New World Cabs?

[Panther]

Very nice trailer! Can't wait to see this one finished.

Hey man, no prob if you're busy. I'm not sure how long these take you to make but I'm in no rush. Will the same company make the trailers that makes the tops?

The colors I'm thinking is a white roof and the rest desert tan. Here's some camo samples:

 

[jscherb]

Very nice trailer! Can't wait to see this one finished.

Hey man, no prob if you're busy. I'm not sure how long these take you to make but I'm in no rush. Will the same company make the trailers that makes the tops?

The Safari Overland Camper is a proof-of-concept build, showing how the same molds and panels that are used in the Safari Cab hardtop can be used to build a completely different thing. It's just one of many alternate concepts I've come up with for the Safari design.

I don't know at this point if it makes any sense at all to consider turning the camper top into a commercial product.

 

[Polarfire]

Jeff,

I haven't kept up with the thread over on Jeepforum so I don't know if anything new has been said but do you know how the testing/production is going with G8tops on the safari top?

 

[jscherb]

Jeff,

I haven't kept up with the thread over on Jeepforum so I don't know if anything new has been said but do you know how the testing/production is going with G8tops on the safari top?

I was there all last week helping them with some engineering details that relate to improving the design for more efficient manufacturing, we made very good progress. I'm very pleased with the changes and improvements that have been made.

I'll leave it to Gr8Tops to make any more specific announcements.

 

[jscherb]

I've now finished the mods to the stock LJ Safari Cab panels for the camper.

I've added the drip rail across the front of the roof (in the Jeep hardtop version, the roof mates with the windshield and the mating surface has a crown in it to match the crown in the windshield, so I added a drip rail and filled in the crown:

I shot the drip rail with some rattle can black for now, but there's still a little sanding and minor bodywork required to finish it off.

All four side panels have been shortened, new flanges have been 'glassed on, trimmed and the standard Safari Cab inter-module mounting holes have been drilled:

And the rear hatch stake pocket patches are bonded in, and the inner and outer shells of the hatch are bonded together, here's a photo of the barn door version and the hatch version. The rear barn door is attached to a factory tailgate with stakes that bolt into the recessed stake pockets in the barn door upper; in the hatch configuration those recesses aren't needed so I filled them in.

That's it. Pretty minor changes from the hardtop version. And the hatch change isn't specifically for the camper, the hatch could be used with the hardtop instead of the barn door as well (on a CJ, with a CJ tailgate, for example).

The next step is to start fitting/assembling the parts on the trailer, I'll start on that tomorrow.

 

[jscherb]

It's starting to look a little like a camper now... I got the top assembled on the trailer today.

It's not very hard to assemble everything singlehandedly, but the trailer is hitched to the Retro Wrangler so it doesn't move around as I'm putting the roof panel on and off by myself.

Tomorrow I'll swap a TJ tailgate onto the rear of the trailer and install the barn door on it.

 

[Polarfire]

Looking fantastic, although that yellow trailer with the red Jeep looks like Skittles on wheels!

 

[jscherb]

Looking fantastic, although that yellow trailer with the red Jeep looks like Skittles on wheels!

I pulled up near a hot dog cart the other day when I was towing the trailer and he told me it looked like catsup and mustard.

 

[jscherb]

Looking fantastic, although that yellow trailer with the red Jeep looks like Skittles on wheels!

Not because of your comment about Skittles...

I printed one of the photos from the last post on my b&w laser printer, and the gray and yellow came out looking the same, so I turned one of the photos into a grayscale image so we could see what it looks like it in all the same color .

 

[jscherb]

Installed a barn door on the back, and configured the front one as a swing-up hatch.

Haven't done the latch or the gas struts for the front hatch yet; I'll be using a CJ-style hardtop T-handle and latches. The front hatch is set up the same way it would be for a Safari Cab hardtop on a Scrambler or CJ-7.

Also threw an XJ roof rack and my rack basket on for the next two photos.

Interior space:

 

[timothy]

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the PA all breed Jeep show as I'll be in CO although it looks like a show I would like to go to. Are you going to attend the Bantum Jeep Show in Butler County PA in August? I would love to see this project in person.

 

[jscherb]

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the PA all breed Jeep show as I'll be in CO although it looks like a show I would like to go to. Are you going to attend the Bantum Jeep Show in Butler County PA in August? I would love to see this project in person.

Not sure yet, I've marked it on my calendar but will decide closer to the date.

 

[jscherb]

A few photos from the All Breeds Jeep Show in PA a week ago:

 

[Polarfire]

Nice pics of the LJ's with the Safari Top. Was there a lot of interest in the tops? Were only the full tops on display or were there any other configurations?

 

[jscherb]

Nice pics of the LJ's with the Safari Top. Was there a lot of interest in the tops? Were only the full tops on display or were there any other configurations?

Yes, lots of interest. Two LJ full cabs on display and the Safari Overland Camper. Surprising amount of interest in the camper. Mine was configured with a hard side panel on one side and a roll-up side curtain on the other to show how easy it is to change the configuration:

BTW a half cab with the roll-bar pass-through feature will be installed tomorrow, I can post photos of that if people are interested.

A few more photos with the complete roll-up side curtain set installed:

 

[CBRogers]

Hey Jeff,

I just had a thought. Is there any interest from Matt's fiberglass guy of making a tub similar to the one on your trailer. That way he could offer a Trailer body to the Jeep folks out there?

It would be great to get one out of steel, but I am figuring that the process of getting stampings would be very expensive. Wonder if that place out of the Philippines would be wanting to stamp a tub for a trailer similar to yours. Might be worth an e-mail to talk to them about it. Great thing is that there would not be a big fitment issue with an existing frame like on a replacement body.

I really like that trailer and topper on it, But I think that I would prefer to see the sides have windows.

Did you make the trailer so that it uses the standard LJ top. That would be something to consider, then you would have one less part to make.

Carl

 

[jscherb]

Hey Jeff,

I just had a thought. Is there any interest from Matt's fiberglass guy of making a tub similar to the one on your trailer. That way he could offer a Trailer body to the Jeep folks out there?

It would be great to get one out of steel, but I am figuring that the process of getting stampings would be very expensive. Wonder if that place out of the Philippines would be wanting to stamp a tub for a trailer similar to yours. Might be worth an e-mail to talk to them about it. Great thing is that there would not be a big fitment issue with an existing frame like on a replacement body.

Hey Carl,
I've been doing some design work on exactly that. I've come up with a concept for a modular series of molds that could make pretty much any length Jeep-style trailer tub in fiberglass. The "kit" would consist of side panels, which could be any length up to 8', end panels in either tailgate or "blank" style, and inner fenders.

The floor could be either fiberglass, metal or plywood, there are a bunch of different ways to go with that. There would also be some fiberglass angle brackets that would reinforce the tailgate opening so it could support either CJ-style tailgate cables or Wrangler-style hinges/striker pins. Those aren't shown in the drawing.

If someone wanted to offer these commercially, they could be made available fully assembled in a range of standard sizes to fit various trailer frames that are on the market, or they could be offered as a DIY bond-togther kit so someone could make a custom size trailer. Add the necessary Safari Cab side panels, roof and barn doors/hatches and you could make a Safari Overland Camper trailer.

They could be offered in a range of standard sizes (either assembled or in kit form), to fit a range of the inexpensive trailers out there, like those from Harbor Freight:

I really like that trailer and topper on it, But I think that I would prefer to see the sides have windows.

Me too, I just haven't gotten to doing the windows in mine, but I do plan for windows.

I could either use the standard Safari Cab LJ sliders:

or maybe some swing-up windows:

Did you make the trailer so that it uses the standard LJ top. That would be something to consider, then you would have one less part to make.

Yes, the trailer tub is sized so to be the right size so that the standard LJ Safari Cab roof panel fits it, no new mold to make for that part.

Making the molds for these would be pretty straightforward; I've already done a little experimentation in duplicating the profile of the top of the Jeep tub for the mold:

I'm seriously considering making these molds, I'm trying to gauge interest in them.

I wonder how many people would be interested in a fiberglass trailer tub and maybe also a Safari Cab camper topper to go with it?

 

[CBRogers]

Jeff,

What is the length and width of the LJ Top.

I do not have one here, but I was wondering if it is big enough to fit Queen Size mattress or a large twin? I was thinking of the possibility of using it as an Alternative to an Off-Road Teardrop. I think a Queen is roughly 5'x7'.

I bet that if there is an easy way to get a Queen Futon or equivalent into there, it would make an excellent alternative. If a person did the design right on the inside it could work as an all around trailer. Kind of a one size fits all thing. With a nice Double wall to the tub, you could add 1-2 inches of sheet foam to give good insulation for both Hot and Cold excursions.

I like the idea of the Flip Up Windows as you could use them to pass stuff into the tub and have better cover. Might be worth looking into someone who makes access doors for tuck toppers.

Keep up the good work.

Carl

 

[jscherb]

Jeff,

What is the length and width of the LJ Top.

I do not have one here, but I was wondering if it is big enough to fit Queen Size mattress or a large twin? I was thinking of the possibility of using it as an Alternative to an Off-Road Teardrop. I think a Queen is roughly 5'x7'.

Here are the approximate dimensions of my as-yet-unfinished interior:

I bet that if there is an easy way to get a Queen Futon or equivalent into there, it would make an excellent alternative. If a person did the design right on the inside it could work as an all around trailer. Kind of a one size fits all thing. With a nice Double wall to the tub, you could add 1-2 inches of sheet foam to give good insulation for both Hot and Cold excursions.

There's no problem with the length, and the width might be a slight squeeze, but I think a queen futon would fit on a platform just on top of the inner fenders.

I like the idea of the Flip Up Windows as you could use them to pass stuff into the tub and have better cover. Might be worth looking into someone who makes access doors for tuck toppers.

I've already talked to a company that makes them .

 

[jscherb]

I've done some research on the sizes of trailers available at places like Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, etc., and it seems there are two common sizes that might make sense to throw fiberglass tubs on - 4'x8' and 40" x 48". These trailers are very affordable as well, and come in several load capacities (and prices).

Here's the larger of the two, I've drawn the tub slightly transparent so you can see the frame and tires below it. I've sized it to fit the Safari Ovelrand Camper top, so it's 89" long. That's slightly less than the 8' trailer frame, so I've thrown a steel mesh platform on the front (these trailers are bolt-together, so if you didn't want the overhang for the platform, you could cut the rails a little shorter to match the tub length). The axle track width is such that standard Jeep flares would be the right width to cover the tires.

And here's the smaller trailer. The trailer frame is 48" long, but I've sized the tub at 46", because Gr8Tops sells a tonneau cover that's 46" long (although it wouldn't be hard to get other sizes made, including one for the longer trailer above). The track width of this one as it comes is narrow enough that flares wouldn't be necessary, the tires would fit within the wheel wells of the tub (kind of like the older narrow-track CJ's).

5x8 also seems to be a common size, that also would be a good fit for the camper top tub, and would offer a larger load capacity.

These trailer generally have fairly small tires, so I'm guessing some people might want to switch to larger tires to match their Jeep. The larger capacity trailers come with 5-lug x 4.5" bolt circles that are the same as the Jeep pattern.