spaceninja

Dear friends,

I've been saving up for spring/summer to buy some upgrades/goodies for my rig. I have always wanted to get tube doors and began looking at my options.
While looking around and making some decissions on what to buy, my parking situration crossed my mind as I do not have a garage or a driveway; I park in a residential shared lot.

My initial thoughts where "ok, I'll get the tubes and put them on whenever I hit the trails and/or go on long weekend rides". Though, this also made me consider the frequency of these trips/rides, and weighing them against the time/difficulty to swap 4 full doors with tubes ones. At this point, I have also began considering half doors, however, they seem to fall quite outside the budget... soo, soft half doors maybe?

Does this make sense? anyone in a similar sitruation? how do you go about this? It sure would be so awesome to have the tubes on througout spring/summer...

Your thoughts on this are highly appreciated!

PS. If I decide aginst the tubes, I can always go the other route, which is new wheels/tires

Thanks!

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higgins14

Have you taken your doors off yet? They are pretty heavy, I wouldn't want to carry them all that far. They are big, awkward, and the sheet metal flexes all over the place. It takes a lot longer than you would think to put them on and off. Where do you plan on storing your doors when they are off? If you don't have to worry about stairs, you could build a cart and wheel them where ever you need to.

Here are a couple of ideas if you want to make a rolling cart:
Eventually. I am planning on making this one: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-s...or-cart-40902/

Here are some other ideas, but they are not on wheels, so I am not so sure they would work for you. https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/stoc...r-cart-237776/

As for door options. I had the Bestop element doors, uppers and enclosures:

I did not really like them... I sold them after one summer. Half doors are better than full doors, but I like being doorless way better. The metal lower doors were too big and bulky to get into the back of my jeep quickly and easily. Even taking just the uppers off took some time because the Bestop quality wasn't great so everything didn't really line up well. I got the element doors because I figured that they would offer "slightly" more protection for my young kids in the back seat... Once I put them on, i realized that they really don't offer any protection.

This September, I picked up a used set of full soft front doors, and I really like them. In about 10 seconds, I could pull both of the doors off and stick them in the back of my JKU. I am now on the hunt for a set of rear doors. If you don't mind the noise of the soft doors, you could leave them on for the spring and summer. You would only have to worry about putting the hard doors back on when it gets cold.

Cedo Nulli

I just picked up a Bestop Trail Cover to protect it while the tube doors are on so I don't have to take the door on and off constantly. It helps.

spaceninja

@Cedo Nulli, Trail Cover sounds like a great idea! will definitely consider it!

@higgins14, thank you for the insight. Yes, I have taken the doors off couple of times, however, I had bunch of friends around who pretty much took care of it for me, while i was prepping trail gear.
I can see how a pain it can be when its just me. Thankfully, there are no stairs to take them on, so that somewhat helps i guess.. haha!

I am glad you mentioned soft doors. How is the quality of these doors? is the fabric the same as the soft top? how do they do on speeds 45+ mph?
I don't mind the noise and/or minor flapping of fabric. I guess on the trail, can take them off and stack them in tub...

This is great, thank you all! I will revise my search again and look at soft doors as an option too.

Fir-na-tine

I concur with Cedo........Get you a Bestop Trail Cover and keep it onboard.......it takes me less than 3 minutes to put it on.........I've been running without doors and top for 6 months down here in South Florida.

higgins14

The Bestop doors use the same material as the oem... I am pretty sure that Bestop manufactures the oem tops. All of the Bestop stuff is kind of hit and miss. If you don't mind taking your time and bending the upper doors pieces to match the curve of the b-pillar, then they are fine (even at highway speeds). Mine never really flapped around like others have reported. They take some fiddling to set up right, and you might need to move your door pins around slightly. I just used electrical tape to mark where the pins were so I could move the pins back once I put the hard doors back on. This is a really simple procedure. When you put the doors on and off, be careful with the bushings in the door hinges. They can get chewed up surprisingly easily, and they are not cheap to get from the dealership. Maybe you can post in your local forum to see if anyone has a pair on their jeep so you can check them out...

A trail cover is also a great idea... i am still looking to get one. From what I have read on the internet, they are great for keeping neighborhood cats and dew out. They don't work great with anything more than light rain.