Homemade "Rail Doors"
09-25-2010, 11:42 AM
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Homemade "Rail Doors"
They're not exactly tube doors, although it was the closest I could come. I call them rail doors:
I didn't want to use the actual door hinges because of rust problems people have, so I designed them to work off nearby bolts instead. I attached a hinge to a 1" sheet metal tube using a 1.25" pin, which essentially acts as a second hinge in the horizontal direction. In other words, this thing can pivit up/down, and also outwards from the vehicle, which is necessary for it to open/close. The surface of the hinge against the Jeep's paint has soft-velcro stickied to it so it doesn't scratch anything.
You do need to support the weight of the thing when its open. To close it, the non-hinged end of it just sort of squeezes nicely down between the roll-bar and plastic.
Inside the tubing is an amber colored LED, which I connect with quick disconnects to a line running all the way from my trailer-light hookup (I never tow, so it's good to get use out of that somehow!)
You can't really even see them during the day, but at night, about 5 of the holes will glow yellow with my turn signal and/or brake light--- the two that are pictured below glow brightest and the rest have a faded glow. This is probably my favorite thing about the whole project, and this day-time pic does it NO justice. At night, the glowing holes look truly awesome.
Please note: I LOVE riding with these, but am aware that a side-impact would easily break my hinges and send this thing flying directly at me or my passengers. Either way, though, I'm still going to rock them.
I didn't want to use the actual door hinges because of rust problems people have, so I designed them to work off nearby bolts instead. I attached a hinge to a 1" sheet metal tube using a 1.25" pin, which essentially acts as a second hinge in the horizontal direction. In other words, this thing can pivit up/down, and also outwards from the vehicle, which is necessary for it to open/close. The surface of the hinge against the Jeep's paint has soft-velcro stickied to it so it doesn't scratch anything.
You do need to support the weight of the thing when its open. To close it, the non-hinged end of it just sort of squeezes nicely down between the roll-bar and plastic.
Inside the tubing is an amber colored LED, which I connect with quick disconnects to a line running all the way from my trailer-light hookup (I never tow, so it's good to get use out of that somehow!)
You can't really even see them during the day, but at night, about 5 of the holes will glow yellow with my turn signal and/or brake light--- the two that are pictured below glow brightest and the rest have a faded glow. This is probably my favorite thing about the whole project, and this day-time pic does it NO justice. At night, the glowing holes look truly awesome.
Please note: I LOVE riding with these, but am aware that a side-impact would easily break my hinges and send this thing flying directly at me or my passengers. Either way, though, I'm still going to rock them.
