Land Rover ideas for Jeeps

[Vinman]

I posted a few Defender dimension a few days ago but I was wondering exactly how the overall size of the Defender compared to the JKU and LJ (with a Safari Cab hardtop) so I did this scale drawing.

The numbers under each vehicle is the wheelbase.

FWIW, the TJ Unlimited has a 103.5” wheelbase.


Do you have the other dimensions as well? It’s amazing how a vehicle slightly taller gives the impression it is much bigger.
My wife had a 2014 Highlander and was looking to replace it, I suggested the 4Runner but she was really worried about how much bigger it was over the Highlander. Turns out the 4Runner is shorter and narrower of the two but still looks bigger.
She ended up getting the 4Runner?

 

[jscherb]

I lined them up at the windshields for a better comparison.

 

[zgfiredude]

I'm shopping for a good source for L-track and components so I can build some prototypes.

Try: US Cargo Control or Mac's Custom Tie Downs or Aircraft Extrusion ;-)

 

[PaulJensen]

Just want to say, I'm really enjoying this thread... The Jeep is such an under utilized platform for world class performance... Can get pricey, but when it comes together, it's really fun... Thanks again...

 

[jscherb]

Just want to say, I'm really enjoying this thread... The Jeep is such an under utilized platform for world class performance... Can get pricey, but when it comes together, it's really fun... Thanks again...

Thanks. I've got about 20 years of the two magazines here so I'm just getting started - lots more ideas to come. Stay tuned.

 

[jscherb]

Try: US Cargo Control or Mac's Custom Tie Downs or Aircraft Extrusion ;-)

A JKU will take two 30" pieces for each side. US Cargo has a 6' piece of L-track for about $50 in either aluminum or black, $50 per side (with a foot left over after cutting) doesn't seem too bad.

But the attachment studs get a bit expensive, at $5.79 each (you'd need 2-4 for most accessories you'd hang on the tracks), these get expensive. It wouldn't be hard to engineer a much less expensive solution though, I've got some ideas on that.

I've come up with a solution using a different style of tracks that cost less than half the price of L-track and mounting studs that are about a buck each. I've even got enough on hand to build a prototype. I'll work up a post on it when I get a chance later today.

 

[jscherb]

I think I'll prototype the hardtop side rail idea using T-track:

T-Track is commonly used for woodworking and is available at many woodworking supply places. A 3' length of T-Track is about $10, which is about 40% of the price of aircraft L-track. Mounting studs are about $1 each vs. $6 for L-track.

I've been using T-track for years on my table saw, I've got two pieces mounted to the top of my rip fence:

I use it to attach auxiliary fences, such as the one pictured below that I use with the router insert in my extension table.

The tracks on the rip fence are 30" long, which is perfect for a JKU hardtop. They're bolted to the rip fence so I can unbolt them and attach them to the hardtop for prototyping and testing accessories. When the prototyping and testing is complete I can put them back on the saw and if I decide to use them on the Jeep permanently I can buy more, they're inexpensive. The tracks I have are steel, which I wouldn't want to use out in the weather for long, so I'd replace them with the aluminum ones in the first photo in this post.

Also, anything I prototype for these tracks would be compatible with aircraft L-track, only the mounting studs would need to be swapped from T-track studs to L-track studs.

I'll start on this in a day or two, stay tuned for photos.

 

[jscherb]

One more from Sam Watson. This product is available in the U.S., but I didn't know about it until I read about it in Sam's column.

The web site: http://www.boundarytec.com/1530-showercoil-camping-shower.php

I haven't decided to implement a shower yet but if/when I do, this will have to be part of the setup.

 

[jscherb]

Been there, done that part 2

In one of the magazines there's an article about going on a safari in a Land Rover to spot tigers.

Just one problem - unlike many of the expeditions featured in the magazine, the photo above weren't taken in the wild, it's at the Woburn Safari Park in the U.K.

Sure is be better in the wild...

A while back we did some off-roading in the Ranthambhore National Forest in southeastern Rajasthan. The vehicle wasn't a Land Rover though, it was a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, which is a long wheelbase Indian made Suzuki Samurai. Mostly easy trails, but a little low-range rock crawling was required to get where we needed to be, plus some slickrock similar to that in Utah and some steep trails with embedded rock reminiscent of Colorado trails but with more loose dirt. Pictured below is the Gypsy, the naturalist/guide (left) and the driver.

