Exceed Fab Tube Doors

[Terrymo]

First things first. I did NOT pay for these tube doors. I know this can be a source of irritation on this forum because of some people who hype a product at every turn hoping to get more free stuff. I have offered to return the tube doors at the end of the review if requested.

Kelvin from Exceed Fab asked me if I would be willing to do an honest review on their front tube doors with mirrors and rear tube doors. He said he welcomed any criticism and suggested improvements which says a lot about where he’s coming from as a company. Feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer. This will start out with just unboxing and initial assembly. Later I will deal with installation. At the end I will do a review of their use offroad.

I will probably err in the side of posting way too many pics and not enough comments.

Here are some pics to give you an idea of the packaging. Things are protected extremely well as you will see with thick mil plastic, foam sheets, and even wire loom to cover areas that could have powder coat damaged in shipping.

A couple of notes right off the bat. If you have watched early YouTube videos of the product and installation, you will see that the latches have changed slightly in construction. The latches were also not pre assembled on the doors unlike what was shown in some of the early videos. They are a good quality latch from SouthCo. Exceed Fab provides all the tools needed to remove the factory doors and install their tube doors. Some early reviews mentioned receiving a tool kit with the front doors and a duplicate set with the rear doors. I don’t see that as necessary and my shipment included only one tool set.

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[Terrymo]

You can see that the hinges are preassembled on the doors but the latches are not. The small box is the pair of mirrors that mount in the front doors

 

[Terrymo]

Some pics to show the inner welds and the outer more finished welds. Also the middle tube on both front and rear doors kicks out to give more knee room. The top tube of the doors have a polyurethane cover that feels pretty durable as opposed to typical roll bar padding. I will take some pics of the mirrors and hinges with black stainless steel hardware which I think would improve the aesthetics

 

[Terrymo]

The mirrors appear to be well made. They have a recess for the hardware but with the provided washer with the button head screw the washers do not sit down in this recess. One thing I like is there is no branding on the doors unless you choose to install one stainless steel plate on the inside of the drivers door with the mirror mounting hardware. The mirror gaskets and back on the mirrors have corresponding alignment points but I found it easiest to lay the doors flat and install the mirrors and making sure the gaskets are aligned correctly

 

[Terrymo]

A lot of extra hardware is provided which is nice, but can lead to some confusion on what hardware is used where. The instructions are minimal and I would prefer that they were more precise regarding assembly order and exactly what was used for each step. The bags were labeled but there were extra parts that caused some initial confusion. If you compare the labels and the quantities listed you will see the discrepancy. The last photo shows all the extra parts which is awesome but it would be better if they were in their own bag

 

[Terrymo]

The order of assembly of the latches in the instructions could be changed to make things easier. It’s easier if you install the rubber bump stop assembly on the front door first with nothing else in the way. If you use the tools provided it’s easier to tighten the ball on the latch first before you attach the completed latch assembly to the mounting point. I prefer to put a washer next to the powder coat rather than the serrated flange nut which will dig into the powder coat and possibly cause some rust down the road, or I’m just OCD I probably have extra washers here and there

 

[Terrymo]

I made the mistake of watching some early YouTube videos with the earlier style latches and probably confused myself rather than waiting for the updated instructions from Exceed Fab. The pics show the rear tube door bump stop which installs in a rivnut on the tube itself. There was some powder around the rivnut that wasn‘t cleaned off before shipping but was easily removed. I added a black washer over the fold rivnut again for my own OCD. I have some black stainless hardware to replace the hinge hardware to the outside of the doors so they will be all blacked out and cleaner looking in my picky opinion

 

[Aonar]

Nice writeup!
I know what I will be referencing should I get stuck

With your permission, I will link your post in mine tomorrow. I suspect many will gain insight from yours.

Linked.

 

[Terrymo]

Nice writeup!
I know what I will be referencing should I get stuck

With your permission, I will link your post in mine tomorrow. I suspect many will gain insight from yours.

Linked.

It is likely I have made some mistakes so please mention anything I have posted that is incorrect or confusing. The goal is to help Exceed Fab be aware of any strenngths and weaknesses, and to make things easier for anyone interested in or who purchases the tube door. I would prefer for Exceed Fab to include what i call coloring book instructions like what Mopar includes with their products. Perhaps others feel differently about this style of instructions.
Link to the review by @Aonar
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...to-eventual-spring-installation-usage.162721/

 

[Aonar]

It is likely I have made some mistakes so please mention anything I have posted that is incorrect or confusing. The goal is to help Exceed Fab be aware of any strenngths and weaknesses, and to make things easier for anyone interested in or who purchases the tube door. I would prefer for Exceed Fab to include what i call coloring book instructions like what Mopar includes with their products. Perhaps others feel differently about this style of instructions.
Link to the review by @Aonar
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...to-eventual-spring-installation-usage.162721/

I have a thought about mirror packaging. Will update after work.

