All I know is my 2000 rear hatch adds support.

Not saying it would not be fine without a rear door. But I am not going to find out.

Now removing the front two doors? Sure, been wanting to do that.

 

i made the mistake of flexin the crap outta my xj with the hatch open....it will never shut the same again lol

 

Your '96? W a FIBERGLASS hatch? lol. yes folks fiberglass can add rigidity.

 

I'm on my 3rd hatch. I keep cracking them. I guess they add some support, up to the point that they crack.

 

yeah my 96 it still shuts fine nothing that bothers me but it is def crooked and the top left hatch is bent but im planning on cutting the back off here soon

 

I don't think anyone's hatch gives support....just because it cracks or gets bent doesnt mean its a structural part.

Its just another part wearing because of the unibody flex. Just another casualty.

 

I think I would agree with this. I still wouldn't flex the crap out of the unibody with the hatch open though.

As you can tell by my avatar my unibody is no stranger to flex =p

 

Mine didn't wanna close, but thats just cuz I couldn't twist the door to the shape needed.

The weight of the XJ causing twisting with the door closed is enough, though. And the door does get tweaked, I can hear stuffs shift.

 

This. Rigidity isn't indicative of being a structural component.

You can stuff a 2x4 or pvc between your tail lights and just because it's rigid doesn't mean it's adding any structural support.

The doors and hatch add rigidity to the XJ but they're not structural components and will not effect the integrity of the unibody. Now you start cutting out the pillars and it's another story entirely.

 

no support.

the structure of a unibody is designed into the unibody itself, not bolt on parts like doors, hood, or hatch.

 

that's not support, that is just the hatch getting in the way.

thinking that the 2 light duty hinges and 1 light duty latch are in some way supporting the structure is asinine



doors/ no doors, hatch/ no hatch....it doesnt matter, if you wheel your xj hard enough without a cage and frame stiffeners the unibody will fatigue

 

X2

the hatch cracks because of the twisting, hell its only held on by a couple of hinges and a latch, how much support could it really give? by that logic, the hood would be a structural part, and its obviously not

 

I hate it when i take the hood off my xj and the unibody folds in half

 

X2

 

i think people think that when you take a door or a hatch off there is a big void in the body but those parts are not part of the body as they can be called accessories to the body if your so worried put some stiffeners on it

i also just wheeled mine for the first time doorless and hit some rough sh@T but there was no problems with putting them back on