Strike force zebra trail doors

[06 H3]

I recently PM'ed Recon as I thought he would have the most interest in this product but I think if we get enough people to want them we can make it happen. I can be the donor vehicle as strikeforcezebra is in my town. They have badass trail doors...only made for the JK currently but he did say hes looking for more vehicles. Here is the link, kinda pricey but I think well worth it. Sealable half doors that are that super tough plastic stuff. I met up with a JK owner who has these, he slammed his trail door into a rock and it took all the abuse and left a small scratch and popped right back out on its own, then the rock he hit continued down his rear quarter panel and dented in the panel...These will take the abuse unlike metal. They are lighter then metal and he is looking to make an upper door with a sliding window. Weighs about 1/3rd the weight of a JK door and ours are way heavier then a JK door with all the speakers and stuff inside them. IIRC 28lbs? Insane storage too. Check out his videos on his website.

http://www.strikeforcezebra.com/index.html

Check out his videos. Personally I am all for these. I think it would be nice if I could have fenders made from this stuff too...I wheel on a lot of tight trails and usually the difference between getting a winch/strap or making it through the obstacle is width, I end up taking lines that avoid body damage but end up not being a good line to actually successfully make the obstacle. So who's interested in doors? If we can get some interest we can start there and worry about fenders later.

 

[SC_Hummer_Guy]

I'm down for a set if they get made with the fender and mirror!

What I wanna know is can we get them made to actually still have a speaker in them? I like to listen to music while I wheel

 

[3Hummers]

$1300/4 is pretty pricey. If the H3 was my primary wheeling truck I would go for a set.

 

[06 H3]

At first I thought the same thing Dave. I went through bebes post and she had around 750 in materials, add in the labor and your probably not far off.

Maybe I am convincing myself I need them but if I had these doors on when I damaged my door and fender in the sluice box at gorman I would be about even compared to the cost of body work lol

Its a long term investment that will save you money in the future! :wink: I like how they are sealed tight for water crossings and have locks, adding a upper half door is nice too.

We went Saturday morning to pick up the aluminum sheet for the skins. 2 4x8 sheets of .063/5052 were $108.48 each. ($217)

Tube was $6.00 a foot and we bought 60 feet of 1.5" .090 wall. We have one stick left. ($360)

I went to the Warehouse Paint Store here in Auburn and was able to have them mix 4 cans of the OEM black into spray cans for me at $21.75 per can. ($88)

I picked up some epoxy primer - 4 cans for $7 each. ($28)

Latches at Pick-n-pull off an early 90's Isuzu Trooper ($40)

So we are $750ish in materials.

The JK doors Run about $270 each for similar construction except they are fabric not aluminum. ($1080 + S&H) I did some research and the doors that are like mine (Steel and Alum. Skinned on Tube frames) can run up to $3,000.00!

Some of the finer details include the latch mechanism and door pulls, and the mounting for the flare, and the tabs that touch the sensors for the "door open" warning and the interior lights.

So far so good, hopefully she'll be home tomorrow

 

[06 H3]

and I would probably break it up into buying two at first then the back two later on.

 

[bebe]

So I should tell my guy not to bother?

 

[rsc]

Price would be the drawback for me, if they were cheaper I'd feel better about it. I just think its about 15% high, but if it included 4 fenders (wider for 35s! ) then I think I could find some dollars. I'd like to see them for under $300 for each door/fender!

 

[06 H3]

Did he start? If he did then I wont call this guy. If not, I will want to wait and see if he will make em or not and what his prices are. If his prices are more then the JK ones then I would take your doors any day. Im a fan of both door setups but pricing would be a determining factor.


RSC: I know pricing on half doors are expensive...It sucks, my brother lucked out and bought a set of 4 unused tube doors with skins from the chromed out JK down the street along with a new soft top all for $250. The best deal is to wait and find used half doors but for us Hummer guys there isnt a used half door market. :sigh:

 

[3Hummers]

Bebe's doors were nice. Very solid also.

 

[backcountryislife]

Curious, could you find some doors off of a salvage vehicle, cut them, gut them & have some decent 1/2 doors for cheap? Or are salvage doors still pretty pricey?

 

[06 H3]

Not sure...bebe do u have a guesstimated price on your doors?

 

[4speedfunk]

Plastic doors? Hell yeah! Anything you can do to shed weight is a plus. In the case of the doors, I think any non-stock door is going to compromise the safety. I also think most users could care less! If I was that concerned about my safety...I would keep my stock doors in place! Once you come to this realization...its easy to choose plastic over metal. In essence...the door construction becomes more of a cosmetic/weight/price issue, and not a question of protection. Obviously the H3 is very different from the JK in the door design, so I would want to see the finished product before dropping some coin. The Jeep is a much easier vehicle to design parts for...and the Jeep owner is a much easier customer to please, (I mean come on...the JK has barn-door hinges on it!). The Hummer doors will require more R&D...and the fit, finish, and appearance will be more scrutinized by the H3 owner. That's just how we're wired. I suspect once the Strike Force guy figures this out (along with the extremely small audience)...his $1300 price will go up by at least 50%. That's when he'll scrap the whole idea.

I'm all about alternative materials...especially for non-critical parts. Plastic in particular, opens up all kinds of contour options that just aren't possible with flat sheet metal. By now...you may have guessed where I'm going with this:

FENDERS!!!!

