Ragtop Sliding Sunroof!

OK, so this has come up before, but I have a really good reason to ask the question again.

Some of you may remember, that my 2006 DC has roof cancer after some dim-wited body guy must have really screwed up painting the roof after some racing stripes were removed.
Go here to see the carnage.

Quotes to fix the roof have been $600-$1K <grrr>. No warranty against the rust coming back, and it "may be gone enough we have to add metal"

So, looking at my options, I thought of an old car I had that had a ragtop sunroof that nearly covered the whole thing. It was nearly as airy as a convertible with the windows down. This would cut out the cancer too in one step. So my worry is this, If i cut out only to the roof rails, does anyone think I'll be running into trouble with rigidity? I'd like my front and back doors to open and close like they do now.

FourWheeler Magazine did a write up on a Cherokee that they did this to. They went as far as adding frame stiffeners to make it happen, but on a truck my cab is a lot shorter. I don't have plans to add a full cage, and really don't want to have to.

No, I'm not a mini-trucker. No I'm not going to bag my truck. Is that so wrong?

Ok, and I did have one of these.. the sunroof is the only thing that I am still fond of. Oh, and the seats reclined all the way back.

 

You have my support.

but speaking of support I think you would need to add a little in the cab at the very least
besides, roll bars/cages make everything cool

 

Thanks, saw Streetbeatcustoms, and other places I can source it. It's the reinforcement I'm concerned about, don't want to make a bigger mess than I already have.

Those who have dropped their headliners, are there a lot of supports I'll be cutting into that would worry you? I think that the 2nd gen's roof is a bit wider than the 1st gens.

 

Ha, ha, I had an '82 Renault Le Car myself. Thanks for the flashback.

 

NP. It was Ok for a run about. Here is what I recall:
1. Remember the front drive trany was in front of the longitude "mid mount" engine?
2. The firewall came between the front seats.
3. Because of that the stereo was mounted vertical?
4. There were 2 speakers, both in the back.
5. The exhaust came through the driver side inner fender before it went under the car.
6. There are atv's that weigh more than it.
7. With the rear seat down it had about as much storage as the back of my DC.
8. You could open the roof @ about any speed. Just dont forget to let go.
9. Le French stuff was sorta cool then.
10. Oh God, it had 3 lug nuts / wheel.
11. You could give it a lift by turning the torsion bars with a 3/8 ratchet.
12. Had to buy my first Metric socket.
13. There was a 2 barel Holley conversion available?
14. The license plate lit up brighter than the headlights?
15. The spare was strapped to the transmission under the hood?
16. It had Audi fuse box.
17. The clutch was, well it actually was pretty good.
18. The linkage was about as vague as a '70 VW bus.

And heaven help me, i kinda liked it.

 

I teach auto extrication for the Fire Dept and surrounding depts in the state. First things first. Man... sorry to hear about your roof. That truly sucks and I would be pissed as hell.

Now... On to your issue. Yes you can do what you are talking about. Hell... when I was growing up I had a S-10 that I turned into a convertible during the Mini truck phase. Really dumb on my part though. Basically what you will be doing is modifying the top and reducing the rigidity (granted some of it is already lost due to the rust) of the cab. Vehicles that are built now utilize what they call a safety cage that the passengers sit inside of. Anything that reduces that structure reduces the safety of the passengers inside. Add to that, if you happen to flip your truck (god forbid) it wouldn't turn out well. Even though your truck sits on a frame it will still lose some of it's cabin rigidity and believe me you need as much to protect you as possible. I realize you are in kind of a lose lose situation but short of replacing the entire top with a new one that is where you are.

I hope it works out for you.

 

Thanks for the input. I cant disagree with your concerns professionally. Years ago i was an EMT and worked the crash truck crew. Was on the working end of the Jaws a few times. Gotta love Hurst. Anyway, i do appreciate it and will keep it in mind.

That said, it appears to me that the joints that the rubber trim fills in our roof is more than there just to hold an OEM rack. I believe its there to act as a stiffening rail front to back. If so, removing the sheet metal in between shouldnt be so bad. No worse than a big sunroof I think. Left to right is compromised though. Its not easy without a strength and materials engineer to tap.

Ahh, maybe a low slung roof rack too, mounted to the rail points and tied together above the sunroof, err hole.

 

Check out EvilX's rollover on a mountain. Note how the doors and outer edges held the weight and the center was just crushed anyway.
Hardly conclusive though.

 

I agree with you on the rack support. And that may very well be enough. It's the side to side collapse that I would worry about a little more. Either way it sucks for ya. I hate to hear of your situation.