ive searched to see if some one makes a visor for a jk or something that slightly sticks out such as a squared off light weight light bar to slightly resemble a visor sort of, (like the led light strips 50 ") I dont care for led lights . But i do think something up there would look good. But something that wont interfere with soft top or become a whistle maybe like the lund ones had a few orange lights in them i had some on my old trucks and liked them.

 

Progress on the slider retrofit kit for factory hardtops: here's a peek at what the installed slider window looks like. It's installed with the retrofit kit that adapts the flat RV-style window to the curved window mounting surface of the hardtop. The parts are just sitting in place because the installation isn't completed yet, hopefully will get the window fastened in place tomorrow.

 

A few photos of the prototype window frame installed.





An inside view. This isn't a factory hardtop panel, it's a panel molded quickly just to do preliminary installations tests before a test is done on a real hardtop, so the inside is just rough fiberglass, but it does show what the inside clamp ring looks like.

 

It's hard to find a good place place inside the Jeep to store the soft top side panels when they're removed, so to solve that problem back in the fall I modified a factory side panel to roll up - rather than removing/storing them, I figured if they were converted to roll-ups I could have open sides without the storage problem.

I modified the panel after I had removed the soft top for the year so I didn't get to test it until today, now that winter is definitely over here I just put the soft top back on.

Rolled up:



Rolled down/zipped:



I also reinstalled my ammo can trays over the inner fenders; the cans are easily accessed through the rolled-up window...

 

Something else I was able to test yesterday now that I've got the soft top back on...

I've designed the soft barn door so that it can be used with the factory hardtop, the factory soft top and the Safari Cab, but since I didn't have the soft top installed when I sewed the soft barn door prototype I haven't been able to verify the fit of the barn door with the soft top. Before I sew a final skin to replace the camo prototype, I needed to verify the fit with the soft top, so I did that yesterday.

What you're seeing in this photo is the soft barn door on the tailgate, closed in front of the factory soft top rear window.



If you're wondering why I've got the factory rear window in the photo, it's because it will become part of the soft barn door assembly. The soft barn door needs a door jamb to close and seal against, so the design calls for the door jamb to be integrated with a factory rear window. By making the jamb part of a factory rear window, the door jamb panel zips into the factory soft top with no modifications to the soft top. I did the same thing with the TJ soft barn door design, this next photo shows that one and you can see how the door jamb is attached to what used to be a factory rear window. The jamb for the JK soft barn door will work the same way.

 

Now that the factory hardtop is off for the season, I'll be doing a final test fitting of the Safari Cab to ensure everything fits perfectly, and then I'll begin the final finishing and paint work.

I've set things up so installation/removal of the Safari Cab is an easy one-person job - the side panels are small and light, and while the roof is a bit large and awkward for one person to handle solo, I store it above the Jeep hanging from the garage door rails so installing or removing it is pretty easy - drive under, release the u-bolts hanging it from the rails and set it down on the Jeep. It's just as easy to remove it, I lift it one end at time the few inches needed to secure it to the rails above.



In this photo the Safari Cab upper jambs/surrounds are installed; also the rear surrounds for the soft sides are in place.

There's another configuration possibility for the JK Safari Cab that I haven't posted much about before that the photo above brings it to mind. The LJ Safari Cab can be run without the hard rear panel or the side panels, here's a photo of that configuration on the trail.



There are two metal supports at the back of the roof to provide support, and the roll-up side curtains go all the way around the back. This configuration provides the maximum open air experience but retains the cargo carrying capacity of the roof and the soft sides are quick to roll down for inclement weather. It's especially nice with half doors.

 

Some concept drawings of what the full soft sides configuration I posted about yesterday might look like.

Rolled up:



Rolled down:

 

I'm really liking the quick access provided by the new roll-up soft top side panel...

http://youtu.be/MEx3f6OTQh8 Now I'll have to sew up a pair from nicer side panels instead of the old scratched one I used for this prototype.

 

Over the course of the JK Safari Cab project I've posted a number of images showing the soft roof concept. Since the roof panel is removable, it's pretty straightforward to swap the fiberglass roof panel out for a canvas roof. Here are a few of those concept images I've posted before:





I'm working on several methods of securing the front of the soft roof panel. In this first photo I've got a factory soft top header installed across the top of the windshield. The Safari Cab upper surrounds have recesses molded into them to accept the ends of the header, you can see in this photo how the ends of the header fit into the recesses in the surrounds.



I also experimented with a Bestop bikini header to see how it might work with the Safari Cab door surrounds. The header needs a slight trim at each end, but it would work fine too.



The bikini canvas isn't long enough to reach the rear panel, but I expected that. I wasn't really trying to see if the bikini top fit, I was only testing the fit of the Bestop windshield header with the Safari Cab parts. It would be easy to do a new piece of canvas to fit the Bestop header and be long enough to cover the entire roof opening.

 

How about incorporating the soft roof panel as a headliner for the hard roof?
"Just" leave the soft roof on, lower the hard roof on top of it.
I can only imagine the design change challenges such an idea will entail.
Kill a few birds with one stone, make the whole thing that much more versatile.