Chevy & GMC Vans

Recently did the brakes on a friend's Caravan with the duel sliding doors and spent some time looking at the mechanisms. The idea in my brain is to rework the front doors on an Astro into sliders that slide forward with the slider mechanism embedded in the front fenders. I think it would be a pretty cool twist. Lambo doors are over done, gullwings can be impractical, but to have the front doors pop out and slide forward, now that's different.

I think it's a great concept, now all I need is tools, skills, time, and money.

that does sound sortta

Back on your meds, Son.

yeah, you really shouldn't do this to me, I've been noodling how to make the wiring for the power windows work with sliders since I read this earlier tonight. My brain hurts now...

The wiring wouldn't be that bad. It would be similar to the way the wires travel with the head of an ink jet printer.

I was envisioning something similar, maybe with a retro telephone handset chord kind of arrangement. If it was done right, it'd be cooler than suicide doors.

[edit] now that I think about it, skip the wires altogether and create contacts on the frame and the door so when it's closed the circuit is complete. -wouldn't be able to operate the window with the door open, but how often do you need to?

Dagnabit, now I'm thinkin about this again....(what happened to the bang head smiley?)

Interesting! Veerry Innteresting. I still want a door on the drivers side for passengers at the back. I gotta get playing with other fabrication to see if I can do it before I start cutting open the van.

Very cool idea. I wonder how Nissan made the trackless sliding doors in their concept van. That would be an even better method so you keep the front fenders clean and smooth. You could almost do them with pivot points and swing arms so the door doesn't slide so much as move out and forward giving the illusion of a sliding door when open. Also allowing you to use a beefier bottom arm so you can run the wiring through it or under it so the wiring moves with the door removing any need for funky wiring setups.

potskie wrote:Very cool idea. I wonder how Nissan made the trackless sliding doors in their concept van. That would be an even better method so you keep the front fenders clean and smooth. You could almost do them with pivot points and swing arms so the door doesn't slide so much as move out and forward giving the illusion of a sliding door when open. Also allowing you to use a beefier bottom arm so you can run the wiring through it or under it so the wiring moves with the door removing any need for funky wiring setups.

you sir are on the right page i commend you

A simple request: Can you also figure out how to make the current slider flare out towards the back when fully opened, so as to accommodate wider tires/spacers/rim offsets. I'd like a wider stance but still want the door to open all the way, since I spend lots of time sleeping/camping in my van.

Please [-o< and thanks =D>

gabequest wrote:A simple request: Can you also figure out how to make the current slider flare out towards the back when fully opened, so as to accommodate wider tires/spacers/rim offsets. I'd like a wider stance but still want the door to open all the way, since I spend lots of time sleeping/camping in my van.

Please [-o< and thanks =D>

Remove the track and then put a tapered spacer behind it maybe.

Might end up looking odd when the door is closed tho. Make it a giant suicide door?

I've looked into this. The problem is that the pivoting slider arm isn't long enough. 70s vans it was pretty simple to add a longer arm, but our vans are a bit more difficult.

The best solution i see is to make a longer arm and to rebuild the front end of the slider track so the curve is further back. This would allow the slider to function normally, still hide the arm, and allow the door to pop out more. If I can find some time to spend in the junk yard or with my parts van, I'll see if the track can be removed, cut shorter, and reinstalled further back. If possible, I'll then look into having a longer arm made.

Cool! having a bit of trouble visualizing, but thats what pics are for!! Once you've nailed it! [-o<