k1500 Tube doors? Possible?

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andfern97

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Buddy of mine just got a jeep and it got me thinking... :Big Laugh:
Has anyone fabbed a set of tube doors for their truck? I know, I know, not the greatest idea, but
I've been really wanting to cruise around door-less lately after riding in the jeep! Figured tube
doors are something that could be made relatively realistically. How hard are the doors to take off on these trucks as well? Thanks for the input!
 

Bob L

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I can pull the doors off my truck faster than the Jeep I used to own. But they are very heavy. You need a helper or a way to hoist them to install easily.
I would start with some junk doors as you would have the hinge and latch parts you could use to make them open and latch. Sounds like a neat idea to me.
 

andfern97

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I can pull the doors off my truck faster than the Jeep I used to own. But they are very heavy. You need a helper or a way to hoist them to install easily.
I would start with some junk doors as you would have the hinge and latch parts you could use to make them open and latch. Sounds like a neat idea to me.

Thanks for the reply! Im sure I could find some doors with the latches for dirt cheap at a junkyard. I was thinking of using a floor jack as a helper to take them on/off. Do you know if I can leave the spring out if I'm going to be switching them back and forth? Otherwise that may be a pain to remove every single time I want to take them off...
 

Bob L

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All the spring does is keep the door open It is a tensioner. Without the spring it will be like a storm door without the closer on it. As far as being easier than a Jeep door I was referring to the Cherokee as a lot of guys run those without doors here in summer. The Wrangler doors just lift off. I would not take a door on and off with a floor jack alone if I liked my paint as you have a good chance of it slipping and crashing to the floor. I use an office chair with wheels to take doors off as they adjust to the correct height and can roll around to align. I still tie the top to an overhead beam if alone. These doors are very heavy. While at the salvage yard grab a piece of the rubber that goes around the door opening on the truck itself. Cut a piece the lenght of your door and slip it onto the lower edge. It will save the paint when storing the door or moving them around
 

Biggershaft96

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Thanks for the reply! Im sure I could find some doors with the latches for dirt cheap at a junkyard. I was thinking of using a floor jack as a helper to take them on/off. Do you know if I can leave the spring out if I'm going to be switching them back and forth? Otherwise that may be a pain to remove every single time I want to take them off...
You can leave the spring out. If your strong enough you could pull them off yourself. I did door pins and bushing by myself but that's not something i would want to do alot. I would just get the hinges and latches from a junkyard door.
 

Bob L

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If you plan on taking the doors on and off I wouls buy yourself a nice long punch with a 1/4 diameter end to drive the pins without getting the hammer all up in the jamb. Mine is a about a ft. long and makes getting the upper pin much easier. It is pretty much just used for hinge pins but I do a lot of door and hinge work.
 

andfern97

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All the spring does is keep the door open It is a tensioner. Without the spring it will be like a storm door without the closer on it. As far as being easier than a Jeep door I was referring to the Cherokee as a lot of guys run those without doors here in summer. The Wrangler doors just lift off. I would not take a door on and off with a floor jack alone if I liked my paint as you have a good chance of it slipping and crashing to the floor. I use an office chair with wheels to take doors off as they adjust to the correct height and can roll around to align. I still tie the top to an overhead beam if alone. These doors are very heavy. While at the salvage yard grab a piece of the rubber that goes around the door opening on the truck itself. Cut a piece the lenght of your door and slip it onto the lower edge. It will save the paint when storing the door or moving them around

Lots of good information, thanks. I'll definitely try the chair method. The spring removal tool is only a few bucks at my local autozone so I think I'll just leave that spring out if it doesn't make a difference. My buddy actually has a cherokee, so that is what he's been running around without doors on, but I figured why should jeeps have all the fun?? hah. As far as fabbing them, I think it'd just be making the correct measurements and coming up with something that doesn't look 100% janky
 

andfern97

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You can leave the spring out. If your strong enough you could pull them off yourself. I did door pins and bushing by myself but that's not something i would want to do alot. I would just get the hinges and latches from a junkyard door.

Even if I get the hinges and latches from a junkyard, I'm still going to have to take the pins off every time I wanna switch the doors right? Or is there a way to get around that so I can take the doors off in a more timely fashion
 

Bob L

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Pulling the pins is the timely fashion. The tool to remove the springs for me is a long screw driver just pry them out. You need the tool to get them back in.
 

Biggershaft96

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Even if I get the hinges and latches from a junkyard, I'm still going to have to take the pins off every time I wanna switch the doors right? Or is there a way to get around that so I can take the doors off in a more timely fashion
Youll have to pull the pins every time you want to take the factory door off, theres no way around that. But you could make it so the tube door just drops onto the stock hanger. The only problem i see with tube doors is you will lose your speakers unless you have speakers in the dash.
 
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