first day doorless drive
02-01-2016, 02:12 PM
#1
JK Freak
Thread Starter
first day doorless drive
Well we had a gorgeous day on Sunday and my wife was sick but wanted to "get out of the house" for a little while, so I went out and took the doors off of the ol' JKU and we went for a bit of a drive.
First thing I noticed was how heavy those front doors are.
Then I noticed that it really is non-trivial to find a way to stow them in the garage. I will be building a rack to hold the doors when they are not on the Jeep... I'll cram this in the garage somewhere under the hooks to hold the soft top when it's not on the Jeep and other stuff you have to do because this vehicle is kind of a big Lego toy.
The square safari mirrors from Quadratec worked pretty well but they vibrate like crazy. Better than no mirrors tho!
OK, so it was a blast driving around with no doors just as you no doubt are aware. Most cool was being able to lean out and literally see where the tire was meeting the road or obstacles. Once you get over about 40mph those mirrors start whistling. This is not a freeway-cruising way to go.
It was bizarre getting out of a car and not closing the door after we left.
Then while on the way home from our errand, my wife wanted to try something. See, our neighborhood has a main road that ends in a dead end into sort of some woods. About 100 yards of woods from there is another road, that dead ends into the woods there and comes out near the shopping center where we were. So my wife wanted to go see if any of the dirt roads/paths would connect through. We went off the pavement onto what can best be described as a "Jeep road" and followed it to a creek crossing. My wife says "I don't think we can fit" but I knew we could fit and we turned down onto the steep bank and crossed the little creek right by the little waterfall and through about a foot of water to the other side. Well, the "road" didn't really continue on the other side of the creek, so I did about a 40-point turn and got back to the other side of the creek. We followed the "road" which is actually labeled with a road name and everything on Google Maps, until it looked like we were going to make it through to our neighborhood right up to the closed and locked gate. So we turned around.
Now the fun I'm sure you have all experienced... once we got on pavement, we got a giant dirt-clod and gravel shower form whatever was embedded in the tire tread making its way everywhere. Max speed for the first two miles was about 30mph to prevent a 50-foot rooster tail of rocks and dirt. Fun times. I'll be cleaning some of that out of the Jeep later this week.
Of course I didn't want to put the top and doors back on last night, looking at the weather forecast it looked like no chance of rain until at least Wednesday. Imagine my shock when I woke up and looked at my phone and it said "Cedar Park - Rain". So I got to rush out and reassemble my Jeep this morning while it was beginning to drizzle and we were entrenched in a heavy fog. Fortunately it didn't rain in the Jeep but it did make me think that I probably can't be so flip about leaving the doors off.
So long and short of it: I am hopeful I can figure a way to go longer periods of time with the doors off of the Jeep. But during winter and spring in CenTX I think it may be a lost cause since it can rain at a moment's notice and I need the ability to get the top up in a pinch. Come summer time it might just be too freakin' hot. But I can definitely see the advantage of driving with no doors off road, since you can literally watch what you driving over as it goes under the wheels. However, I don't think I want to drive all the way to Big Bend with no doors ... and I don't think trailside is a good place to stick the doors while you go driving. What a quandary.
First thing I noticed was how heavy those front doors are.
Then I noticed that it really is non-trivial to find a way to stow them in the garage. I will be building a rack to hold the doors when they are not on the Jeep... I'll cram this in the garage somewhere under the hooks to hold the soft top when it's not on the Jeep and other stuff you have to do because this vehicle is kind of a big Lego toy.
The square safari mirrors from Quadratec worked pretty well but they vibrate like crazy. Better than no mirrors tho!
OK, so it was a blast driving around with no doors just as you no doubt are aware. Most cool was being able to lean out and literally see where the tire was meeting the road or obstacles. Once you get over about 40mph those mirrors start whistling. This is not a freeway-cruising way to go.
It was bizarre getting out of a car and not closing the door after we left.
Then while on the way home from our errand, my wife wanted to try something. See, our neighborhood has a main road that ends in a dead end into sort of some woods. About 100 yards of woods from there is another road, that dead ends into the woods there and comes out near the shopping center where we were. So my wife wanted to go see if any of the dirt roads/paths would connect through. We went off the pavement onto what can best be described as a "Jeep road" and followed it to a creek crossing. My wife says "I don't think we can fit" but I knew we could fit and we turned down onto the steep bank and crossed the little creek right by the little waterfall and through about a foot of water to the other side. Well, the "road" didn't really continue on the other side of the creek, so I did about a 40-point turn and got back to the other side of the creek. We followed the "road" which is actually labeled with a road name and everything on Google Maps, until it looked like we were going to make it through to our neighborhood right up to the closed and locked gate. So we turned around.
