Rugged Ridge Half Doors Installation Write-Up - Jeep JK Wrangler

wayoflife

wayoflife

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After taking on a considerable amount of damage to both passenger side doors on Moby a couple of years back, Cindy and decided to replace them with a set of Rugged Ridge half doors. And, while we were never really been big fans of half doors before then, I can tell you that we have since totally fallen in love with them. Sure, they're noisy, difficult to open and close the windows while driving and offer limited security but man, do they ever look awesome! Of course, this is to say nothing about the fact that they're so much lighter than full size factory doors and are super easy to strip down when you want that open air feel. Also, when you run topless, the half doors will do a surprisingly good job of helping to keep in warmth on cold days, will make it easy to pack more gear in the back seating area and for our purposes, we can still run around stickered up as well. :cool:

With all that said, Cindy and I decided that it was finally time to hook Rubicat with a set of half doors and after carefully looking at all the options available today, we chose to pick up another set from Rugged Ridge. While the misaligned door handles are a bit unsightly, the Rugged Ridge half doors are without question the BEST aftermarket option we have seen especially being that they look the most factory both inside and out, seal up nicely when closed like factory, won't rattle and are available with optional soft uppers. In other words, if you're looking for a cost effective way to run a set of half doors, these are what I would recommend.

What you will need
• Rugged Ridge Front Half Doors
• Rugged Ridge Rear Half Doors (4-Door Unlimited JK Only)
• Rugged Ridge Front Soft Upper Doors (Optional)
• Rugged Ridge Rear Soft Upper Doors (Optional)
• 3/16" Allen Wrench
• 13mm Socket
• Torx T-40 Bit
• Torx T-20 Bit
• Ratchet

Here's a pic of what Brown Santa dropped off just before we headed out to Moab - a brand new set of Rugged Ridge half doors for a Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited 4-door complete with soft uppers.
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Shot of the Rugged Ridge half doors unpacked and ready for paint.
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Picking up our new painted Rugged Ridge half doors (plus the one sample door we left) from the great guys over at Battle Born Auto Body in Carson City.
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Doors all painted to match and ready for final assembly and installation.
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Installation
1. Remove the shipping bolts from the door hinges.
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2. Use a 3/16" Allen wrench to secure the hinges to the doors with the tapered bolts provided with the kit.
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Shot of all the doors with hinges installed.
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3. One by one, install your Rugged Ridge half doors on your Jeep and CAREFULLY close them to check for any alignment issues, rubbing or interference.
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Here you can see how my rear driver side half door was making contact with the B-pillar and that prevented it from closing properly.
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4. Using a 13mm socket, loosen the factory bolts securing the door hinge to the B-pillar and make adjustments as needed.
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5. You may also find that the door striker will need some adjustments to allow for proper latching of the half door. A Torx T-40 bit will be needed for this task.
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6. Using a Torx T-20 bit, secure the door handles onto your new Rugged Ridge half doors.
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7. Using the 5mm Allen wrench and bolts provided with the kit, secure your factory mirrors onto your new Rugged Ridge half doors.
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8. Finally, install the limiting straps provided with the kit to help prevent your doors from swinging out too far.
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What everything looks like installed
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Some close up shots.
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Doors open to show you what they look like inside.
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Driver side front door.
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Driver side rear door.
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Here are a couple of outdoor shots.
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UPDATE: Here are a few shots of what Rubicat looks like with Rugged Ridge Soft Uppers installed as well as being all stickered up.

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:cool:
 
Wow they look amazing! I liked them before but I actually like them better now on rubicat than moby
 
Do you have any concerns about putting the full doors back on after adjusting the hinges to make the 1/2 doors fit?
 
They do look great...although I would pay an extra $50 to have the handles at the same height. :crazyeyes:
 
Thanks guys, glad you like them. Certainly, we're super happy with the way they came out. :yup:

WJCO said:
Clean looking install and great paint match.
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Thanks. Originally, we were just going to give the paint code to the shop but the owner wasn't comfortable with that. He encouraged us to leave one of our factory doors so that he could ensure a perfect match and I think they nailed it.

cozdude said:
Wow they look amazing! I liked them before but I actually like them better now on rubicat than moby
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Funny you should say as much but I'd have to agree. I think it's because Rubicat is actually a bold color where as Moby is just white. It makes the doors really look like something new and different.

jhires said:
Do you have any concerns about putting the full doors back on after adjusting the hinges to make the 1/2 doors fit?
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The hinges would need to be returned back to where they were to get the factory full doors back on. Fortunately, it was just the rear doors that needed help and you can totally see where they were before as there are blank spots. I think it'll be pretty easy to restore.
 
Sharkey said:
They do look great...although I would pay an extra $50 to have the handles at the same height. :crazyeyes:
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The handles being off is hard to get used to but we did and now we're fine with it. Of course, if you sticker up over them like we have, you can't even tell they're off.
 
I'm sure I'd get used to it just fine...I just like complaining about them in hopes that somebody will listen.;)
 
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