Tell the Strike Force guy to forget the doors. He'll never make a dime off them....even at $2000/set. The real product is Fender flares! If he makes bolt-on Bushwacker style flairs for H3's...he'll sell enough of them that he can actually make some real money. Unlike doors...the flares appeal to a much broader audience, and I know of 4 or 5 guys that would buy em right now (including myself). The doors are cool...but I feel they are way down on the list of things that the typical H3 off-roader would buy. Fender flares, however are not...in fact, some states actually require them. Best of all...he would have 100% of the market share because nobody else is making them. My two cents.

 

[06 H3]

Interesting points CJ...I dont even care to have the fenders wider. I just want to be able to smash em on a rock and not have to worry about anything.

 

[4speedfunk]

I don't think anybody WANTS wider fenders...especially with stock wheels. But there is a huge group (Hummer speaking) of H3 guys running Tough Country and Rancho kits that could really benefit from wider fenders. These lift kits require offset wheels, and that means the track width sticks out well beyond the stock fenders. The same is true with my SAS. Its annoying at best...illegal at worst. Its not something I loose sleep over but, I'll admit...it would be nice to get from my driveway to the first stop light without a bunch of crap down the side of my truck. It would also ease my mind when traveling in states that require full-coverage.

I'm curious if the Strike Force guy is molding his doors or fabbing them from flat plastic stock. We Hummer guys desperately need a small-run plastic connection! I got ideas but, no contacts.

 

[ReconH3]

Maybe combining Bebe's doors with the plastic skins might be a better solution. Bebe's builder has already done the footwork and has proven to work well. When your guy mods the skins he could integrate the rear fender portion already into it.

Onto the wider fender idea, I think it's a very good one. They could make either stand alone ones, or wider skins that go over the OEM ones. Bestop makes ones like that for the JK and they work great. No sag since they are supported by the OEM ones. If they are stand alone ones I hope he doesn't make them look like the Bushwhacker pocket style ones. I find them horrendous!!!

 

[3Hummers]

Usually doors are a very expensive item from a junkyard perspective. I know H1 doors go for $500-1000/ea. Trail doors would definitely be cheaper for the H1.

 

[bebe]

Now that I am back from Moab and won't be needing the doors until Summer, I was going to give them to BinksFab (he built the cruiser) and have him do the Tube work. Just the doors should run less than $300 each for the front and less than $250 each for the rear. You can skin them however you want. They would come with door latches, you would need to use your own hinges.

I need at least one person to buy the first set so he can set up the Jig for the doors.

You could use aluminum, or lexan, or speedglass - many options, or you could just leave the as tube doors.

 

[bebe]

Usually doors are a very expensive item from a junkyard perspective. I know H1 doors go for $500-1000/ea. Trail doors would definitely be cheaper for the H1.

Exactly - locating them is the most difficult part, and the prices are about the same as if you just ordered the outer skin from GM - $400.00 per skin and you still have to do all the fabricating.

 

[06 H3]

Around 300 for the front two or just one? That seems much more reasonable then this guy. Maybe if we talk to strike force about fenders he can get a much bigger target group.

 

[bebe]

Each - they gotta eat too We may be able to bring the price down if they are not painted or powder coated.

I know you all want stuff as cheap as possible, but sometimes you really need to look at the material cost and labor. Bink doesn't live in a mansion and he drives a 20 year old Ford F250. He's a good guy who just likes building stuff.

If you price doors at 4 wheel parts for JK's, you'll see even the mass produced doors are more than these. If it wasn't a great deal, I wouldn't have them.

 

[bebe]

Plus, he's super picky, if you saw the cruiser and the work he did on it, you would know

http://www.binksfab.com/ and check out his FB page. http://www.facebook.com/BinksFab

 

[58Bisc]

Fenders, not fender flares that are wider for the lifted H3's and with a larger wheel well opening to fit 37's if desired. I had to trim my flares to fit my 35's and I know a couple of stock H3 Alpha's that got the saws all out on the wheel wells to make the 37's fit. Give them a little flex to absorb light impacts and we'd be good to go.

 

[06 H3]

bebe is right on price. I checked online last night, my brothers tube doors brand new are $720 unshipped and his are basic, not even the fancy ones and those ones he has are mass produced! Hes lucky the chromosexual JK down the street had no use for them.

Bebe, I will probably buy the fronts first, probably when he makes the first batch and then buy the rears just in time for summer.

 

[rsc]

Fenders, not fender flares that are wider for the lifted H3's and with a larger wheel well opening to fit 37's if desired. I had to trim my flares to fit my 35's and I know a couple of stock H3 Alpha's that got the saws all out on the wheel wells to make the 37's fit. Give them a little flex to absorb light impacts and we'd be good to go.

Exactly! This is sooo what I want! Either like the Japanese market fenders/covers or (better still) full fenders. Roto-molded plastic is great for a low cost, durable material. Imagine hitting a rock and just popping the damage back out with a smack of your palm!

I think the market for the fenders and doors is there. I think we are on the front side of the H3 taking off as a trail bashing vehicle with the prices dropping on the 06's and 07's. When prices go below $10K there will be a whole new market audience of buyers looking to get one to take offroad, beat on and modify. Kinda hard to justify doing that to a $30k+ vehicle.

 

[fatkatsupra]

Basic fender flares. Just like the high line kit for the jeeps. You will sell them like hot cakes