BJ74 Poptop, modular top camper or something (3 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

renago said:
If you really want to use a car for off road and overlanding , I personally think that the 74 is too small .
It "could "do the job but you will be quite crapmed .
For 2 people , in 3 or 4 , it will be impossible , especially with bad weather .
Will be a pity to invest so much money ,time ,energy .for a cramped vehichle .
My suggestion would be a 75 or 78 .
The money you will be spending will be the same .
But the final result will be a complete different level.
Click to expand...

Oh I fully agree, but this is just going to be a fun hobby vehicle that I can take camping. This will probably never take my family all together camping. It's cramped enough in our 4 door tundra, plus dogs, and our camper we tow.

My next step would be to get a small off-road trailer or pop-up. I don't have any plans to travel the world or live in this at this point so maximum room isn't a necessity. Having a cruiser I can run soft-top, hard top, pop top, bikini top, no top that I can swap around in an hourish of time, will be epic.

Besides, what troopy can do this? :)
IMG_7952.jpg
 
You have a cool project on your hands. I guess you are going to use the old top as a Mold to make a new cap that fits over your old one.

Roof top campers seem to be really popular now. I think it comes from desert camping in AU which has alot of dusty environment and poisonous snakes. Pitching a tent on the soft dust ground would become a dirty sleeping environment in a couple days. The pop-ups are fast and keep you off the ground in a torrential downpour where the ground would be saturated, or mud. Going off roading all day and needing to pick a site to camp as the sun goes down without really planning it or having a good spot picked out before hand.

3 Ideas for sleeping inside the 73 or 74 without building/buying a pop top: Seats that fold forward completely and sling a hammock inside the vehicle( it's a bit tricky but doable). Seats that fold forward and use military stretchers as beds rested on dashboard and suspended by rope/chain/ratchet straps in the back. 2' plywood extension to the rear floor that folds inward for packup and folds out with cables supporting the ends then trifold foam or air mattress and sleep on the floor rear doors open with tarp or bug nets over the opening per circumstance.
 
robmobile73 said:
You have a cool project on your hands. I guess you are going to use the old top as a Mold to make a new cap that fits over your old one.

Roof top campers seem to be really popular now. I think it comes from desert camping in AU which has alot of dusty environment and poisonous snakes. Pitching a tent on the soft dust ground would become a dirty sleeping environment in a couple days. The pop-ups are fast and keep you off the ground in a torrential downpour where the ground would be saturated, or mud. Going off roading all day and needing to pick a site to camp as the sun goes down without really planning it or having a good spot picked out before hand.

3 Ideas for sleeping inside the 73 or 74 without building/buying a pop top: Seats that fold forward completely and sling a hammock inside the vehicle( it's a bit tricky but doable). Seats that fold forward and use military stretchers as beds rested on dashboard and suspended by rope/chain/ratchet straps in the back. 2' plywood extension to the rear floor that folds inward for packup and folds out with cables supporting the ends then trifold foam or air mattress and sleep on the floor rear doors open with tarp or bug nets over the opening per circumstance.
Click to expand...


I actually have 2 tops for this BJ74. I have the regular top that came with it, which is standard height, and I was able to pickup this European high-top from @gr8ful that is just a factory top with a mold/skin over the top. I'm too tall to fit inside the BJ74 with seats. I'm almost too tall to make this tent work, but it will be close enough :)
 
Interesting ideas and thread!

The flip back style has the additional bonus of creating a dry space below at the back of the truck, which is where you would be most likely accessing camp/cook gear and fridge/cooler. Have to make sure the doors would open as I believe you mentioned though. Match it up somehow with a side awning/tarp system that covers from the front doors to the back edge of the flipped over part and you have a larger living space out of the weather for those inclement camps or sun shade for the scorchers.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

gb
 
@FJBen I saw a 2 door newer Wrangler driving around the other day with a top like you are proposing. I almost wonder if the companies that make those got a donor if they could hack together a prototype due to their economies of scale.

I've slept in the back of mine but it was both doors open and only room for one. I like the idea of the offroad trailer with a RTT and mobile kitchen/water underneath. Still lightweight and go anywhere, just added storage.
 
I've just bought a BJ74 and going the same direction. BJ came with a soft top and I've purchased a FRP top (standard, not euro-spec) and 70 series back doors. So I'll have the soft top & FRP top options.

I'm tossing up between going roof racks, roof tent on the hard top. Or something along the lines of this thread (probably get an additional FRP top to mod tho). Would love one of these Euro spec hi-tops. I'm based in Australia, haven't seen any so far.

Very interested where this thread goes. Love the photoshop mock ups.
 
FJBen said:
Well, as luck would have it, someone was selling a Euro-spec roof that needed a little work
Click to expand...
That's a top from the Netherlands. They had a special tax law thar made passenger cars like this ridiculously expensive, unless you managed to get it registered as a truck. Look at the donor vehicles back: There is a sign saying "Werkverkeer", meaning "commercial truck".
But, apart from removing the rear seats, this required a certain hight of the vehicle...
Toyota had some contractors in NL that used original bottom and top FRP parts and glued that spacer in between.
There were also some freelancers that simply cut original FRP tops to do same. I guess yours is one of that.
On FRP-top Toyotas this was easy. Poor Mercedes-Gs had to cut off the metal roof and install a FRP top. Rusted and wrecked the cells stability..
The law was canceled in the late 90s.
 
SKULLYOTA said:
@FJBen have you seen this yet?!?!?!

How to: DIY Wedge Camper


Homemade wedge camper with steel tubing and those extruded aluminum deals....

View attachment 2531379
Click to expand...

I have seen that build before. I have been shopping some extruded aluminum. I haven’t been able to do much because we have been in the middle of a move for oh say 6 months now lol. Plus no timeframe for the new house so...focus on project is low. Looking at a soft top and intercooler at the moment.
 
That's a very nice looking soft top. Looks like it avoids a few issues I've found with mine.

1. I have two sets of doors, one for hard top, one for soft top. Soft top doors are cut down.

2. Reduced internal space, particular at the back, as the soft top meets at the top of the door, rather than the top of the window.

3. My soft top has a metal bracket which goes across the top of the windscreen which means the FRP top doesn't sit flush.

All that said, do you really want a soft top? They're noisy. Once I put the FRP on, I doubt I'll ever put the soft top back on.

But if I were getting another soft top, the one you posted looks good.


Will post a photo later
 
MrJames said:
That's a very nice looking soft top. Looks like it avoids a few issues I've found with mine.

1. I have two sets of doors, one for hard top, one for soft top. Soft top doors are cut down.

2. Reduced internal space, particular at the back, as the soft top meets at the top of the door, rather than the top of the window.

3. My soft top has a metal bracket which goes across the top of the windscreen which means the FRP top doesn't sit flush.

All that said, do you really want a soft top? They're noisy. Once I put the FRP on, I doubt I'll ever put the soft top back on.

But if I were getting another soft top, the one you posted looks good.


Will post a photo later
Click to expand...


Yeah I think this OEM style top is better for highway and wind noise that a typical soft top.

Personally, I love having a soft top in the summer. A BJ74 is in all intents and purposes a newer FJ40. Popping the top off a 40 is just awesome. Pulling the hard top or the FRP is cumbersome and not done quickly. I have ran a bikini top the last 2 summers and love it. The only thing I don't love is rain storms. So having a soft top would allow me to pop the sides back on and be water tight and enjoy free air running in the summer.
 
Just stumbled on this on a French Facebook group about 4x4 setups :
1625059395824.png

1625059442582.png



Not much details on the original link but maybe it can be a little inspiration or able to ask questions :
www.facebook.com

Bivouac 4x4 Technique | Bonjour à Tous | Facebook

Bonjour à Tous Vous avez été nombreux à réagir lors de ma précédente publication.... mais nombre d’entre vous ont cru que le confort supplémentaire était dû à l’installation d’un auvent... Alors...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
nice try ,
but if you think how it will hold up in windy situations , I would not like to find out .
 
I've been thinking about this and what about removing the top, 3D scanning the entire body and top, and then designing a custom top digitally? Might offer more flexibility, such as an overhang on front/back, etc. Also could probably build in more structural strength than just chopping an FRP top into bits. I think it might even be an option to 3d print on that size scale?

Obviously kind of a massive undertaking, but I think the tech is there that some enterprising mudder ought to be able to figure it out. It's how TRA Kyoto design their body kits for JDM auto tuning scene.
 
badusmaximus said:
I've been thinking about this and what about removing the top, 3D scanning the entire body and top, and then designing a custom top digitally? Might offer more flexibility, such as an overhang on front/back, etc. Also could probably build in more structural strength than just chopping an FRP top into bits. I think it might even be an option to 3d print on that size scale?

Obviously kind of a massive undertaking, but I think the tech is there that some enterprising mudder ought to be able to figure it out. It's how TRA Kyoto design their body kits for JDM auto tuning scene.
Click to expand...
The old school way to design and build a top like that other than modifying the top it's already in place would be to make a mold for the existing top:

wax it and cover it with a layer of Vaseline soaked newspaper. Then lay on fiberglass cloth mat and resin over with wood on the outside for reinforcement. When it cures remove it this is now a mold for the old top.

Mold a new top and cut it up change its shape to suit with clay or filler or whatever to make your new top the shape you desire to become a new male mold for your new female mold.

Then make a mold for the new top the same way you did the original. Cut the mold into two pieces with the "male mold" still inside if need be in order to release it if a two-piece mold is what will be needed for your new two-piece top.

Finish and do detail work on your new two-piece mold.

I doubt an amateur who is not really good with fiberglass and body work could make this as cheaply or inexpensively as a one-off compared to just buying a top somebody already has made. The market for this top for a bj-70 or 73 is very small and shipping would be expensive.

This is sort of the method they use to copy old boat hulls to make new boats in many developing countries. If you only want to do it once you can make a lot of thin shells without having to make a durable heavy mold. There are YouTube videos showing these molding methods.

If large scale 3D printing were widely available, and the method could produce a durable enough top. Then to scan design and make printing files for sale to anyone in the world who could get it printed up locally in their own country is perhaps the next revolution in manufacturing of small quantity custom items.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

gilmorneau
Interesting HDJ80 camper
Replies
1
Views
3K
Broski
Broski

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 4 (members: 0, guests: 4)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom