and they don't really manufacture things themselves). Another company only wanted to sell the top as part of it's big-bucks custom Jeeps, they had no interest in selling the top by itself, so that didn't interest me.

At this point it's unlikely I'll license the top to anyone; I doubt enough of them would sell to make it worth my while to put the effort into helping a company get it into production.

 

I'd think it would be a little later than the optimal time to market it since they are going out of production however with 2 million of them sold I would think they have a large market. I just don't think they have been put in front of the main stream jeep buyers. If it wasn't for this forum I never would have come across it in the first place. Of course there are many factors that could affect the sales of them besides exposure. The price point being one of the biggest. If it can be manufactured, marketed and distributed for less than an Oem replacement top I think it could be worthwhile for years to come. Additionally one of the biggest factors will have to do with the popularity of the upcoming JL model. It could make the JK more desirable. I don't think much will make it less desirable. It already has the highest residual value on the market

 

I knew I forgot something. Those pics make me envious of whoever has that one. It looks incredible and I think it really expresses what the jeep lifestyle is all about. I did have one other question. How does the top handle high speeds when only the top is on. No sides, 80 mph. Of course it's noisy (wind) but how about vibration and flexing? I would think it would have a tendency to bow or bounce.

 

The Jeep in these photos is mine. It's one of my daily driver Jeeps.

There's no bad behavior at high speed with the sides off. The roof is very strong and rigid, and it's tied to the roll bars. The roll bar tie-in prevents any movement of the roof, and allows heavy loads can be supported on top, even with the sides off. Supporting a roof-top tent and its occupants is no problem at all since no weight is borne by the fiberglass - all weight on the roof rack is passed through to the roll bars.

 

Great design. I probably wouldn't be doing much camping but it is nice to know that it is that strong. Falls back to an earlier thought I had about it - How much weight could it support with a roof rack installed.

 

Another thought that I had if you can't find a manufacture for the tops would be to sell plans (how to) and possible even DIY kits. Just manufacture the parts and sell the parts. It might make it less expensive.