Tailgate to barn doors

[1990Obscammed]

Looking for a little insight from some of the experts out there on this, I have a 1992 suburban that I picked up a while back for a whopping 400$, with 106,000 miles, it's a great runner and driver, I use it as a daily, but it has a bit of rot in the rear and it's causing me issues with the tailgate, and I prefer the barn doors any how, from the amout of work it's going to take for me to fix this issue with the tailgate I feel it's better to have the barn doors, has anyone done this swap, whats involved?

 

[df2x4]

This question has been asked a few times here over the years, and the response is that generally it's easier/cheaper just to buy another truck with barn doors. From what I remember there's a significant amount of cutting and welding would have to be done as the hinge & frame setups are completely different. There are also electrical contacts on both sides that make contact when the barn doors close, and I believe those are not present or in a different location on the tailgate trucks. I have no first hand experience with this swap so take this info with a grain of salt, but I've always heard that it's just not worth the effort.

 

[1990Obscammed]

This question has been asked a few times here over the years, and the response is that generally it's easier/cheaper just to buy another truck with barn doors. From what I remember there's a significant amount of cutting and welding would have to be done as the hinge & frame setups are completely different. There are also electrical contacts on both sides that make contact when the barn doors close, and I believe those are not present or in a different location on the tailgate trucks. I have no first hand experience with this swap so take this info with a grain of salt, but I've always heard that it's just not worth the effort.

I get the whole price thing, but seeing as how I paid 400$ for it I'm well ahead, and those connections are for the defrost and what not which I don't need at all, and to top it off I'm a welder for work so the fab work doesn't bother me

 

[df2x4]

those connections are for the defrost and what not which I don't need at all

I believe they run the power door locks as well, so if you don't implement them somehow you won't be able to lock/unlock the barn doors without using the key.

If you're seriously considering this I think finding a parts truck with barn doors would be a good start, that way you can compare it to yours and scavenge anything you might need. Not trying to discourage you, I've just always heard that this swap is impractical.

 

[1990Obscammed]

I believe they run the power door locks as well, so if you don't implement them somehow you won't be able to lock/unlock the barn doors without using the key.

If you're seriously considering this I think finding a parts truck with barn doors would be a good start, that way you can compare it to yours and scavenge anything you might need. Not trying to discourage you, I've just always heard that this swap is impractical.

I've heard that it's tough to do as well but mainly for the square bodies, I've had the ones with barn doors before and they look damn close, I live about 5 minutes away from the junk yard so maybe I'll start gathering some knowledge by checking it out there

 

[RedneckWithPaychecks]

I'm no help with GMT400 barn doors, but GMT800 barn doors are not a direct, or even a cut and weld swap. I think to do it with a GMT800 it has a different rear shape. My idea was to plasma cut out a barn door tahoe rear, and weld it on. Never happened, but I think It'd be better to do a body swap.

 

[Cadillac Bob]

I would visit a yard first or a friend with barn doors to do a comparison the get the electricial side and things not working but I truly think that’s part would be the biggest problem but idk I’m a 50/50 guy but if I ever had to replace mine as far as buying another I’d get the best one I could find even if with barn doors but definitely look into more especially in person so you can see actual differences but good luck on swapping

 

[1990Obscammed]

I would visit a yard first or a friend with barn doors to do a comparison the get the electricial side and things not working but I truly think that’s part would be the biggest problem but idk I’m a 50/50 guy but if I ever had to replace mine as far as buying another I’d get the best one I could find even if with barn doors but definitely look into more especially in person so you can see actual differences but good luck on swapping

Yea, I'm probably going to check them out at the junk yard, and I'm not worried about the electrical anyway I'm fine with using the key to open it

 

[GoToGuy]

A Lot of cutting, then weld in cover filler plates. Then cutting in Hinge attach points. And cut and fill and weld in center latch points. Which were factory built in a jig fixture, to hold all attachments in place. If your hinge attachments are an 1/8 of inch off angle your door center alignments are out. The door strikers will probably not latch or drag when closing.
This not to say it's not possible, but full knowledge that it is labor intensive, and some assembly accuracy is required.
Are you sure that the labor / repairs, invested in your current body style be greater savings in downtime, labor, money, and risk.
I have owned both body styles, and currently have a Tahoe with some performance options.
If you decide to go forward please share some photos. Good luck.

 

[Hipster]

The biggest issue is the door opening frame goes on the truck, then the quarters etc lap over and get welded on over it. The door frame and other pieces in that area are thicker material and considered structural. You're dealing with welded on hinges as well so used doors from one truck don't line up on another. You can't have the doors fitted up and weld the hinges to the door opening frame. Not only myself, but I've seen many pro bodyguys struggle with rear collisions on a long roof getting everything to fit nevermind also dealing with a conversion.

An 1/8 off on a bottom hinge can turn into 3/8ths at the top of a door. Get the 1/8 wrong on both lower hinges in opposing directions and the doors overlap at the top when you close them. Drill the hinges back off, rinse and repeat.