GR8TOPS for TJ

[rasband]

So, Jeff, did you ever put that CJ grille conversion into production. I saw the design thread on another forum a while back.
I'm getting ready to go to high line fenders and I'm not crazy about the little LEDs that they use for the turn signals after the fenders are cut. This grille would be a nice solution.

A lot of us run the JK lights cut into the TJ grille, just as another option.

 

[Old_Crow]

I saw somebody mention the JK lights somewhere too. I'm going to wait until I get the fenders installed and either look at the JK lights or maybe tucking a set of motorcycle turn signals up in the corner of the fender where they put the LEDs.
The order I just placed at Amazon for the fenders and more has far exceeded the limit I've placed on myself for Jeep modifications for this year anyway. Good thing there's only a couple of weeks left in this year.

 

[TurboDonkeyOverland]

The rear barn door upper removes with a couple of bolts. The bracket Gr8Tops uses to attach the barn door upper to the tailgate is different than the one on my Jeep, but it's functionally the same.

View attachment 271466

As I designed the Safari Cab, the end panels are separate from the side panels so the side panels come off easily and the roof is still supported by the rear panels, this is a photo of mine:

View attachment 271467

The sides are removable on the Gr8Tops version too, but Gr8Tops decided to mold the sides and rear corners as one piece, so the back corners come off at the same time as the sides. Because the back corners are part of the sides and therefore come off when you remove the sides, you'll need to have supports for the rear of the roof panel. This photo is of my Safari Cab with the sides, rear corners and the barn door upper removed, you can see the supports at the back for the roof:

View attachment 271468

I designed these supports and arranged for having them manufactured but Gr8Tops decided not to put them into production. A few years ago I arranged a short production run as a favor for several Safari Cab owners, but other than those few they were never made available. The "production" ones look like this:

View attachment 271469

I had also arranged the manufacturing of roll-up soft sides for the Gr8Tops version of the hardtop. The soft sides for the Gr8Tops version replace both sides and the back. This photo was taken at the sewing company that made the preproduction soft sides:

View attachment 271470

The "Gr8Tops style" soft sides rolled up:

View attachment 271471

Unfortunately Gr8Tops decided not to put the soft sides into production either.

So I'm afraid the Gr8Tops version of the Safari Cab is really only intended to be run completely assembled, with the sides and rear corners in place.

But:

1. If you want to run the Gr8Tops version without the one-piece side/rear corners, making rear supports isn't too difficult. I can show you a simple proof-of-concept set I made before I designed the "production" ones shown above.

2. If you want the "Gr8Tops style" soft sides, they can be homemade if you're handy with a sewing machine.

3. If you want just the side panels to be removable while the rear corners remain in place, it's not too difficult to cut the one-piece sides/ends apart and add bolt flanges to each side of the cut line so the resulting two parts can be bolted back together but also allow the corners to remain in place when the sides are off, thus eliminating the need for separate roof supports. Just requires a little fiberglass work, I can show you how it can be done.

4. And if you do #3 above, the soft sides to replace just the side panels are much easier to sew because they're pretty simple flat panels and you don't have to worry about the soft sides going around the corners in the back.

I'm happy to help with more details on any of the above or with any other questions you might have.

@jscherb would you be able to provide overall height at the highest point of the LJ top as measured from the top of the tub lip/rail? I’m ordering the Gr8Tops Alaskan top but I’m trying to fabricate a roof rack prior to it arriving. I want to make sure the rack will clear the top.
Thank you!

 

[Sancho]

Anyone have pics of the safari top on a khaki tj... or any tj? Doors off?

I have seen the pics on their website... just trying to soak in the styling.

 

[jscherb]

@jscherb would you be able to provide overall height at the highest point of the LJ top as measured from the top of the tub lip/rail? I’m ordering the Gr8Tops Alaskan top but I’m trying to fabricate a roof rack prior to it arriving. I want to make sure the rack will clear the top.
Thank you!

32". Sorry it took me a while to reply, I was traveling. I could have given you the dimension from the design drawings on my computer but since you'll be relying on the dimension to build something I thought I'd better measure against the actual hardtop.

Anyone have pics of the safari top on a khaki tj... or any tj? Doors off?

I have seen the pics on their website... just trying to soak in the styling.

Back when I was doing the Safari Cab project, I did a number of concept images showing the various configurations of the Safari Cab that are possible. Here's one series on the TJ...

Full hardtop:

Hard roof only, fully open, side curtains rolled up:

Hard roof only, hard doors, side curtains rolled down:

Hard roof, half doors with uppers removed and side curtains rolled up:

Hard roof, half doors with uppers removed and side curtains rolled down:

Half cab with full doors:

There are a few more configurations possible but I'll leave it at those above.

Also back then some people wanted to see what their Jeep might look like with a Safari Cab on it, so I offered that if they sent me a photo of their Jeep I would "digitally install" a Safari Cab on it for them. Here are a few "installations" from back then...

To make those images easy I put together a "Cut and Paste Kit" in my drawing program to assemble new digital versions to show people what their Jeep might look like with a Safari Cab...

These are only a few of the many "digital installations" I did for people back then, there are many more.

 

[TurboDonkeyOverland]

actual

32". Sorry it took me a while to reply, I was traveling. I could have given you the dimension from the design drawings on my computer but since you'll be relying on the dimension to build something I thought I'd better measure against the actual hardtop.

Thank you, sir!