Doors Off

[Sal-XK]

Yup I took my doors off!:cool: I've been staring at them for a month or two now wondering what if. The doors block so much of your view off road now I can see both tires on my side and the pinch weld carving around and over rocks just got a lot easier. I also put the door on a scale :mad: wow there heavy. I figured they would be heavy but darn man. The rear doors weigh 70LBS a piece, The front door are about 90LBS a piece. So take all 4 doors off and you drop 320LBS of weight. Drop your spare tire and 3rd row and its starting to add up fast. I really shocked the wife. Oh My God your crazy spewed out of her mouth for like 5 minuets.

UPDATE:

CONS:
Loose 4 speakers
Computer doesn't like it at all
HVAC system is useless
Exposing lots of electrical systems to the weather
Less safe in an accident
Time consuming to remove and install
Doors never felt right after going back on (passenger never lined up correctly either)
Will need some type of replacement door to look good.

PROS:
Jeep is a lot lighter
You can see a lot more for the trails
MPG's go up a lot
Cool factor (MAYBE)

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2010/06/100_4711JPG-1.jpg

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[Ross]

YES!!!! I have been wanting to do this for the longest time. Was it difficult having to deal with the wiring that goes in the door for the windows?

[Sal-XK]

No they just unplug no big deal. Obviously the first door was a pain. The rear doors come off in like 2 minuets no big deal just remember to roll down the windows first. The fronts take some work because the bolts are hidden by the fender. I pulled the wheel well and flare off in one piece loosened the fender enough to get my impact in there and thats pretty much it. I haven't driven it yet but I think it looks cool.

[Matt]

Take it for a quick spin!

lol i want to know if your dash goes nuts when you put it in drive and it senses that all of the doors are open

[Sal-XK]

Take it for a quick spin!

lol i want to know if your dash goes nuts when you put it in drive and it senses that all of the doors are open

Pulling it out it said 2 doors open I laughed 4 doors gone stupid computer.

[Ross]

It would be cool if someone made some aftermarket doors that are more like lightweight wrangler doors

[Matt]

Hey man I just had an idea that may help expedite the R&R of the doors for you. Find the nearest joists above your XK and mount some hooks. You can use the hooks to support the weight of the doors and even draw them into place but using one hook thats over the centerline of the jeep.

[Sal-XK]

I though about something like that but I just lifted them off by hand. Now putting them on might be a different story.

[NeilSmith]

Ok, Im gonna go ahead and say it. :) If you insist on doing this, wait till you get to your campsite to take them off. Never drive on the street without the doors. the doors are a very important integral part of the vehicles strength. When a vehicle has a side impact, the doors basically keep the side from completely ripping open and allowing the other vehicle from entering into your passenger compartment. The door will no doubt save your life. If that is not good enough for you, the doors will save your kid's life also. The hardest part about removing the doors will be getting them aligned properly when putting them back on. Of course they arent made to be an easy removal like the Wranglers are. Have fun.

[Sal-XK]

Well I did do it for the trail depending on how hard they are to put back on dictates if I drive to the trail door less or not. :) I'm usually the only one in my jeep so I'm not worried about that but I knew it would be more dangerous if I wrecked it without doors when I took them off. As far as flex goes on two tires all the doors and rear hatch open and close no problem so I don't see the doors as part of the system supplying strength in that situation.

[cico7]

Sal, how long were you without oxygen?? LOL.... Some netting would be a good idea
to keep things from entering or exiting the XK. Neil commented on strength provided
by the doors. So Iwonder, will the unibody twist? Will the doors line up again when
you try to put them back on?

[Sal-XK]

Like I said with two tires off the ground I've opened all the doors and rear lid and nothing happened at all they all closed perfectly. IMO the unibody will hold with no problem.

[cico7]

I saw your response to Neil after I posted my comment.

[Sal-XK]

I saw your response to Neil after I posted my comment.

It's cool bro I figured were getting old you may have missed it. I put a driver side mirror on. I didn't like not having a mirror and it complies with the law now. As usual put on with what ever I had laying around the garage.

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/05/100_4713JPG-1.jpg

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[LWM]

I thought I had seen just about everything...

Glad I saw it HERE first!

[Matt]

Check this out... about 1 minute in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmRkfOFHVm8&feature=related

The designers probably took a note from one of the issues with the XJ where people had issues with doors lining back up after twisting offroad and such. Wasn't enough to see... just enough to cause an issue with door seals and whatnot.

[Sal-XK]

I only made one trip with it in its current configuration I'm going to start listing the pros and cons for myself. A couple of cons I came up with right a way. I lost four speakers and just have the front dash ones that kinda stinks. Weather is another one the rain not that big of a deal but the AC really don't work to well LOL

[Matt]

CON:
Lots of dust/dirt will make its way into the vehicle when offroad. Be prepared for doubling extensive wash time... (lol and this would NOT be a good idea of trail in NJ where its impossible to go anywhere without a few mud/water holes.)

[Holaday07 4.7]

That is great, you should get some simple tube doors modified or made, you might have started a new trend.

[Sal-XK]

CON:
Lots of dust/dirt will make its way into the vehicle when offroad. Be prepared for doubling extensive wash time... (lol and this would NOT be a good idea of trail in NJ where its impossible to go anywhere without a few mud/water holes.)

I have dust everywhere inside the jeep Uwharrie is a dust bowl I never can keep it out anyway. I'm sure, wait I'm positive this is not for everybody LOL I don't treat my XK like 99% of the people I realize this. I don't worry about resale either because even if I buy another jeep this one will probably stay with us for a long time. To date except for the bumper mod I haven't done anything I can't reverse I think. :)


That is great, you should get some simple tube doors modified or made, you might have started a new trend.

