New World Cabs?

[Polarfire]

Is there one version (Half-cab or full-cab) that is leading in the polls? What options are leading? Also, is there more interest in the CJ/YJ or the TJ? How long is the poll going to run for? Is the production company waiting until you complete a final cab to move forward on making a descision?

 

[Going Postal]

I'll buy one!

 

[jscherb]

The responses to the poll are consistent with the posts people have made in the build thread on jeepforum, so if you've read that thread you know the approximate answers, but specifically to your questions:

Is there one version (Half-cab or full-cab) that is leading in the polls?

There is interest in every configuration, but full-length tops seem to be most popular.

Also, is there more interest in the CJ/YJ or the TJ?

There is interest in all versions, but LJ/TJ versions are showing the most interest.

What options are leading?

Sliding side windows, side opera windows (LJ and CJ-8), rear opera windows (all versions), rear swinging barn door (TJ/LJ versions).

How long is the poll going to run for?

People are still taking the poll, so I don't see any reason to stop it yet.

Is the production company waiting until you complete a final cab to move forward on making a descision?

The current plan is for me to finish the prototype LJ top, I'm shooting to have it done by the All-Breeds Jeep Show in York, PA in July, so the company could show it there. That's only a little more than 8 weeks away, so it will be challenging for me to have the top completely done by then.

Some time after that I would turn over the masters to the company, and they would then be able to make their own molds and prototype tops. I can't speak for them, but I suspect they wouldn't make a decision on bringing any version to market until after they've made a prototype and have a good understanding of the production costs. This top will be somewhat more expensive to produce than the typical "upside-down bathtub" type one-piece tops typically made for Jeeps, so I'm sure they'll need to have a very good understanding of the costs before they make a decision.

Jeff

 

[Going Postal]

Being modular will is ship in pieces? Living on the west coast that sure would be nice for me. will the 1/2 cab and full cab use interchangable parts that would let an owner mix and match? Just wondering if the design would let you remove the rear half to run puckup style and if a bulk head could be added. I'm guessing not looking at the single one piece roof line though.

Great work! I see one of these in the future for either my LJ or CJ8...

 

[jscherb]

Being modular will is ship in pieces?

Yes, that would be the plan.

Will the 1/2 cab and full cab use interchangable parts that would let an owner mix and match?

The prototype tops I'll be making for my Jeeps will be fully modular and will allow mix-and-match of parts.

I think that the company would mold the top in larger pieces to keep costs down. Probably the door surrounds, side window panels and rear corners of the full-length hardtops would be molded as one piece, which would mean that you could not mix-and-match to use the same parts for both full tops and half cabs. This is one of the decisions the company will have to make in bringing the top to market.

Just wondering if the design would let you remove the rear half to run pickup style and if a bulk head could be added. I'm guessing not looking at the single one piece roof line though.

I did a post about multi-piece roofs yesterday in the thread on jeepforum, I'll quote it below. This discusses how the molds could be used to build fully custom tops of any length, and multi-piece roofs, but I'm not sure that would be commercially viable...

Here's something I think is cool - an example of how the modular design and modular molds lend themselves to all kinds of different options and configurations... as you know I'm making the molds the proper size to fit the LJ Wrangler. To make shorter tops, like the TJ/YJ/CJ full top, the same molds will be used.

Here's how - I've clamped a "dam" in the LJ side window panel mold below. On the left, it's clamped in the right place to yield a TJ/YJ/CJ full cab side window panel. On the right, it's clamped in the right place to yield an much shorter side for an extended half cab. In addition to shortening the panel, the fiberglass laid up against the dam forms the bolt flange to connect the panel to other modules.

Before molding, the joint between the mold and the dam would be sealed with clay like I showed you the other day on the door surrounds and the rear corners.

A dam would also be used in the same way to shorten the roof panel, and the result would a front half and a back half roof, both with a flange on the edge so the two pieces could be joined together. For production purposes, they would be bonded together and the joint smoothed with body filler to make a new master from which a one-piece mold would be made. For one-off purposes, the two sections would be bonded and the joint smoothed with filler, then the panel could be painted and used just as it is.

Come to think of it, I suppose the roof panels wouldn't actually have to be permanently bonded together at all, just put some foam gasket in between them and bolt them together and then you'd have a two-piece roof with the rear section removable. Could make a truly modular system this way that would enable parts actually be shared between full cab and half cab versions as the season and weather dictated.

So that's how the molds I'm making now can be used to build virtually any length or configuration top, from half-cab to extended half-cab to TJ/YJ/CJ full top to LJ full top, or any custom length in between. If I ever decide to make a custom length stretch TJ or an extended half-cab with side opera windows, these same molds will do the job .

The jeepforum thread is at http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/safari-cab-custom-hardtop-project-952157/, that's where I've been posting every detail of this project.

Great work! I see one of these in the future for either my LJ or CJ8...

Thanks.

As you saw in the photos I posted yesterday of the molds mocked up up into full cab and half cab configurations, the full cab uses all the half-cab parts plus longer side window panels, except for the different one-piece roof panels. As I wrote in the jeepforum post above, the roof could be made n multiple parts so the front of the roof panel could be used for both half-cabs and full cabs.

Here's a couple of photos of the original concept models; the half cab and the full cab in these photos share all parts except the roof panel and the addition of side window panels on the full cab:

 

[Going Postal]

Thanks! I own an LJ and a CJ8. Having interchangable parts and a roof section that could come apart for 1/2 cab use would be so cool! I wanted to ask about teh rear door on the CJ8 platform. Looks like the design is for a lift gate top on a CJ8. WOuld it be possable to retrofit a TJ tailgate to a CJ8 tub and use it as barn door with the top?

I really like a barn door and thats why I have been leaning towards an Alaska Postal / Orverlander top. Combine that with a top that can convert to 1/2 cab status and be used on an LJ as well and I'm in for sure.

 

[jscherb]

Thanks! I own an LJ and a CJ8. Having interchangable parts and a roof section that could come apart for 1/2 cab use would be so cool!

Well I'm sorry to tell you that the only tops which would possibly be molded in completely modular mix-n-match fashion would be tops I make in my own molds. The company I've been talking to is thinking of building them in four modules - 2 complete sides, 1 complete roof panel, and the rear door/hatch (depending on model). I don't think the fully modular mix-n-match top could be manufactured and sold profitably at a price people would be willing to pay.

I wanted to ask about teh rear door on the CJ8 platform. Looks like the design is for a lift gate top on a CJ8. WOuld it be possable to retrofit a TJ tailgate to a CJ8 tub and use it as barn door with the top?

Yes, that would work fine. The only reason I've designed it to be configured as a hatch on the CJ models is because of the CJ's swing-down tailgate. Swap a YJ or TJ tailgate onto a CJ and you can use the rear barn door configuration no problem. Also, I think you could probably adapt a DJ Postal rear door to work with my top with only minor alterations to the DJ door. I have a spare DJ Postal door here and the dimensions check pretty closely with my top design.

I really like a barn door and thats why I have been leaning towards an Alaska Postal / Orverlander top. Combine that with a top that can convert to 1/2 cab status and be used on an LJ as well and I'm in for sure.

I agree, I really liked the barn door on my World Cab/postal, it was my daily driver for over 5 years. When I sold the Scrambler last fall, I removed and disassembled the top and stored it in a spare room. Before I began this hardtop project, I briefly considered making molds from the World Cab parts, it would be easy in their current disassembled state, but then I decided it would be much more fun/interesting/challenging/rewarding to attempt to build a fully modular top of my own design completely from scratch, so I started this project.

 

[jscherb]

I finished the mold for the roof yesterday so we're one step closer to having actual hardtops now - the next phase in this project is to mold the actual hardtop parts! Here's a few photos of the roof mold...

More photos to come...

 

[jeepdreamer]

A surprise to nobody...

As we have all come to witness the perfection that is your work allow me to be the first to...
and offer and
Looks great of course!
I have a weird question about the "ribs" that if I'm no mistaken are put there for rigidity? Is there any special reason that they are...um, innies versus outies? Ok, bad way to say that...Why do they go into the top like a recess instead of poking up? Is that just "because they do" or was there some reason for it? Would it be possible to insert some tracks in those and create a mostly flush rail system to mount a rack or RTT or something?

 

[jscherb]

As we have all come to witness the perfection that is your work allow me to be the first to...
and offer and
Looks great of course!

Thanks!

I have a weird question about the "ribs" that if I'm no mistaken are put there for rigidity? Is there any special reason that they are...um, innies versus outies? Ok, bad way to say that...Why do they go into the top like a recess instead of poking up? Is that just "because they do" or was there some reason for it? Would it be possible to insert some tracks in those and create a mostly flush rail system to mount a rack or RTT or something?

No, it isn't a weird question... the ribs aren't there for rigidity, although they do add a little rigidity to the roof - they are there for style reasons. They are "innies" because I think that looks better than "outies", and BTW, the original World Cabs had the same style "innie" ribs.

I have designed the top to support heavy loads, through a system of brackets that go between the inside of the roof and the top of the factory roll bars (TJ, LJ and YJ "family bar" models). The spacing of the mounting pads is the same as the spacing for the factory XJ roof top rack, so that's the "default" rack that's easy to install. Plus there's a ton of aftermarket support for the XJ rack, so you could add kayak carriers, bike carriers, baskets, etc... anything that could be fitted to an XJ rack can also be used on a XJ rack on these tops. And as long as the roof top tent has similar mounting locations to the XJ rack, no problem with supporting one of those either. With the roll bar roof support system in place, you could easily carry more weight up there than would be safe due to center of gravity reasons.

For CJ-7, -8 and early YJ models which don't have "full roll bars", bars would need to be added to the Jeep to provide similar mounting mounts for the roof support system, but that wouldn't be too difficult.

Jeff


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Here's the link to the survey again for those who haven't taken it yet: Safari Cab market survey.

 

[jscherb]

I couldn't resist clamping the mold parts together into a mockup of the top. Obviously this is only a very rough simulation of the finished top, but doing these mockups always helps me envision things better...

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Here's the link to the survey again for those who haven't taken it yet: Safari Cab market survey.

 

[jscherb]

A week or so ago I posted some photos showing how the one side window panel mold would be used to make different length panels - today here are a few photos to show how the one roof mold will be used to make any length roof, from half-cabs to full-length Scrambler tops to any length in between.

I've made two "dams" that fit inside the mold. These would be clamped in place and sealed to the mold with modeling clay, resulting in a "partial roof" mold of pretty much any length.

In this next photo, I've positioned the dams to make a TJ/YJ/CJ-length full roof panel. The front portion and the back portion would be molded, up to the dams, and the center section ignored. The result would be two roof sections with a flange on the end of each, that when joined will be the right length to be a TJ/YJ/CJ full hardtop. In this photo there are 15" between the dams, which is the difference in length between the LJ and the TJ tops.

For production purposes, the two sections would be bonded together and the joint smoothed with body fill, then a new mold would be made so the company would have a one piece mold for the shorter roof panel.

But for one-off custom tops, the sections could just be bolted together with a rubber gasket in between, resulting in the right length roof panel as before, but also resulting in a roof where the rear section could be unbolded and removed separately from the front section. Perhaps to run with the front section only in nice weather or something like that.

In this third photo, the dams are placed to make a CJ-8 length half cab. Again the end sections would be molded and joined together after molding.

The length of the window side panels can also be changed with dams, so virtually any length top can be produced from these molds just by proper placement of the dams. I could make a top for a custom length bobbed Scrambler, for example, or perhaps an "extended cab" half cab that would be long enough for some jump seats behind the front seat, all kinds of interesting hardtops could be made from these same molds...


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Here's the link to the survey again for those who haven't taken it yet: Safari Cab market survey.

 

[Polarfire]

That has got to be the coolest feature of your design! I really wish it was feasible to come to market with those options!

 

[DC CJ8]

I'm in line too Polarfire! Wife says I can have an LJ if that is what ends up on the market and not the one for a CJ-8
Jeff - actually, I think this means you have achieved the "womens' vote" too! This can be crucial to a guy looking to buy!!

 

[brian boeding]

Jeff,

Great work! I've been trying to find a full Scrambler Hard Top for some time.....Even if I can talk Matt into selling me one of his GR8Tops I'll purchase one of yours too.

Please keep your Expedition Camper concept on the front burner too.......I'd buy one of those also.

Cheers
Brian Boeding

1984 CJ-8
1984 CJ-7

 

[jscherb]

I'm in line too Polarfire! Wife says I can have an LJ if that is what ends up on the market and not the one for a CJ-8
Jeff - actually, I think this means you have achieved the "womens' vote" too! This can be crucial to a guy looking to buy!!

My wife is usually somewhat indifferent to my projects, but for some reason she likes the Safari Cab too. Maybe you're right about the wormen's vote on this one .

 

[jscherb]

Jeff,

Great work! I've been trying to find a full Scrambler Hard Top for some time.....Even if I can talk Matt into selling me one of his GR8Tops I'll purchase one of yours too.

Please keep your Expedition Camper concept on the front burner too.......I'd buy one of those also.

Thanks Brian.

I don't think I'll actually end up building an Expedition Camper vehicle, but I have been toying with the idea of a Safari Cab Camper trailer... the same set of hardtop modular parts, rearranged a bit, could be used with an old Jeep tub to create a camper trailer. Here's a preliminary concept drawing... I do have the back halves of two tubs sitting here waiting for a project idea...

 

[Truck]

Thanks Brian.

I don't think I'll actually end up building an Expedition Camper vehicle, but I have been toying with the idea of a Safari Cab Camper trailer... the same set of hardtop modular parts, rearranged a bit, could be used with an old Jeep tub to create a camper trailer. Here's a preliminary concept drawing... I do have the back halves of two tubs sitting here waiting for a project idea...

Jeff, I like the camper trailer idea. With your modular top could you make it so you put canvas between the top and sides and could expand it up like a pop up? Just thinking out loud.

Truck

 

[jscherb]

Jeff, I like the camper trailer idea. With your modular top could you make it so you put canvas between the top and sides and could expand it up like a pop up? Just thinking out loud.

Truck

I don't see why someone couldn't build one that way.

I've also been playing with some ideas for using the Safari Cab roof to make a covered cargo trailer...

 

[Polarfire]