It seems like most of the Aries/Smittybilt/Tuffy threads include a mention of the new Jeep Backbone, and everyone always asks if anybody has one.
Well, I do, on my '14 Willys Wheeler 2-door. First, the pix: (snapped in the parking lot of my office, so not very artistic )
As you can tell, I opted to install some steel tie-downs in the pre-drilled holes. The company offers a Cargo Bar, that is a 3-sided tube (about like a skinny tubular bumper) -- it mounts on risers and goes across the back and up both sides. Sits about 10" above the deck, and gives you a good fence to hold cargo up there, and tie it off. I didn't want to have that piece in the way, so I bought the tie-down eyes at Home Depot. The eyes are actually 2 pieces -- the bottom part stays in the panel but you can unscrew the eye and the receiver for it only sticks up about an eighth of an inch. They come unfinished and I Plastidipped them black. The deck comes with these holes drilled for the Cargo Fence -- I had to open them up a little (I think they're 1/2" and I needed 5/8".) The front edge of the deck has a grooved channel as you see -- that is for a Jeep Backbone rear windshield if you want to run a bikini and seal the back of your cockpit.
The front is 2 pieces, attached together on the inside. It does not attach to anything at the bottom. An enterprising thief could get a clawed crowbar down there and pull it up, but the seatbacks would stop movement after a bit. The solution (I haven't done it yet) is to run a bolt in from the outside, with a small D Ring attached to it from the inside. Then just a small cargo strap to one of the seat tiedowns.
I bought several different cargo nets. This is one for the back of an SUV, where you use it to go over bags of groceries so they don't slide around. It's light duty. I also have a heavy duty one that has grids more like 5x5" for large, heavy items.
Okay, I went ghetto on the cargo bar. That's a wooden broom handle I had in the basement. It fits perfectly, as in, you have to force it through the rings by using a hard twisting motion. I just Plastidipped it also, and left the threads on the end in a sort of ironic tip-of-the-hat to my recently-passed father who jury-rigged pretty much everything he ever worked on, using whatever he found in his shed.
I installed two of the little Home Depot stick-on LED lights on the "ceiling" of the trunk. I velcroed them up. (One is sitting on the carpet in the foreground) Just fumble around till you feel them and they turn on with a push. The Shittybilt (and I mean that spelling in the most literal sense) rear cargo bag Molle panel thingy fits great with the Backbone.
I really think the look is first rate. Every single Jeeper who has seen it has asked me about it and vowed to buy one. They make one for the TJ also. And here's the website: Jeep Backbone Home Page
So far I've found nothing to complain about. I've offered the suggestion of making a pass-through door in the center of the front panel, so longish package (2x4s, skis, shovels, hoes, etc) could fit in there and stick up into the cockpit. Without it you can strap them on top of the Backbone, but a passthrough door would let you put things down low.
We got a heavy rain yesterday. It let some water in, but they say you can adjust the seals around the rollbar, so I'll work on that with my hose out this weekend. Frankly, it was barely enough to worry about, not much more than gets into the front of my new Wrangler through the OEM top!
One note: You can still lower the top just fine, but the lower "elbow" of the frame now rests on the Backbone, rather than dropping down into the cargo bay. So the top stack doesn't rest on the Backbone, but sits up in the air a few inches (maybe 8"? I've only had it down once and I didn't measure it.) Doesn't hurt anything but it blocks the rear view pretty handily. I think the best use for this deck is either
a) leave the softtop installed, and just run without windows when you want the open feel. That's what I do. I've owned convertibles for the last 19 years, and have another currently, so I don't need to have the literal open top thing going on. But I love having the windows out 24/7, so this works great for me. Add a rear windshield if you don't want to install windows when it rains. Or remove rear carpets and say ta hell with it. (my plan.)
b) remove the softtop and install a Besttop Safari Bikini and just run that all summer. Add a rear windshield if you feel you need more protection.
Well, I do, on my '14 Willys Wheeler 2-door. First, the pix: (snapped in the parking lot of my office, so not very artistic )
As you can tell, I opted to install some steel tie-downs in the pre-drilled holes. The company offers a Cargo Bar, that is a 3-sided tube (about like a skinny tubular bumper) -- it mounts on risers and goes across the back and up both sides. Sits about 10" above the deck, and gives you a good fence to hold cargo up there, and tie it off. I didn't want to have that piece in the way, so I bought the tie-down eyes at Home Depot. The eyes are actually 2 pieces -- the bottom part stays in the panel but you can unscrew the eye and the receiver for it only sticks up about an eighth of an inch. They come unfinished and I Plastidipped them black. The deck comes with these holes drilled for the Cargo Fence -- I had to open them up a little (I think they're 1/2" and I needed 5/8".) The front edge of the deck has a grooved channel as you see -- that is for a Jeep Backbone rear windshield if you want to run a bikini and seal the back of your cockpit.
The front is 2 pieces, attached together on the inside. It does not attach to anything at the bottom. An enterprising thief could get a clawed crowbar down there and pull it up, but the seatbacks would stop movement after a bit. The solution (I haven't done it yet) is to run a bolt in from the outside, with a small D Ring attached to it from the inside. Then just a small cargo strap to one of the seat tiedowns.
I bought several different cargo nets. This is one for the back of an SUV, where you use it to go over bags of groceries so they don't slide around. It's light duty. I also have a heavy duty one that has grids more like 5x5" for large, heavy items.
Okay, I went ghetto on the cargo bar. That's a wooden broom handle I had in the basement. It fits perfectly, as in, you have to force it through the rings by using a hard twisting motion. I just Plastidipped it also, and left the threads on the end in a sort of ironic tip-of-the-hat to my recently-passed father who jury-rigged pretty much everything he ever worked on, using whatever he found in his shed.
I installed two of the little Home Depot stick-on LED lights on the "ceiling" of the trunk. I velcroed them up. (One is sitting on the carpet in the foreground) Just fumble around till you feel them and they turn on with a push. The Shittybilt (and I mean that spelling in the most literal sense) rear cargo bag Molle panel thingy fits great with the Backbone.
I really think the look is first rate. Every single Jeeper who has seen it has asked me about it and vowed to buy one. They make one for the TJ also. And here's the website: Jeep Backbone Home Page
So far I've found nothing to complain about. I've offered the suggestion of making a pass-through door in the center of the front panel, so longish package (2x4s, skis, shovels, hoes, etc) could fit in there and stick up into the cockpit. Without it you can strap them on top of the Backbone, but a passthrough door would let you put things down low.
We got a heavy rain yesterday. It let some water in, but they say you can adjust the seals around the rollbar, so I'll work on that with my hose out this weekend. Frankly, it was barely enough to worry about, not much more than gets into the front of my new Wrangler through the OEM top!
One note: You can still lower the top just fine, but the lower "elbow" of the frame now rests on the Backbone, rather than dropping down into the cargo bay. So the top stack doesn't rest on the Backbone, but sits up in the air a few inches (maybe 8"? I've only had it down once and I didn't measure it.) Doesn't hurt anything but it blocks the rear view pretty handily. I think the best use for this deck is either
a) leave the softtop installed, and just run without windows when you want the open feel. That's what I do. I've owned convertibles for the last 19 years, and have another currently, so I don't need to have the literal open top thing going on. But I love having the windows out 24/7, so this works great for me. Add a rear windshield if you don't want to install windows when it rains. Or remove rear carpets and say ta hell with it. (my plan.)
b) remove the softtop and install a Besttop Safari Bikini and just run that all summer. Add a rear windshield if you feel you need more protection.