Now the fun I'm sure you have all experienced... once we got on pavement, we got a giant dirt-clod and gravel shower form whatever was embedded in the tire tread making its way everywhere. Max speed for the first two miles was about 30mph to prevent a 50-foot rooster tail of rocks and dirt. Fun times. I'll be cleaning some of that out of the Jeep later this week.
Of course I didn't want to put the top and doors back on last night, looking at the weather forecast it looked like no chance of rain until at least Wednesday. Imagine my shock when I woke up and looked at my phone and it said "Cedar Park - Rain". So I got to rush out and reassemble my Jeep this morning while it was beginning to drizzle and we were entrenched in a heavy fog. Fortunately it didn't rain in the Jeep but it did make me think that I probably can't be so flip about leaving the doors off.
So long and short of it: I am hopeful I can figure a way to go longer periods of time with the doors off of the Jeep. But during winter and spring in CenTX I think it may be a lost cause since it can rain at a moment's notice and I need the ability to get the top up in a pinch. Come summer time it might just be too freakin' hot. But I can definitely see the advantage of driving with no doors off road, since you can literally watch what you driving over as it goes under the wheels. However, I don't think I want to drive all the way to Big Bend with no doors ... and I don't think trailside is a good place to stick the doors while you go driving. What a quandary.
02-01-2016, 05:09 PM
#3
JK Newbie
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Doorless
I loved the ease of taking the fabric doors off of my 78 CJ7, and just tossing them into the back! I didn't like them so much when driving on the highway, no place to even rest your arm.
02-01-2016, 05:17 PM
#4
JK Super Freak
You can buy soft doors for the JK too, but in my experience they kinda just suck. They don't fit worth a hoot.
I would give a solid "don't buy" to the Bestop Soft Doors. The fit is so bad you might as well have no doors.
But the door-less cruise on a lovely day is just priceless.
I would give a solid "don't buy" to the Bestop Soft Doors. The fit is so bad you might as well have no doors.
But the door-less cruise on a lovely day is just priceless.
Last edited by arjeeper; 02-03-2016 at 04:15 AM.
02-01-2016, 05:18 PM
#5
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I drive with my doors off a lot when it's nice. I actully like doors off vs top off. I haven't really taken my top off much probably 15 times since 06. Most of the time i don't take all 4 doors off just front 2. OMG just realized my jku is almost 10 years old lol...
02-01-2016, 09:37 PM
#6
JK Super Freak
It gets in your blood. Fall used to be my favorite season. Now it means closing up my Jeep like a coffin and driving around in boring gray weather for 4 months. Then when spring comes, I watch the weather like an 80 year-old man afraid I'm going to miss a few hours of being topless and doorless. It's an obsession.
02-02-2016, 04:43 AM
#7
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rain pfft
haha i would just leave the sides off and rear window rolled up all summer on my TJ. if you put the top down the sun beats on your head. basically i just had a canopy top all summer, no sides.
the rain dont hurt anything. especially if you have the floor plugs out. sometimes you get a wet butt though.
since you have full doors by the sound of it, you can leave those rolled up at night to prevent this.
the rain dont hurt anything. especially if you have the floor plugs out. sometimes you get a wet butt though.
since you have full doors by the sound of it, you can leave those rolled up at night to prevent this.
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02-02-2016, 04:51 AM
#8
JK Super Freak
haha i would just leave the sides off and rear window rolled up all summer on my TJ. if you put the top down the sun beats on your head. basically i just had a canopy top all summer, no sides. the rain dont hurt anything. especially if you have the floor plugs out. sometimes you get a wet butt though. since you have full doors by the sound of it, you can leave those rolled up at night to prevent this.
Not going to hurt it every now and again, just not the best long term plan in my opinion. But some folks just let the Jeep become one with nature!
02-02-2016, 04:54 AM
#9
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I did that a couple times (just let it rain) on my TJ and my LJ, but I wouldn't do it in a JK. The advanced electronics and lush carpeting don't take to the moisture as well.
Not going to hurt it every now and again, just not the best long term plan in my opinion. But some folks just let the Jeep become one with nature!
Not going to hurt it every now and again, just not the best long term plan in my opinion. But some folks just let the Jeep become one with nature!
02-02-2016, 04:58 AM
#10
JK Enthusiast
Nothing like riding around with the top down and doors off! I had picked up my 2015 2 dr JK Rubicon in the winter and it came with a hardtop only. As soon as the weather broke (I'm in New England) I bought a Bestop Supertop NX and Bestop 2 piece soft doors. The doors are loud, leak a bit, and pull away from the Jeep at highway speeds but I love them. They are quick to remove, stow behind the drivers & passengers seats, and they're always with me.