dustdriver

If I could go out and buy one of your Safari hard tops right now, I would. No question about it. Anyone marketing these yet??
(I don't have time to read all 100+ pages of this thread, sorry!)

Great design and workmanship! I really like the barn door, insulated headliner, and the rain gutter going all the way around the back! There's only 3 things I'd change, if anything.

I seem to do a lot of camping in the rain, so I usually pitch an awning off the back before I do anything else. The barn door is my favorite feature, although if I could wave a magic wand, I'd round off the upper left corner, so when I pitch my canvas awning off the back, there would be no right angle corners to potentially wear down or tear the awning.

Also because of the mega-rain here in the PNW, I'd prefer one without the roof windows, just to further reduce the potential for leaking. (I once had to deal with a leaking sunroof in Utah during a week of heavy rain; that really stuck with me.)

And lastly, it would be great to retain the rear window wiper, but with the washer sprayer, too. (If it's not raining here, the dust will get you.)

Tell me where I can buy one of these, and I'm there. Nice job.

jscherb

No, not yet.

It doesn't come to a point, it's fairly rounded already. I wouldn't think these corners would be sharp enough to damage a canvas awning. In addition to the curve, the edge of the door is rounded - there are no sharp edges to hurts anything.



The roof mold is designed so the roof can be made with or without the Alpine windows, so if could be made that way for you if you wanted. The Alpine windows in mine have proven to be leak-free, but I suppose over time anything is possible and they could eventually leak, but the windows in my LJ Safari Cab hardtop have been in service for 5 years, they're installed the same way and haven't leaked yet. Here's a photo of the fiberglass parts without Alpine windows:



The washer is installed. This photo was taken before the barn door was painted - the washer nozzle is to the right of the wiper shaft.



Thanks. If/when it goes into production, I'll let people know through this thread.

saharaharry

I have been following this for quite a while as have others. If this fantastic roof of your were to go into production, it would sell out. As most of us are aware, the factory hardtops have their problems. ( Mainly water leaks) So, if you put this top into production as you have already heard from others, people WILL line up to buy it.

jscherb

Well at least the Safari Cab doesn't leak .

I fear that by the time a company got this top to market it would be too expensive to be accessible to most people and they'd eliminate many of its unique and useful features. For those reasons I'm inclined to not license it to a company for production and marketing.

saharaharry

If you had to guesstomate, what do you think the price tag would be? For a 2 door, and a 4 door?

jscherb

I can't estimate a company's overhead, labor costs, profit margin requirements and mold amortization costs might be, but I can tell you what some of the material costs are and you can estimate a retail cost from there.

I can mold a complete set of JKU Safari Cab parts for about $600 in materials (fiberglass, resin and gelcoat). That's what I pay retail for the materials, for a production shop the cost would be a little less.

A basic set of windows (sliders for the rear sides instead of the kick-out vents like mine has), would cost about $200. That also doesn't include the Alpine windows, which are not required - the hardtop can be assembled without them. (All four of my Alpine windows, which are tempered glass, cost me about $60 total. They'd probably cost a little more in production).

A few miscellaneous bits of hardware are required (barn door mounting brackets, windshield header latches, some bolts and nuts, etc.), those would probably run $75 to $100 in reasonably small production volume.

If the parts were to be molded in black gelcoat, no painting would be required (so no cost for that), but if painted, the cost of painting would have to be added.

Options would add cost - the wiper and associated wiring extensions would probably run $150 in production. Rear defrost would add some cost. Etc.

You can use those numbers and add your own estimates for a company's overhead, labor costs, profit margin requirements and mold amortization costs and make your own guestimate of a retail price.

Kellen

Unfortunately I'm coming up around $1100 in parts alone from the numbers given, then there's R & D (I know I know "that's already done" but they still have to figure out the best way to mass produce it), labor, advertising, shipping to vendors, vendor mark up. I could see this being a easy $2000 to $2500 top and leaning closer to $2500.

saharaharry

Using estimations, the top would sell for somewhere around the $4000.00 mark plus shipping. Maybe a couple hundred less for a 2 door. Plus shipping charges. To some this may seem unreasonable. But for others who are looking at the long term investment, meaning planning on keeping their Jeep a long time, this could still be a worthwhile investment. The project should go forward.

jscherb

This estimate prices it at less than the new Smittybilt JKU Safari Top, which does have a higher roof and Alpine windows, but none of the other features of my Safari Cab design: Smittybilt - Safari Top Hardtop - Fits 2007 to 2016 JK Wrangler Unlimited and Rubicon Unlimited - 4WD.com

This estimate prices it about $400 above the Wild Boar fastback hardtop: Wild Boar Wrangler Fastback Targa Top FTFA-JU0NB-46788 (07-17 Wrangler JK 4 Door) - Free Shipping, and $200 more than the base American Fastbacks hardtop: JKU - 2007-2016 | American Fastbacks, both of which have less functionality than my Safari Cab design.

None of the above linked hardtops have a barn door; they all have a standard glass liftgate.

dustdriver

Exactly. The Smittybilt comes closest to your design, but yours is indeed far more functional and has the critical details right. Without the barn door, drip rail/mounting gutter all around, and the insulated headliner, I'm not interested. However, if someone produced YOUR design, I'd gladly shell out 3-4K for it, with or without the alpine windows.