I'm wondering if anyone tried this. Cut a rear hatch in half vertically and fab a set of swing-open barn doors for their XJ. Or has anyone seen a photo or even a rumor about someone who tried this? This is definately a project on my bucket list. I miss the barn doors on my old suburban.

 

Lol... It took me until the last part of your post to realize what you meant. I was thinking literal barn doors until the Suburban was brought up. I'm guessing the fab work to allow them to swing to the side might be a bit rough. Be an interesting concept though.

 

I am considering it. Fabing the actual doors is easy, however, the entire scope isvery difficult.

1. Creat the two doors
2. Custom glass or lexan
3. Find a wayto hinge the doors. Do they open flat or with a slight angle (due to hinge placement)
4. Find locking and latching mechanisms
5. Find a way to lock the doors affectively
6. Attaching a large spare.

All if this has to be done with some level of reinforcement as the sides are not that strong at the rear corners. The hinges may actually twist things a bit. This is of special consideration for those that wheel a lot and the body flex may mean the various latching and locking may be damaged by the skewed body. I don't wheel hard in my Jeep, it is mostly for severe weather conditions more than climbing rocks. But still, need to keep the entire thing in mind.

Also remember that while it is easyto work on the doors off the Jeep (cause it'll likely be a spare bought for the purpose) once you start on modification and fab work of the new jambs, sills, header around the edges, you won't be able to use e Jeep for a bit. It likely would take a lot of fab time, more so for a novice welder (like myself).

However, there are some real benefits. I especially like the idea of having the oversized spare mounted simply yet never being in the way of opening a door. I also like the idea of on the other door, I can mount a ladder. This is a big deal as I plan on doing a lot of filming from the roof of my Jeep (especially since I just mounted my DIY custom roof rack). I also lovethe idea of having a mod that could have been factory made. Like my JK front bumper mod....could almost have been stock.

Now for an extra challenge, could do a split barn door and lift gate....ah la Ford Excusion or Chevy Astro van.

 

Never seen it done, and theres a reason for that, way too much work than its worth. What do you gain? Doors that open differently?

 

Can you install lambo hinges in a Cherokee hatch? Cause it'd be awesome if my door opened at a 45 degree angle.

 

the benefit is that the hinged doors last longer. No hydraulic to replace. Granted that isn't much (aka BFD). However, I really like the idea of the spare being attached to a door and moving with the door rather than a swing arm. I am not a fan of roof mounting, already a top heavy enough vehicle. Also, I personally prefer the barn doors for when I am chasing and filming. I am opening the back a lot, and a lift gate is just annoying.

But yes, it is a ton of work. Not for the faint of heart.

 

I'd say you'd definitely have to use a steel hatch (97+) and it'd probably be easier to make the whole thing swing open (like a liberty) rather than split it in half.

No matter what you do you want have nothing on this guy!

 

Whats the point of hacking up any vehicle when it doesn't serve a purpose for most of the world??
You become unique, and get what you want! I think barn doors would be freaking cool. Makes sense, strong hinges would allow tire mount. please start a build!!!

 

I actually just finished doing this over the fall. Still needs some work. But I think it looks pretty good. I hate lift-gates.

 

I had a feeling someone would try this sooner or later. Please keep us posted if you try for a ladder and/or a spare tire carrier. How many hours do you have in the project so far? Wish you had photos of the welding / fabrication process. This is another example of American ingenuity in action. A huge thumbs up for doing this.

 

Well I didn't take many photos during the build. But I can dig up what I have.
I could take photos of the doors now (How they work)

The hinge(s) was the hardest part. And at one point I wasn't sure it would work at all. my backup plan was to cut the hatch 1/2 way horizontally and have the top lift up and have double doors on the bottom. Like a Ford Excursion. Or maybe a tail gate. Like a Range Rover.

I am going to mount the tire either inside or back on the rack where it was. A tire carrier would defeat the purpose of "ease of entry" which was the basis for the build.

This was a spare time project over two summers. If I had to calculate time spent on this it would be:
One Week of metalworking and welding,
Four weeks fiber-glassing and sanding
One week modifying taillights and wiring - (The taillights move with the doors.)
Four days cutting and gluing window trim and fitting windows.

If anyone is interested I can take some photos of the hinges/mounts/etc...

 

New gas struts $48
Rear Swing Out Tire Carrier Bumper $600
Mounting time for bumper 45 min Free

I like my lift gate I guess but that's just me. As far as mounting a tire on a door like that even a stock tire/wheel would give you grief I bet, too much weight.

As far as the build very nice job you did it appears from the photo, Congrats!

 

Yeah, even a stock spare tire would probably stress the XJ Sheet metal.
The hinges and door could take the weight, but the sheet metal where the hinges attach would fatigue.

 

That looks factory!
Excellent job!

 

where did the donor doors come from or did you make them yourself?