Maybe this winter I'll see whats up with something like that.

[NeilSmith]

You didn't steal that mirror off your wife's car, did you ? LOL !!

[Sal-XK]

You didn't steal that mirror off your wife's car, did you ? LOL !!

Now you give me ideas LOL

A few thoughts I had while out driving tonight. First was the safety issue, I thought about it and I've been riding bikes my whole life and doors off is still a lot safer then a bike is on the street so thats the philosophy I'm going with anyway. :) I also have another con you guys might be interested in MPG's holy crap man I saw numbers I've only seen going down hill in neutral with a tail wind before. LOL I'm not convinced yet because I was not on my normal route which I will be on tomorrow so we will see. Lets just say at one point I seen 21MPG and was averaging 18MPG on my route to best buy and back. The traffic on this route usually kills my MPG but not this time so here is hoping.

[NeilSmith]

how do you lock that thing up ? LOL

[Sal-XK]

how do you lock that thing up ? LOL

I didn't even notice my glove compartment had a lock until I did this LOL. I just don't leave anything out in plan site and put anything valuable in the glove box. Doors off are pretty common down here as well between all the wrangles and Cherokee's around here it's pretty common. I drove my normal route today and so far I'm up 2 MPG to 17.3 MPG :)

[NeilSmith]

I saw this today just riding around town. ( You need a bike rack )
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[IamJEEP]

O.K.........Sal is Officially the forum koo koo. LOL, bro you are too much but I'm liking what I see. Throw on some custom tube doors and that rig will be smokin'! You might be able to get away with removing the fender flares and still look good...?....

[Sal-XK]

I saw this today just riding around town. ( You need a bike rack )


My wife would absolutely kill me. LOL that was funny


O.K.........Sal is Officially the forum koo koo. LOL, bro you are too much but I'm liking what I see. Throw on some custom tube doors and that rig will be smokin'! You might be able to get away with removing the fender flares and still look good...?....

I guess I wen't to far this time LMAO When you have several jeep guys saying your the craziest person might mean you went to far hahahahahahah I never claimed to be sane or all there anyway.

[cico7]

This is a lot of work getting to the bottom of this thread....I think you have open then doors
(so to speak) to a new mod. Add half doors. Hard bottom with canvas upper. Maybe semi rigid rear doors. Make the removal of the front doors easier.
I think you need to paint your doors posts..

[LWM]

how do you lock that thing up ? LOL


That is what the Secure Console is for.

[Sal-XK]

Out off all the crazy stuff I've done to my XK I guess this is by far the craziest. I've received some compliments but I've received a lot of your just nuts and some negative reactions. I never do anything to impress or show off it's not my style but if you don't like it say once and leave it at that ya know what I mean. My wife actually started giving me a structural explanation using the wrangle as a example of why there doors come off and why mine should go back on. LMAO not really laughing she's starting to annoy me actually. She's wearing down some the doors are probably going back on soon maybe. The wife's usually pretty cool with the stuff I do to the Jeep she's never complained about all the trips and wheeling or the money spent on it so I think I'll have to give in on this one and just take the doors off for the trails. I'll look into tubed doors this winter that might make it look better door less as well.

[Tymac]

Out off all the crazy stuff I've done to my XK I guess this is by far the craziest. I've received some compliments but I've received a lot of your just nuts and some negative reactions. I never do anything to impress or show off it's not my style but if you don't like it say once and leave it at that ya know what I mean. My wife actually started giving me a structural explanation using the wrangle as a example of why there doors come off and why mine should go back on. LMAO not really laughing she's starting to annoy me actually. She's wearing down some the doors are probably going back on soon maybe. The wife's usually pretty cool with the stuff I do to the Jeep she's never complained about all the trips and wheeling or the money spent on it so I think I'll have to give in on this one and just take the doors off for the trails. I'll look into tubed doors this winter that might make it look better door less as well.

Unbolting parts and putting them back on is considered forward thinking. Cutting them off so they have to be surgically grafted back on would be crazy. Either way I feel your pain. I've long had the notion to remove the ring finger on my left hand, but my wife will have none of it.

[NeilSmith]

We went down to the lake today to go swimming and saw a 4-Runner in the lot with doors removed. He had some tube doors on the front.

[Sal-XK]

I put my doors back on by myself I just man handled the doors in. The fronts were pretty heavy of course but I just lined up the paint lines and all is well. All the lines line up on the doors and fenders it looks normal. The rears took a couple of minuets the fronts took about 15 minuets a piece including the fender and wheel well work.

[IamJEEP]

I would say if your Jeep was strickly a trail rig, then leave the doors off. But, since its your daily its better with the doors on it. At least you can claim you did it and now the rest of us know it can be done.

[ped4599]

I think it would be fun to have them off once in awhile, but would hate the dust! And if you hit water or mud, its all coming in onto your interior. Like Tymac said, you can put them on and take them off when you want, its not like you cut them off with a torch. i do like the "outside the box" thinking!!!

[Sal-XK]

My original intent was to take the drivers door off to see how feasible it would be for doing just for the trails. Of course I got carried away and just did them all LOL I drove two days with the doors off it was OK all the benefits I see are trail related better visibility and can't dent whats not there. :)

[Sal-XK]

Bump for the war wagon happy reading :)

[The_War_Wagon]

Bump for the war wagon happy reading :)


Ok... I'm gonna vote with your wife on this one. ;)

I'm FROM NC though - I'm betting I've seen CRAZIER things on the road than that. :rolleyes: Your native neighbors probably think more highly of you now, though! :p