Would it be possible to swap a zj hatch onto a 97+ xj hatch. Now this is strictly just a thought and i have no clue as far as measurements and all but i am mostly just interested in the idea of the glass being able to lift up separately than the hatch itself.

Another thought would be to take the hardware and a glass drill bit and create it but the wiper rests on the glass and if it is adjustable like the fronts i wonder if you could set it lower and it transition over the gap between the hatch and glass successfully?

 

ive thought about something like this many times. Im debating buying a spare hatch from the junk yard to see if i can fab the back of it so the window could role down like the 4runner does. that would be the perfect hatch in my mind.

 

It would be easier to cut the opening from the ZJ hatch and weld it into the XJ hatch. IMO
My ZJ has the flipper glass, and there is a little plastic rest for the wiper arm when it's at rest off of the glass. It has a small ramp to make the wiper miss the gap between the hatch and the bottom of the glass.

 

you could always just take the rear wiper out. completely unneccesary wiper, and you can get a plug from a base model that came without one so it still looks flush

 

This would be amazing and I have been waiting for something to this effect as well but the major thing that i noticed was that the glass is much larger than the hatch section so it wont roll down into it.

Come to think of it though, i guess it could still just go down and just always stick up a little then you won't have the parachute (dont know how to spell that) when all the windows are down which is the main reason for my quest lol.

 

you also need to thinking about new struts because of the added weight. and if you do the roll down idea you have to strengthen the hatch tremendously. since you will be cutting alot of the center section out for the glass.

 

x2 and i would make sure i tried it with a 97+ so you have some real material to work with

 

some good ideas and i have a 98 so id be dealing with more metal. how hard is it to remove the hatch and put it back on?

 

id say it would at least take two people, never took mine off but i think you just remove the hinges from the top and hold on. not sure about putting it back on though

 

Yea i have tried to adjust mine (more gap on one side than the other) but its a little confusing just by looking at it bc I had to think what way to move it with it open and what the result would be when it closed so when it hit, lol i decided to return it back b4 I messed up