Climbing up a slickrock incline in the Gypsy:

The reason for the guide and driver was that we were going into the restricted tiger reserve in the forest where guides and drivers are required. Saw lots of wildlife, including rare sloth bears, several kinds of deer, a mongoose, wild boar, some rare birds, and what the whole expedition was about - tigers. We came across this one mid-morning, she was not bothered by our presence and walked within 25 feet of the us.

The next morning we spotted two tiger cubs. Actually the guide spotted them, even when he started pointing at them I couldn't see them until we got closer. They were hiding in the tall grass.

After a while they got tired of us watching them and took off for the hills. The guide said they're both male cubs, about 14 months old. They're pretty large, but compare this cub to the tigress above and you can see the cub still has a lot of baby fat. The cub was maybe 30 feet from us when I took this photo.

 

[jscherb]

Mini-Me

How cool is this?

 

[jscherb]

Hardtop Side Gear Carrier

I made up a mockup of a hardtop side gear carrier using T-Track I had on hand. One of the nice things about having a modular hardtop is that I could use a spare side panel for this work. This is a spare JKU Safari Cab panel from when I molded the original parts for that hardtop. To test it on the Jeep I can swap this side panel for the one that's on the Jeep right now, but for now I'll show some photos of the panel in the workshop.

T-Tracks installed on the side panel:

Attachments are made to the T-Tracks with studs like these:

The first carrier I prototyped is a jerry/ammo can carrier. It's something anyone with a hacksaw and a drill can make. I used a MORryde jerry can tray and two pieces of steel angle. The steel angle was part of a bed frame someone threw out and I picked at the curb up a while back on trash day before the trash truck came around.

Or an ammo can.

I only made one of these but the T-tracks are long enough for two to be mounted side by side.

 

[jscherb]

Hardtop Side Molle Panel

Next I installed a Molle panel. I used a panel that was part of the design and prototype work for the JKU cargo windows/hatches, it's inside the cargo compartment in this photo:

It's not exactly the right size for the exterior application but it's pretty close. Also it's got a cutout in it to clear the mounting bracket for the MORryde Overhead/Swing-Down Molle panel that mounts above the cargo area inside the Jeep (https://www.morryde.com/products/overhead-molle/). But it works fine for this prototype.

I mounted a Rotopax stud on the Molle panel.

The Rotopax above is enclosed in an insulated "InsulPax" bag. Rotopax fuel containers exposed to the sun and not manually vented regularly can experience extreme bulging that can lead to failure and the InsulPax bag pretty much controls the bulge. Here's an example:

In this photo a matching large Molle gear bag is also attached to the panel.

Two Rotopax can fit side by side on the panel, or two of the large Molle gear bags can fit side by side. BTW the gear bag is also designed to attach to the Insulpax Molle grid so they can be doubled up. Or other Molle pouches can be attached to the Insulpax as seen in the photo below.

 

[jscherb]

Hardtop Side Table/Kitchen Setup

A few months ago I designed a removable tailgate table. It clips to the tailgate and can be mounted at multiple heights. Here's an anim showing how it mounts:

I attached the mounting rails for the table to the Molle panel; the table slips into the keyholes in the table mounting rails:

To make it a more useful "kitchen", I added an Overland Outfitters Cutlery Keeper and in the room left over I hung a Molle bag, and I put a stove on the table.

The table, cutlery keeper and Molle bag can be carried in the Jeep and installed in a minute when it's time for meal prep.

When off the tailgate, the table folds flat and stores in a bag.

And the Cutlery Keeper can be stored rolled up in an Overland Outfitters Roll Bag Bag:

Based on all of the above (Jerry/ammo cans, Rotopax, Molle, table and "kitchen", I think rails like these could be a very useful and versatile addition to a Jeep.

 

[Jurfie]

This thread is awesome! Thanks for the ideas and prototypes/proofs of concepts. Lots of great ideas to try out; I love the T-track Gear Carrier!

 

[jscherb]

Last summer at the Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion Gr8Tops was showing this LJ with a Safari Cab:

I doubt Gr8Tops reads these Land Rover magazines, but...

Regardless of what anyone thinks, I was not influenced by Land Rovers when I designed the Safari Cab. I was influenced by the Jeep factory World Cab, built for export in the 80's:

The Safari Cab roofline is inspired by the World Cab, and both the World Cab and the Safari Cab have barn doors in the rear.

The World Cab didn't have "Opera windows" on each side of the barn door so some people think that Land Rovers inspired me to add them to the Safari Cab design, but early CJ hardtops inspired them too...

As you have seen from this thread (and will continue to see as I post more) lots of Land Rover things influenced my designs, but not the TJ/LJ Safari Cab .