Are you asking about how the corners of the rear panel stay attached to the tub? There would need to be holes drilled in the rear of the tub and the flanges of the rear panel to bolt the two together. That's how it's done on the LJ Safari Cab, which is basically the same as what I'm proposing.



And speaking of the LJ Safari Cab, the photo above has roll-up soft sides in the rolled up position, so here's a modular JK factory hardtop with the same...

 

I've posted before about the slider window retrofit kit for factory hardtops I've been working on. The other day I finished up a Safari Cab side panel with a factory window to use for testing, and the first test was to see how difficult it would be for someone to remove the bonded-on factory window. It turns out it can be done with a utility knife - it takes a bunch of passes on each side to cut through the adhesive, but a utility knife will do the job.





Next I laid out the exact shape and size of a custom-fit RV-style window frame for the opening. The blue and green tape indicates the frame shape and size; any fiberglass showing inside the tape lines would need to be trimmed back so the window would fit in the opening.



The next step is for the RV window company I've been working with to make up a prototype window frame for a test install. They've agreed to make some prototype frames for me but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go any further with this project.

 

I would be happy to do a Prototype Test for a 2 door Factory hard top. You've given instructions and pix for removing the Factory Bonded window, trimming fiberglass flange. For my use, a non-motorized slider or flip-out would be best.
Driver side window preferred .
Hope "they" decide to produce these.

 

Thanks. I do have an early 2dr hardtop panel and a late 4dr panel to do initial testing with, but use and road tests will be required on real Jeeps, as well as having potential end users do the installs themselves.

Part of the problem is that there are four different JK hardtop window sizes - there's 2dr and 4dr, but also the early hardtop windows weren't as long as the later ones, so there are two sizes of 2dr and two sizes of 4dr. That's really not a problem for the RV window company, they're happy to do production runs as small as 10 pairs of windows. It's a problem for a company that might retail these - should they produce all four of the sizes? Produce just one to start and see how it goes? To offer all four they'd have to do a miminum production run of each size, and then carry the inventory. I don't know if there would be enough demand to make it worthwhile.

 

I certainly can remove my 2015 2dr hardtop glass, trim the flange, and install a prototype slider/ flip-out window.
What production numbers would make it worthwhile ?
Perhaps a comparison of Factory Production numbers for each class of hard top, 2 or 4 door, large window or small, would determine the largest number, and most likely saleable windows for 2 and 4 door tops.?

 

I believe the later model 4dr is #1, and outnumbers the #4 early model 2dr by at least a factor of 10:1. #2 is the early model 4dr and #3 is the late model 2dr. But which are more likely to want to install openable windows in the back? There are a lot of late model 4dr soccer mom Jeeps, would they want new windows? Mall crawlers? Hard-core off-roaders? Overlanders? People with dogs who want the dogs to have air back there? I don't think it can be known until windows got out on the market, which is a challenge for a company wanting to offer these window kits - what to do first if doing all 4 at the same time doesn't make sense for the company?


As for the production numbers that would make it worthwhile, it probably wouldn't take too much but I'd guess it would be at least one set of windows (of any of the 4) per week for the next several years.

 

Maybe an informal Poll on this Forum would give some preliminary numbers. It is a large and popular Forum, so responses could inform Marketing Decisions.

 

I'm working on the JK soft barn door upper, here are some photos of the frame sitting in front of the hard barn door upper. The soft barn door mounts to the tailgate with the same hardware as the hard barn door and will work with both the factory hardtop and the Safari Cab hardtop. As soon as I get a chance to verify the fit on the Jeep I'll sew the skin for it.



The LJ soft barn door worked out very well, so the JK one follows the same design, just different dimensions and shape.



I have enough steel rod on hand to make a second frame so I may end up making another one so I don't have to swap the skins to change color.

I plan to sew two skins for the JK soft barn door - for one I'll use factory black sailcloth soft top fabric so it will go well with the factory top and match the factory soft top (I've got a design for using the barn door with the factory soft top). The other skin will be done in Spice soft top fabric to match the paint color I plan for the Safari Cab hardtop.

 

Did you happen to catch the picture on the front page of a 2-dr JK from King of the Hammers? If not, I copied it below.

Looks like a Safari-esque hard-top, any idea who this is from or if it's a one-off as well?

I don't like the lines of it as much as the one you've created, looks kinda bulky, but I'm just curious who made it and if it's on the market.

 

It's a 2-door version of a hardtop Smittybilt showed at SEMA in November. As far as I know, it's not on the market. Judging by the Smittybilt trailer next to it in the photo you posted, I'm guessing the top in question was there on display by Smittybilt. Nobody I talked to at SEMA seemed to think it was a good design, most people reacted the way you did. One person I talked to there thought it looked like a marshamallow. Here are a couple of photos of the JKU version I took at SEMA: