REAR Doorless Conversion for XJ

[XJ4IV]

I have been pondering the whole rear doors removal for a few months now. so today having had ALL the items sitting on the shelf for a few weeks now I decided that I need to just bite the bullet and get to cutting.
Im doing the passenger side due to the slight modification that is needed that the driver side doesn't need...

Here is the before pic
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG305.jpg

First off open the front door to access the hinge of the rear door to see this...
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG296.jpg
remove the little plastic cover to reveal this
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG297.jpg
notice that you can now see the hinge bolts through the holes that jeep offered to us... YAY!
Anyhow now on to the door removal
These bolts are a T-40 Torx bit... good luck!
Now that the door is off you have the remaining hinge,
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG298.jpg
notice that the hinge pin on this door is mounted from the bottom so this pin must be driven out but be careful and save this one as you WILL need it to rebuild the hinges
here are the hinge pins after they are removed
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG300.jpg
once you get those out
make sure you cut the bottom of the hinges off sooooo you can remove the doors
Here is when you flip the pins to the top
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG301.jpg
Next item to be attended to is this little sleeve in the hinge... this makes it VERY difficult to remove the doors SO we need to bore that sleeve out... just grab a drill bit of the same size and wallow it out until it the sleeve comes out
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG299.jpg
this is what it looks like when out
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG293.jpg
once the door is off you can the put them back on but dont tighten the bolts just yet!
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG292.jpg
also notice that the backing bracket is also modified to make removal and re-install easier
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG303.jpg
the last cut needed to make things easier
is the cut the lower hinge pin the same thickness as the part of the hinge you removed THIS will help you install by inserting the top hinge pin first then lower the door a TAD then just align the lower pint and let it drop into place.
here is the last step... drop the door back into place remember that your hinge bolts are still loose then gently close the door all the way and make sure the body lines all match up nicely ... once they are again use these access holes to hit two of the 3 bolts on each hinge to hold it in place and set the alignment for the doors.
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG304.jpg
Once you get those two bolts per hinge torqued down then open the door back up and tighten the remaing two bolts and your done...
final appearance
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/XJ4IV/IMG305.jpg
looks as though nothing changed!
If I left anything out please ask and I will fill it in as well...
as for the wires in the doors... I went to radio shack and found a plug that is a 4 wire that I will eventually just splice in and the remaining wire just make a plug out of a male and female pieces.

** Please not this is an OFF ROAD only modification. Check your state's laws before driving without doors on publicly owned streets.

[KH96XJ]

Might have to give this a try at some point.

[cantab27]

nice scotters,,but i still don't understand this go door-less thing..........forgive me...

[teamwestoutdoors]

I think after doing my front doors the back doors are next. Thanks for the write up.

[XJ4IV]

nice scotters,,but i still don't understand this go door-less thing..........forgive me...

we are just lazy ass americans... opening and closing doors annoy us!

really it is very comfortable and makes seeing obstacles MUCH easier while wheelin' plus that wind up the shorts while cruising at 70 MPH feels refreshing!

[4x4Dalton]

Cool Scott thanks for the write up bro!!:thumbsup:

[jccatt]

Great write up.

[modestmar00xj]

we are just lazy ass americans... opening and closing doors annoy us!

really it is very comfortable and makes seeing obstacles MUCH easier while wheelin' plus that wind up the shorts while cruising at 70 MPH feels refreshing!

haha yes! this is all true! thanks for the write up man! this is going to be my next project!

[ironmanandy]

As for removing doors think of this. On our ZJ We removed the front two doors (212 lbs) the rear 2 doors(188lbs) and the tailgate. (147 lbs). Thats almost 550 lbs of heavy american beer drinking gut that you can add to the jeep and not affect the performance any.

Or be a skinny brat like me and go faster.... My speedo read 90 on dirt in the ECORS start.... Im not sayin it was right but it was fast and the weight loss made a huge result.

Andy

[ambitious98xj]

Dude thanks for the the awesome post! Love it, i'm definately doing this to my XJ soon!

[rugidone]

plus that wind up the shorts while cruising at 70 MPH feels refreshing!

^This....we have a winner. :D

[JENSSEN]

Just a quick note here,.. I have had a few friends that ran door less in XJ's with out chassis stiffeners and after some hard wheeling they were much harder to get back on and make fit. So just beware that the doors are part of the chassis and do add rigidity if you don't believe me RTI ramp your XJ with the doors and hatch closed,.. then open you will be surprised!:shocker:

[rugidone]

Before the stiffys even with a weak frame i never had a problem with door movement when flexed out. Hatch is a given, no way that sucker will function right...

[JK4Lyfe]

Thanks for the write-up! Always have liked the idea of a doorless XJ

[Xcitethephugoid]

I've thought about taking my doors off for quite sometime now. Great step by step!

[90ARMYxj]

Is this the same way you do the front doors because I was wanting to do my fronts so I think I will do the fronts then try the backs.

[4.3LXJ]

Yes it is

[XjJeepacorn]

haha yes! this is all true! thanks for the write up man! this is going to be my next project!

Oh gawd! I wouldn't wanna be south of that wind hahaha

[XjJeepacorn]

I just want to do my front doors, I don't see the point of doing the back really who needs to see obstacles in the back? I'm all about practicality I believe diamonds are for cutting tile and glass and gold is for audio equipment and platinum is for cadillac converters (lol;)

Technically I'd really just need the drivers side but then that would just look weird! So I'd do the passengers to! I'd like to make my own tube doors just to have something there. I'm thinking I might buy a tube bender at some point I'd like tube fenders and I'd absolutely love an exo and to make my own sliders. You know that kind of thing.

I also have dogs and I like to bring them wheeling so having back doors is also a practicality thing. I guess I could do then I'd have the option but meh! This is future stuff nothing any time soon.

Fortunately in Ontario it is legal to go doorless so no issues there! What would you guys suggest for frame stiffening? Just like the whole unibody with steel? I'm one of those skinny turds lol!!! So taking the doors off and lining the unibody with some plate would be ok for me you think 3/16 would be over kill? I wanted to do that around the steering box I got some crazy movement there even thought I bought a mounting plate for it.

Thanks for this, I'll actually be doing the front sooner then later as my ds door is a bit broken at the latch. Great write up good pics :)

[4.3LXJ]

If you want to plate the frame, 3/16" is the usual. I will be using that myself

[XjJeepacorn]

That's what I thought, wasn't sure if that's over kill or not, I was going to used that to make a new tranny support for hero because his is a bit mashed up

[robuilt]

i had a heck of a time with those t-40 bolts. I ended up rounding one out and getting it out and back in. I was wondering, cant I just cut the bottom of the doorside hinge, drive the pin down, remove it and reinstall it on top without removing the bolts?

[4.3LXJ]

A lot of people do that. But personally I like to keep the hinge intact. But on the other hand, that is the most common way