 

[Terrymo]

I would prefer instructions in a true isometric drawing format so hardware, its orientation, and the orde of assembly is clear. The pictures that look like ad copy with water sprayed on the part isn‘t what I would prefer for assembly instructions. it would help to have a specific list of tools and hardware with dimensions for sub assembly. I was unable to fit the ratchet with allen socket in position to tighten the ball to the lever with the latch in position which is why I suggested a different order of assembly, or perhaps operator error or an oversight on my part.

 

[Terrymo]

More pics with the hardware loosely assembled prior to fitment to give an overall view of the tube doors. These are made with 2 inch tubing. And a couple of pics to show ballpark weight on a scale. 1/4-20 Black SS hardware for the mirror mounts is something I keep on hand in the garage

 

[Terrymo]

Installation is pretty straight forward. No need to rehash the door removal instructions since it’s in the owners manual which I’m sure everyone read right? Or if you’re still sniffling because you didn’t get a hard copy the PDF is available on line. Or for those of us at the back of the class there are plenty of you tube videos.

Start with everything loosely attached to your tube doors. I would recommend you chase the threads of the threaded ends of the tube door hinge studs with the OEM T50 hinge screws you removed from the bottom of the factory hinge. Even with the tube door hinge assembly hardware loose you may need to gently tap the tube door hinge pins down into place on the door depending on the powder coat thickness.

I had to completely loosen the front tube door top hinge hardware in order to thread the bottom OEM T50 screw on to the tube door threaded pins. I chose to install both T50 screws just to be sure they were aligned within their mounting point. Also there are no locks on these tube doors to they can easily be opened and lifted off and show up on Fbook Marketplace or your next door neighbor’s Jeep. At least make them try to steal your doors.

After removing the T40 bolt from the OEM door check arm and removing the door I chose to thread the bolt back in place on the B pillar. I installed the tube doors with the latch hardware snug but not tight, and everything else loose. With the door closed, lift the latch assembly up as high as it will go, then lower it just slightly and tighten the hardware on the top hinge. Open and close the doors several times to check latch clearance and then tighten the hardware holding the latch assembly to the door. Next tighten the bottom hinge attachment hardware. Attach the provided check strap. There are three positions sewn into the webbing and you can choose how far you want the door to open, I chose the center opening .

You will need two 10 mm wrenches to adjust how far in our out you want the bump stop on the front doors. If it’s adjusted too far out the door will bounce back open when you try to swing it shut. Too far in and the latch will rattle. I shut the door and adjusted the rubber bumper out until it just had some pressure against the door jamb. This pressure will also keep the rubber bump stop from turning while you tighten the nuts with 10mm wrenches. You should be able to swing the door shut and have it latch without bouncing back off the bump stop or rattling.

The rear door bump stop threads into a rivnut on the tube itself. I needed to move the latch assembly toward the interior of the Jeep and thread the bump stop all the way into the rivnut for it to latch correctly. I did things in the same order. While it’s closed, and the latch hardware is snug, lift the rear of the door up just short of the highest point it will go. Tighten the hardware on the top hinge. Test the latch and bump stop adjustment by swinging the door shut multiple times then tighten the hardware on the latch assembly. Then tighten the hardware on the bottom hinge. Install the provided door check strap.

With RSE steps there are magnets installed on the doors to trigger the steps to go down or back up. On the front tube door, I placed a small neodymium magnet on the bracket on the tube door that accepts the latch assembly. There is quite a gap between the front of the rear tube door and the door jamb. You would need to fabricate something to hold small magnet and have it close enough to the sensor on the door jamb in the closed position. Otherwise the steps will stay deployed in the down position. I have no back seats and just stuck a magnet on the door jamb just above the RSE step sensor so the steps would stay in the closed position.

 

[Terrymo]

My OCD requires black hardware on the exterior of the doors. Black SS hardware for the hinges is on the way from Albany County Fasteners.

 

[Terrymo]

If you want to change the angle of your bump stop slightly you can use an adjustable crescent wrench and carefully bend the metal slightly at the mounting point.

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