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Suicide rear doors on a 4dr?

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Old May 22, 2012 | 08:46 AM
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Default Suicide rear doors on a 4dr?

Has any one suicided the rear doors on 4dr cherokee?

I was going to go semi roofless and trimming the b-pillar down to just above the hinges and latch points. It occurred to me that if I suicided the rear doors I could gain a bunch more access and possibly even lower that b-pillar stump a bit lower. It would be nice if I could make them removable too.

Links and tips on how-to would be appreciated.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 10:17 AM
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seems like an interesting idea. I plan on chopping my white cherokee and doing roll bars/cage with a canvas top, and leaving the doors how they are but removable.

PS - mods might move this to cherokee chat
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Old May 22, 2012 | 11:19 AM
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Originally Posted by kuzican
seems like an interesting idea. I plan on chopping my white cherokee and doing roll bars/cage with a canvas top, and leaving the doors how they are but removable.

PS - mods might move this to cherokee chat
I was gonna do the same but, am leaning toward keeping the rear compartment intact. Just removing the roof over the doors and adding a cage.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by MatteBlack
I was gonna do the same but, am leaning toward keeping the rear compartment intact. Just removing the roof over the doors and adding a cage.
so kind of like a targa top? that could be interesting. haven't seen that before.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 01:00 PM
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You'll have to do alot of reinforcing if you're removing that much of the roof. The thing with these unibody vehicles it that the integrity of the vehicle comes from the body as a whole, if you want an example of this go flex your jeep out and try to open the rear hatch.. But as long as you make a complete cage as you said to make up for the loss of integrity you should be fine. As far as the rear doors go.. Theres a write up in the write up section with a step by step on how to make your doors removable. My best guess to suicide them would be to just move the hinges to the other side of the door (will require some welding and fabrication of course), and then set up some sort of latch, but i doubt you could refit the stock latch mechanism..

Good luck!
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Old May 22, 2012 | 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by xj_maniac_newb
You'll have to do alot of reinforcing if you're removing that much of the roof. The thing with these unibody vehicles it that the integrity of the vehicle comes from the body as a whole, if you want an example of this go flex your jeep out and try to open the rear hatch.. But as long as you make a complete cage as you said to make up for the loss of integrity you should be fine. As far as the rear doors go.. Theres a write up in the write up section with a step by step on how to make your doors removable. My best guess to suicide them would be to just move the hinges to the other side of the door (will require some welding and fabrication of course), and then set up some sort of latch, but i doubt you could refit the stock latch mechanism..

Good luck!
My hatch opens while flexed.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by helmut
My hatch opens while flexed.
Tried closing it? Try flexing it out real hard and see if you can get it back shut
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Old May 22, 2012 | 02:05 PM
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Originally Posted by xj_maniac_newb
Tried closing it? Try flexing it out real hard and see if you can get it back shut
just putting it out there, he is not saying the hatch is a structural piece.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by jakbob
just putting it out there, he is not saying the hatch is a structural piece.
I know, I'm just messing around. But it does open and close while flexed. My right rear door doesnt want to open when on level ground tough.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 02:20 PM
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lol my hatch will open when im flexed, but its freakin impossible to close mine back.. gotta be on level ground.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 02:52 PM
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Bracing will start off with a hoop at the A-pillars and about even the window split in the rear door. At least 3 bars bridging across the top of the hoops. Across the bottom I was going to tie the hoops into the extensions from the frame out to the sliders. The cage will actually extend above the roof line to provide extra headroom for this tall driver.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by MatteBlack
I was gonna do the same but, am leaning toward keeping the rear compartment intact. Just removing the roof over the doors and adding a cage.
kinda like my experimental jeep?
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Old May 22, 2012 | 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by xj_maniac_newb
Tried closing it? Try flexing it out real hard and see if you can get it back shut
i say we do a cf mythbusters on this
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Old May 22, 2012 | 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Mr Talon
kinda like my experimental jeep?
How did that experiment turn out?
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Old May 22, 2012 | 06:10 PM
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I ended up selling the jeep. I did it cause i needed the sheet metal for my truck. Then a guy said he wanted it, and i did almost everything to it that he was going to do.
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