Dead_Nuts

There is another company (Strike Force Zebra) just getting into production of plastic half doors. They say theirs are nicer than the RR, but they are pre-production at this point. I was glad to hear that these RR doors seal out water well. That is one of my biggest concerns with any half door (other than OEM). When I go wheelin' I have to decide whether or not to put my full doors back on, due to anticipated water crossings, or leave my skinned, tube doors on for openness. My Element doors do not even come close to sealing on my JKU. This report is getting me to lean more towards the RR doors.

SFZ will be producing solid upper half's (with sliding windows) for their doors later this year. This might be a selling point for anyone wanting all-year use of their half doors. For me, I'd rather have the convenience of storage of canvas uppers. I stack them up against the back of the rear seat and hold them in place with bungees. The solid uppers would take up alot more room, I believe. I always put my full doors on for winter anyway.

Edit: Does anyone have experience with the soft uppers that go with these doors?

Munday

Im hoping to soon, my doors and uppers should be here in the next few weeks. I will post the results.

MikekiM

I have these for a few days and so far I am very happy.. It's supposed to rain tonight so I'll see how well they seal!

I bought a set of Bestop upper and lower softies for summer fun and though I fell in love with the half doors m y family wanted something more substantial than the fabric lowers..

The uppers on the RRs are nicer than the Bestop uppers.. The fit in the tracks is better aligned than on the Bestop so they are easier too install. The RRs have a cool elastic tab setup that allows you to secure the the unzipped window. On the Bestops it was a full open or full closed affair. The RRs allow you to open the window half way, quarter at the front or quarter at the rear and secure the open window so it doesn't flap or hit you as it moves with the wind.

Having had a chance to adjust the Bestops so they didn't flap, I can say the RRs are easier due to the rigid bottom half of the door. With the Bestops the entire door panel would twist as you attempted to tweak it but the RRs allow you too adjust just the top with ease.

I have found that one adjustment that is overlooked on all the review is tightening the upper skin on the frame. Picture this...a metal wire frame gets the upper canvas skin stretched around it and the skin is secured to itself with Velcro. At the inside perimeter of the skin is the weather stripping. If the upper skin is too loose then the weather stripping will roll towards the outside of the metal frame and when you close the door the weather stripping will get squeezed out too far pretty much killing any chance of properly aligning the upper to get a leak proof seal.

You must stretch the upper skin so the weather stripping is pulled more towards the inside of the canvas skin. The trick here is to unzip the window and then adjust how tight the Upper skin is. By leaving the window open you easily stretch the skin and when you do zip it back up the glass is tighter as well.

I am able to get a nearly perfect fit using this technique. I was on highway at better then 70 this morning there was zero flutter.

As far as the bottoms go, they are real nice. The inner door panel is a nice texture and the door pocket is a bonus. Not much to say about the outside..it's flat. The paddle door latches? They suck. Cheap and I fully expect I will have to replace them at some point. The doors will far outlive the paddle latches.

With the uppers off, mine close as easily as the OPs. No extra force needed to close them. In fact, Keith the hard top on and windows closed the full doors are often harder to close, requiring a good amount of slamming due to how airtight the cockpit is.

With the uppers on its a different story. They need to a decent amount of effort to close mainly because the tweaks required to get to not flap work against you when you close them. But it isnt horrible.

So, all In all...I am real happy. I can't wait to run them with the Trektop Nx. I can report back with how they mate up with the door surrounds. Also looking forward to top down with a trail mesh and CRES on.

My only dilemmas now? Paint or leave black? How to Up the cargo security level now that it's so easy to get in the truck.

Dead_Nuts

Great review!

Let us know how well the lowers keep out the water. Personally, I am even more concerned with water from water crossings. In other words, water coming through the lower door seal to the body. That is my highest priority for lowers. I would have OE half doors if the price wasn't absolutely insane. The factory doors do an excellent job of sealing to the body. I'm going to buy a set of aftermarket doors. But only if I can find a set that seal well.

FoxRacingJMC

I was extrememly close to pulling the trigger on these as I was able to get all 4 doors for just under $1,100. As far as the painting goes, I have deep water blue and the flat black would look great with it, so painting wouldnt have been an issue/option.

Glad to hear you like them tho, ya bum! jk.... Guess i'm a little jealous!

MikekiM

Well.. it rained last night. I totally understand the difference between migratory rain water infiltration and infiltration from a deep water crossing... And, I don't have ANY experience with water that is deeper than the doors. Just not something we have anywhere near me. Fortunately. I suppose I could find a boat launch ramp and take a dip, but that would be salt water and though I like you guys, salt water infiltration is above and beyond!!

Anyway, I have a small puddle on my passenger side floor. Could be coming from anywhere on the door seal, bottom to top. I am inclined to think it's from higher up, traveling around the perimeter of the door, given that it was rain, not submersion. I'll have to keep you updated if we see any floods or deep water I can test with.

This said... there is zero wind noise from around the lower door seal. That's good news. I don't see any light coming through either. Also good news. And, the door position is entirely adjustable up, down, fore and aft, so if there is a spot that is not sealed, it would be easy to adjust the door to seal it. The weather stripping is OE style.

I understand!! There are plenty of rigs I lust after. Mine is just a beach-rig, so nothing hard core. But the doors do have a high "cool-factor".

Dead_Nuts

So, you can see no gaps or any light filtering in from around the doors themselves (lowers)?

I appreciate not wanting to salt bathe your Jeep. Wouldn't ask anyone to do that. I'm gonna keep looking and asking.

MikekiM

Nothing obvious. But I'll do a light test tonight when it will be easier to see.

I am just speculating here, but given how tight they are how I have them adjusted, I would think it's easy to get them water tight. If anything, the water entry point on my install would be, sad to say, right at the bottom of the door. I say this because 1) I have the black plastic door-entry trim along the seam in the doorway and it probably interferes with the weather stripping on the bottom of the door, and 2) I chose not to adjust the striker plate because I didn't want to screw the fitment of the full doors.

If the trim is removed or I adjust the striker plate down a hair, the door would sit lower and more flush against the weather stripping on the bottom.

MikekiM

I took a few minutes to check how well the lowers seal.

Keep in mind this wasn't a deep water crossing. Since it was dark, I took an LED light stick from the shop and we passed the light along the perimeter of the door to see if any light leaked through. Good news is... Not a drop of light could be seen along the weather seal on any any of the three sides regardless of the angle of the look or how we looked at it. I won't have time to hit it with the hose until this weekend, but so far it looks good for those of you who need a half door with a good seal!

Now, as a side note.. I have a Trektop Nx I am about to install. I found some pictures of a newly installed Nx and I am concerned how the soft uppers are going to fit with the Bestop door surrounds. Looks like it will be warm enough to install the Nx this weekend, so I'll have a better idea in no time, but for now....not sure. I realize not all of you will be interested in the fitment of the soft uppers..

Dead_Nuts

Thanks for doing the light test. I am interested to see how everything works together. I'll be putting my soft top back on very soon and really want to get a set of half doors. Right now I'm waiting to see how people like the new doors from SFZ. I am guessing that the RR doors will seal better, as they use a metal frame inside. The others are all plastic. But I'm not buying anything that doesn't seal out, at least, most of the water from a short deep water crossing -- as that is part, albeit small part, of what I do at one of my favorite off-road areas.