This is seriously needed. I know there are relatively few half door JKs out there, but these would be purchased by just about all of them. Can't wait to see more!

 

Thanks. I'm just waiting for a window quote from the second of the RV window manufacturers I've been working with on the slider design. I've got one very attractive quote already, but the manufacturer I'm waiting on right now has some nice features in their windows that the first one doesn't have, so I want to get their quote and then a decision can be made to move forward on the project.

 

A few photos of the work in progress on the JK Safari Cab roof molds and parts... this may not seem too exciting, but what you're looking at is the rear half of the drip rail/mounting flange for the roof. It's sitting in place on the Safari Cab side panels. I molded two, there's a second one leaning against the workbench in the second photo.





The drip rails will go all the way to the windshield, this is just the rear half. The reason I've made the drip rail/mounting flange in multiple pieces is that the same molds can be used for both the JKU and the JK 2dr Safari Cabs. This part gets bonded to the underside of the roof panel and serves as the bolt flange to attach the roof to the modular sides and rear panel. Also it serves as a drip rail over not only the entry doors, but over the rear side windows, protecting slider windows or cargo hatches from excessive runoff from the roof, and protects the back hatch/barn door opening as well.

And since I designed the mating surfaces of the roof and side/end panels to match the profile of the factory roof, it's possible to modify a factory hardtop by installing a Safari Cab roof on it. Here are a couple of photos of the same part sitting on a factory hardtop:



It's form-fit to the curves of the factory hardtop, and fits very nicely.

I know it doesn't look like a very exciting part, but it's a key to the modularity of the Safari Cab. Also it's key to allowing the roof panel to be installed as a mod to a factory hardtop, and it's key to enabling the roof panel to be set up as a tilt-up camper top like I've shown in concept drawings over the course of this thread.

Just for fun, starting with the photo of the drip rail/bolt flange sitting on the factory hardtop I drew in the rest of the roof components and animated it. It isn't a precise drawing, just a quick sketch to show the roof panel with the drip rail. The drawn-in parts are white to match the color of the actual drip rail that's sitting on the Jeep.



Also added a slider window to the drawing, but didn't add the Safari Cab rear barn door. Anyway, just some fun with my drawing program.

The next mold I'm making is the main roof panel, that one will probably be a little more exciting than this part .

 

Beautiful ! Can't wait ! The 2dr JK will be Home Sweet Home !

 

This true goodness and I look forward to when these are available. One question - are you planning on utilizing the Freedom Top front panels in this design? You have some amazing talent. Thanks.

 

Thank you.

The front of the Safari Cab roof slopes, as you can see in this concept drawing, so it isn't compatible with the factory Freedom panels, which are basically flat.

 

I really like the "Modularity " of these ; am waiting for the "Go" bell to order windows to retrofit to my 2 dr Hardtop.
That will do until these actually are produced by a vendor, guessing timeline of 6 months + ?

 

I don't know if you're asking for a time on the hardtop windows or the Safari Cab hardtop. I don't have definitive answers for either, but here's the best I can do:

- Retrofit slider windows for factory hardtops. If there's a company (or person) that's interested in marketing them, I'd be happy to work with them and the RV window companies to have windows and the installation kit manufactured. One of the RV window companies I've been working with has said they're interested in doing the installation kit (that enables the installation of standard RV windows on the curved surface of the factory hardtop), so getting the kit made shouldn't be too hard. Getting the windows made is very easy. If a company decided today that they wanted to market these, they could be on the market in a few months.

- Cargo hatch to replace windows in the factory hardtop. Same thing as windows, except molds would have to be made if inner compartments like those I mocked up in cardboard were to be part of the kit. If it were just the hatches, they could be on the market in the same timeframe as above (these also need the same installation kit); the compartments might take a little longer. There is a fiberglass company I have worked with on other projects in the past that would be happy to manufacture the compartments, so getting them made is pretty easy once I make the mold masters (which I probably won't do unless a company is interested in marketing them).

- Safari Cab hardtop. It'll be a few more months before I've finished all the molds and have the first prototype installed on a JK for testing. Part of that time I'll be on a road trip to Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, so no work will get done then. Once I get the first prototype installed and tested, then I'll have to decide if I want to go to the trouble of working with a company to get the hardtop to market and if I decide to, a company will have to sign up to market it.

And I'm pretty sure you weren't asking about the JK half-door upper slider window project I'm working on, but the time frame for that is also a couple of months from now. I already have a company that wants to market them, and I've gotten a quote on the window manufacturing from one company, just waiting for a quote from a second company and then a production decision will be made.

 

O, the " Iffiness " of it all. Such Needful Things hanging by the thread of Mercantilism .
"Patience is a Virtue shared by Few " , guess just have to wait and see.

 

Hey, my track record is pretty good - over the past few years, about a dozen of the Jeep accessories I've designed have become products on the market (or are about to). But really I don't do this for the purpose of getting products on the market, I do it as a hobby because I enjoy the design and prototyping process, and also mostly what I design is something I plan to use myself.

If any company or person is interested in marketing anything I've designed, I'm always happy to talk to them about it to see if we can make it happen.