Suburban barn doors on a Blazer? Anyone done/seen this done or hinge on the side?

[gmcjimmy88]

I am curious if anyone has put barn doors on a blazer or seen it done. Or even if it is possable? I have thought about it a couple of times but never had a barn door sub around to check the measurements. Anyone done the measurements to see how much work this would take? Thanks for any info.

 

[4X4HIGH]

It would not work without lots of work as even a burb with a tailgate is much different than a blazer gate.

 

[muddermilitia]

well the blazers have a fiberglass top and the barn doors have an upper hinge so I think you would have to move this hinge lower somehow, or graft the suburban roof into the blazer so you have a spot for the upper hinge to mount.

I have seen suburban roofs grafted onto blazers but they used the normal tailgate not barn doors

 

[gmcjimmy88]

I was thinking more along the lines of trimming the doors to fit the blazer cap/openeing? But I was just curious mainly. As I said I have not looked at a set of barn doors to see what would be involve. Thanks for the input guys. I guess I need to just finish the tailpan and put my tailgate back on.

 

[vortec]

how about just chopping a pickup tailgate in half and adding hinges on the sides instead of at the bottom? you'd be left having to rig a latch/striker setup and maybe have plexiglass rear window that you can pull out as a whole, but it could be pretty cool, if you want it bad enough.

 

[gmcjimmy88]

how about just chopping a pickup tailgate in half and adding hinges on the sides instead of at the bottom? you'd be left having to rig a latch/striker setup and maybe have plexiglass rear window that you can pull out as a whole, but it could be pretty cool, if you want it bad enough.

Do you mean something similar to the later model burbs. one piece glass and a tailgate cut in half hinged at the bedsides? That might actually work. Have the glass lift up. Actually I think it was the Excursions that had that setup in the rear. Thanks for the thought I will have to look into that becuase I hate that glass in my tailgate. Could prolly get a latch assy from a junk yard that has that 3-way latch from the factory.

After reading that I could also just hinge the factory tailgate and window to the bedside. I think that gate is heavy enough to handle that but if the bedside can handle it I am not sure. Most likely be too much for it without the top on it but might be strong enough to open to the side if the top is left on?

 

[vortec]

yeah, that's pretty much what i mean. i actually sort of forgot they used to have that setup from the factory on some burbs.

but if the bedside can handle it I am not sure.

i would definitely add some metal to shore it up. in fact, i'd be more likely to build some hinge anchor points at the back of the bed out of angle iron or something. probably secure it to the floor and the inside bedside. it would take some unusual hinges, but i'm sure there is something that would work. i would want to keep the outside sheet metal out of the equation, especially for bouncing around offroad.

 

[gmcjimmy88]

I think the gate portion could be done without much trouble, finding glass and a hinge for the glass could be a problem though. A good piece of plexiglass could be a cheap and simple solution.

 

[roadnotca]

Might be easier to just shorten/section a Burb.
Whoa........................
A Blazer length Burb?
Wow!

Sublazer?

 

[gmcjimmy88]

Well I want to keep the removable top so I dont think using a burb would work unless I used the top of a blazer. Plus I already have the Blazer and no burb LOL.

 

[gmcjimmy88]

I got to looking at the door and I think I am going to put a hinge on one side (most likely Passenger) and pivot it from there. It will actually have 3 hinges with removable pins, each rated for 70 lbs. I do not think the tailgate weighs more than 200 lbs. I hope not LOL. What do you all think. I would love to ligft it into plkace to see if it would work but loaned my cherry picker out and still waiting to get it back.

 

[darkshadow]

I have thought of this for adding a k5 top to my burb and keeping barn doors.

You would have to cut away the fiberglass of the cap where the glass slides in and mod it with new fiber glass to hold the burb weather stripping. MY Idea was to graft in the bed side piller, tube or a 1/2" plate up the piller and down to a cross bar welded from side to side this will add the needed strength and a place to mount a slightly lowered hinge.

My other idea is to modify the barn doors other wise with you take the cap off you would have to doors sticking up.

the idea would be to cut the doors in half, then cap INside the doors with plate, top and bottom, this way you could bolt the doors together, or in half when the top was off so you would be left with a barndoortailgate

 

[gmcjimmy88]

That is similar to what I had in mind. I think I have decided to just mount the tailgate from the side instead of the bottom like is from the factory.

 

[obijuan]

id like to see you put some cool door on a k5, i hate my tailgate.
has anyone actually put that burb top on a k5? that seems interesting. maybe artzner could PS that up. i think it would be pretty cool but i like the removeable-ness of it.

 

[muddermilitia]

has anyone actually put that burb top on a k5? that seems interesting. maybe artzner could PS that up. i think it would be pretty cool but i like the removeable-ness of it.

Yes its been done. There was a truck in street trucks magazine last year. It was blue with some graphics on it. converted to 2wd with airbag suspension on 20 and 22" wheels, a 91 front clip and a suburban roof grafted on. I cant find a picture right now

 

[badmix]

Might be easier to just shorten/section a Burb.
Whoa........................
A Blazer length Burb?
Wow!

Sublazer?

To me, that would be awesome to have. Id guess it might actually be lighter due to the heavy ass fiberglass topper. Any PHOTOSHOP experts out there wanna tackle this one????????????

 

[BizeeB65]

I have toyed with the idea of cutting my tailgate down the middle and making barn doors out of it.. I have a softtop, so losing the glass is just shedding pounds. My concerns were also getting the bedsides to hold up the weight, and the latching/striking mechanism to keep the doors closed...

 

[gmcjimmy88]

I have toyed with the idea of cutting my tailgate down the middle and making barn doors out of it.. I have a softtop, so losing the glass is just shedding pounds. My concerns were also getting the bedsides to hold up the weight, and the latching/striking mechanism to keep the doors closed...

I was going to look for a excursion or Sub in a yard to "borrow the latches from" Might do that Fri since I am off work.

Also thought I could make a back glass out of plexi to cut down on weight and hinge it at the top somewhat like a hatch. The fiberglass should hold that since plexi weighs nothing LOL.

As far as the bedsides are concerned, I have been rebuilding/fabbing a new rear pan and fixing the rust anywy so adding the extra support the the sides should not be too hard.

 

[jonrpick]

Yes its been done. There was a truck in street trucks magazine last year. It was blue with some graphics on it. converted to 2wd with airbag suspension on 20 and 22" wheels, a 91 front clip and a suburban roof grafted on. I cant find a picture right now

I tried finding it, as I remember seeing it online too. No luck. I do read a lot of custom car and truck mags. They tend to advertise different products than you see in 4x4 mags so I gets lots of ideas from them.

 

[muddermilitia]

I tried finding it, as I remember seeing it online too. No luck. I do read a lot of custom car and truck mags. They tend to advertise different products than you see in 4x4 mags so I gets lots of ideas from them.

I'll try and see if my brother still has the magazine it was in.