turk
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- First Name
- Turk
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- Feb 7, 2018
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- Goulais River Ontario
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- JLUR BW
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- Industrial HVAC Supervisor
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Planning out every cubic inch of your overland build? Just want to know exactly how much space you will have with this rear cargo basket installed?
Everything You Need To Know about Installing the Ace Engineering Cargo Basket
What you will need:
1/2" wrench
1/2" socket
T50 torx bit
Installation: 4 door JL Unlimited with Hard Top
Unlike the JK install for this basket the position, shape and mounting of the cross bars are completely different for the JL.
Key difference is that for the JL the forward cross bar will mount to your existing hard top torx head anchor bolts located directly in front of the rear roll cage pillars, while the second cross bar mounts in the existing torx head anchor bolts directly rear ward of the pillars. In reality what this means is that the ace basket does not sit flush against the rear seat back rest as it did in the JK version. The whole basket is shifted approximately 3" rearward towards the tailgate in the JL.
Pros:
Compatible with all current rear cargo mats that employ protection on the seat backs of the rear benches. There is approximately a 3" gap between the edge of the cargo basket and rear bench seat back when seats are in the upright position. Unlike the JK version that sat flush. If you like to use the rear bench child seat restraint rings in the bench seat back as mounting points for gear bags/ molle pouches or otherwise have a rear bench hanging organizer. You will still be able to have and access those things with the ACE basket installed.
Basket Position. Top of basket is roughly level with rear bench seats when in the upright position and will not obstruct rear view in any way when basket is empty.
Cost & Quality. One of the cheaper baskets currently available. Rugged steel construction. Very solid. Circular hole punch patterns are clean, strong and aesthetically appealing.
Cons:
Going Naked? The Ace cargo basket and the cross bars will have to be fully disassembled and removed to be able to remove your hard top. Not a huge time killer but several extra steps for going full topless.
Weight: (exact weight to be quoted in later edit) This basket assembly is quite heavy. As an all steel construction you will be adding some considerable pounds to the rear end of your rig.
Under Crossbar Height: Are you planning for a roll out fridge stove combo under your cargo basket? With only 17.5" clearance from the factory carpet to the bottom of the cross bars, some of the taller fridge options are limited and a stacked fridge over stove combo on same side is certainly out of the question.
Installation:
The Ace basket for the JL still ships with cross bar mounting hardware required for the JK install. If you have a hard top on your jeep you will not need the 4 mounting bolts with threaded washers, rather reuse the existing OEM torx head bolts for the hard top. Existing Bolt length is sufficient and there are welded nuts already in place on the body.
The forward cross bar is easiest to install with the rear seats down and by sliding the cross bar in on an angle from either rear door.
The rear cross bar is something of a juggling act to physically get into the jeep with the hard top installed. You may think there is no way to accomplish it. The trick I found to physically get the cross bar into the jeep was to send one end of the bar from the tailgate opening as high into the driver's side rear pillar corner as you can until contacting the roof as shown below.
Next you want to carefully swing upward and inward until the other end of the cross bar just barely sneaks through the small gap between the passenger rear window arm and the passenger side bottom window gasket.
Helpful tip. You might want to tape the ends of the cross bar to avoid scratches. Getting the bar in the jeep with a hard top on is very tight.
Storage Space and Clearances:
Forward edge of basket to rear seatbacks when in the upright position : 3" gap
Rearward edge of basket to the tailgate when closed: 7.5" gap
The all important Fridge dimension considerations
Max clearance height from floor to underside of cross bar hardware: 17"
Max clearance height from floor to underside of cross bar 17.5"
Worth noting... A space kit would be an easy modification to raise the cross bar rails if you require a small amount of additional height between floor and basket.
That's all for now. I will edit this post in future to show more function and limitations of this setup
Everything You Need To Know about Installing the Ace Engineering Cargo Basket
What you will need:
1/2" wrench
1/2" socket
T50 torx bit
Installation: 4 door JL Unlimited with Hard Top
Unlike the JK install for this basket the position, shape and mounting of the cross bars are completely different for the JL.
Key difference is that for the JL the forward cross bar will mount to your existing hard top torx head anchor bolts located directly in front of the rear roll cage pillars, while the second cross bar mounts in the existing torx head anchor bolts directly rear ward of the pillars. In reality what this means is that the ace basket does not sit flush against the rear seat back rest as it did in the JK version. The whole basket is shifted approximately 3" rearward towards the tailgate in the JL.
Pros:
Compatible with all current rear cargo mats that employ protection on the seat backs of the rear benches. There is approximately a 3" gap between the edge of the cargo basket and rear bench seat back when seats are in the upright position. Unlike the JK version that sat flush. If you like to use the rear bench child seat restraint rings in the bench seat back as mounting points for gear bags/ molle pouches or otherwise have a rear bench hanging organizer. You will still be able to have and access those things with the ACE basket installed.
Basket Position. Top of basket is roughly level with rear bench seats when in the upright position and will not obstruct rear view in any way when basket is empty.
Cost & Quality. One of the cheaper baskets currently available. Rugged steel construction. Very solid. Circular hole punch patterns are clean, strong and aesthetically appealing.
Cons:
Going Naked? The Ace cargo basket and the cross bars will have to be fully disassembled and removed to be able to remove your hard top. Not a huge time killer but several extra steps for going full topless.
Weight: (exact weight to be quoted in later edit) This basket assembly is quite heavy. As an all steel construction you will be adding some considerable pounds to the rear end of your rig.
Under Crossbar Height: Are you planning for a roll out fridge stove combo under your cargo basket? With only 17.5" clearance from the factory carpet to the bottom of the cross bars, some of the taller fridge options are limited and a stacked fridge over stove combo on same side is certainly out of the question.
Installation:
The Ace basket for the JL still ships with cross bar mounting hardware required for the JK install. If you have a hard top on your jeep you will not need the 4 mounting bolts with threaded washers, rather reuse the existing OEM torx head bolts for the hard top. Existing Bolt length is sufficient and there are welded nuts already in place on the body.
The forward cross bar is easiest to install with the rear seats down and by sliding the cross bar in on an angle from either rear door.
The rear cross bar is something of a juggling act to physically get into the jeep with the hard top installed. You may think there is no way to accomplish it. The trick I found to physically get the cross bar into the jeep was to send one end of the bar from the tailgate opening as high into the driver's side rear pillar corner as you can until contacting the roof as shown below.
Next you want to carefully swing upward and inward until the other end of the cross bar just barely sneaks through the small gap between the passenger rear window arm and the passenger side bottom window gasket.
Helpful tip. You might want to tape the ends of the cross bar to avoid scratches. Getting the bar in the jeep with a hard top on is very tight.
Storage Space and Clearances:
Forward edge of basket to rear seatbacks when in the upright position : 3" gap
Rearward edge of basket to the tailgate when closed: 7.5" gap
The all important Fridge dimension considerations
Max clearance height from floor to underside of cross bar hardware: 17"
Max clearance height from floor to underside of cross bar 17.5"
Worth noting... A space kit would be an easy modification to raise the cross bar rails if you require a small amount of additional height between floor and basket.
That's all for now. I will edit this post in future to show more function and limitations of this setup
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Last edited:
