I installed the new skylight hinges yesterday and they checked out fine - fit is great and they seem to spring back and hold their shape. The photo below is a quick shot showing the full set of preproduction hardware in place (ignore the lights in the ceiling of the room this hardtop is set up in ).





Now that I've got the final hardware, I'll install a skylight in another Freedom Panel, photographing and documenting each step of the installation in preparation for writing the instructions for the kit.

 

Check out #3 on this list

Top 10 New Overland Products: SEMA 2017: https://expeditionportal.com/top-10-...cts-sema-2017/

 

Yep. This is super cool. I have hinge pins sitting around to replace, but I might as well wait for these instead.

 

The HD hinges are 100% stainless, including the hinge pins, so there won't be any more hinge pin corrosion once the new hinges are installed .

 

MORryde gave me a preproduction Overland Rack at the SEMA Show for me to test. Here is it at the show:



Installed on my Jeep:







I've got stock 32's, but a 37"+ tire will fit inside the rack.

Of course I did the 225lb. gorilla test:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymJcNhgu41w Overall the company has done a very nice job, but I've sent them a few suggestions for improvement.

Also checked out mounting Rubicans instead of Rotopax:

 

Any idea when their Overland Rack will be coming to market? This is exactly what I'm looking for and I'm sure it will be priced better than the $750 for Teraflex Alta and $650 Teraflex spare carrier/hinges. Already have the MorRyde rear hinge/carrier ordered.

 

They haven't given me a date yet, but I'd guess it would be sometime in the first quarter of next year. I've suggested a target price for the rack which is several hundred less than the Teraflex and they seem comfortable with that but they won't be setting the final price until release. Since the MORryde tailgate reinforcement + HD hinges is several hundred less than the Teraflex spare carrier/hinges, the total package should be priced very affordably.

 

When I was at SEMA I posted a photo of a JL grille in the MOPAR booth and said that I was thinking of doing a "JL Grille Update Kit" for the JK, which would be a JL-style grille that would install in a JK. The JL grille at SEMA:



I came across this photo of a JL yesterday:



So I edited the grille from the photo above onto a recent photo of my Jeep. I added JK-style turn signals to the JL grille because a) I don't like the fender-mounted LED strips the JL has and b) even if I did like them on the factory fenders, they wouldn't look right on my retro-styled flat fenders.



For comparison, here's the unedited photo of the factory grille (I removed the chrome "Jeep" letters from my grille when I installed the flat fenders):



As crude as my photoedit is, I like the look of a JL-style grille on the JK, especially with my Willys-style flat fenders. Seems like a project worth doing.

BTW, you can see that the JL grille slat protrude forward and have a bend in them, reminiscent of the YJ and even TJ grilles, but even if the only thing done is to make the slats taller, the same height as the JL slats, I think that looks better than the JK grille. Another photo edit, compare it to the unedited photo above:

 

A preliminary design for the JL Grille Update Kit for the JK. As this printout sits on the grille it does not have the forward bend that the JL grille has - I could do the kit like this or I could add the forward bend.



For reference, the JL grille:



Comments? The first step in this project is to get the design right on paper, then I can use the printout as a template for making the mold.

 

One other change I might make is to move the marker lights inboard a bit. I've never liked them in their factory outboard position.



for comparison, a factory grille.