Swing out tail gate

[POPEYE]

I've been giving this some serious thought, a swing out back would be a great help to me as opposed to the drop down gate, had a look on yotatec and aus sites and looks like no one's ever done it, it would take some work but after a good look in there i reccon it's "doable", it'd mean some reinforcement of the rear pillar below and above the light cluster and to the side of the gate, i have some heavy duty (ambulance rear door) hinges similar to items fitted to defenders, only prob there is the landy's doors are verticle and the surf has a slight "roundness" to it so some metal contoured blocks would be req to bring the hinges "in line"
the gate/door could still opperate and stock ie:- swing out the wheel, drop the glass and release the door via the same knobs/ lever, i reccon there's enough clearance for the gate to swing with out fouling on the opposite side to the hinges, access to the inside will need cutting away but i cant see owt thats impossible,
so the electrics!!! no real prob rerouting the main harness, but am i right in thinking the latches (one each side ) has switches to prevent the glass being opened with the gate down? i have in the past had to flick the latches in order to work the glass so i could get at the runner etc to grease it, i'm wondering if i could say do away with the n/s latch and just use the o/s as the gate will have to hinge on the n/s (the wheel carrier's one the o/s)
doing it this way will mean protruding hinges but a spray with some body color and i can live with that, if i can form some decent looking blocks, flat fronted and contoured to the pillar at the rear it shouldn't look too shabby,
any ideas positive or negitave welcome

[KERRSURF]

You could buy a 3rg gen with lift up tailgate.

Anything is possible I suppose and the man that never made a mistake never did anything.

Remember the pics please.

[POPEYE]

You could buy a 3rg gen with lift up tailgate.

Anything is possible I suppose and the man that never made a mistake never did anything.

Remember the pics please.

Will do mate, your right nowt ventured etc, at worst i'll f##k up a tailgate and have to replace it, gonna take a bit of time tho as i only have a grinder and files

[KERRSURF]

Would it be worth getting another tailgate to fab up first? Then do the final fix to truck when you know it can be done.

[POPEYE]

Would it be worth getting another tailgate to fab up first? Then do the final fix to truck when you know it can be done.

Good idea, in fact if i can get one from a swing out spare wheel truck it'd be better than the home made spare wheel latch i have on there, nice one Alan

[KERRSURF]

glad to be of service.

[an1mal_69]

The trickiest bit I rekon would be with 'latching' the door when closed. You'd have to fab in a boot/door striker and latch. Find a cable operated one and you could probably connect it to the stock handle.

Sparks on elite4x4 had a pair of actuator rods for sale, can't remember how much, but they seemed a good price. Each one was rated at some crazy capacity. With those, you wouldn't have the hassle of latches etc..could also wire them to an 'aux' output on an alarm and pop the boot whilst trundling your shopping trolley across the carpark

[Chillitt]

The trickiest bit I rekon would be with 'latching' the door when closed. You'd have to fab in a boot/door striker and latch. Find a cable operated one and you could probably connect it to the stock handle.

Sparks on elite4x4 had a pair of actuator rods for sale, can't remember how much, but they seemed a good price. Each one was rated at some crazy capacity. With those, you wouldn't have the hassle of latches etc..could also wire them to an 'aux' output on an alarm and pop the boot whilst trundling your shopping trolley across the carpark

Whats wrong with the ones that's already there?

[BUSHWHACKER]

I gonna make my tailgate open Lambo style.
























no I'm not that's just silly, I won't be able to reach it to close it.

[Chillitt]

Stop me if you've already thought of this, but wouldn't it be easier to ditch the back bumper and make the tailgate drop down til its vertical? (assuming the effect you are going for is making it easier to get the chair in the back..)

[spacast]

This maybe a daft idea, but what if you rerouted the electrics with enuff slack to the drivers side, then bolted the tailgate door onto the spare wheel carrier and took off the hinges and stays from the bottom of the tailgate, then wouldn't it be possible to swing open the tailgate on the wheel carrier?
The original latches would still work, tho' you might have to beef up the spare wheel carrier, I don't know cause I haven't got one. Guess the spare obstructs the keyhole as well, but it might be possible...or not.

I'll get me coat.

[POPEYE]

Stop me if you've already thought of this, but wouldn't it be easier to ditch the back bumper and make the tailgate drop down til its vertical? (assuming the effect you are going for is making it easier to get the chair in the back..)

That did cross my mind Charlie, it's mean loseing the bumper, tow bar tho, (or at least altering the bar and hitch so it was under the truck) all this is still in the "thinking" stage at present

[POPEYE]

This maybe a daft idea, but what if you rerouted the electrics with enuff slack to the drivers side, then bolted the tailgate door onto the spare wheel carrier and took off the hinges and stays from the bottom of the tailgate, then wouldn't it be possible to swing open the tailgate on the wheel carrier?
The original latches would still work, tho' you might have to beef up the spare wheel carrier, I don't know cause I haven't got one. Guess the spare obstructs the keyhole as well, but it might be possible...or not.

I'll get me coat.

Actually thats not a bad idea, i did think of making the hinges from another carrier, but attaching the gate to the carrier might just be the easiest way to do this, the spare is far enough from the tail gate to get the key in when the carriers closed so that's not a prob, i fitted the carrier (truck didn't have one to start with) so it has beefy bolts and thick washers behind the pillar,
cant see why the latches, opening mech etc cant opperate as normal, as ya say just need to extend and reroute the wiring, cheers

[madcampbell]

I've been giving this some serious thought, a swing out back would be a great help to me as opposed to the drop down gate,

I could be being thick but I don't see the advantage...when you drop the tail gate the height for lifting in stuff in is the same as removing the tail gate. would it not be better to investigate allowing the tailgate to drop lower? if there is room so creating the start of a ramp and if you wanted then you extend the tailgate with something like this rough piccy then if needed extend the tailgate and winch your buggy up it?? just an obsavation

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[madcampbell]

Only just read your other post....now I see why you want to do that, wow that was a neat bit of engineering, nice one.

For what's it's worth I would combine the two Ideas and place the winch in the center of the boot get the tailgate to lower as above and have removable tracks like these http://www.betterlifehealthcare.com/...hp?prodID=7467 then just pull it up into place it may be less of a faff than adjusting tailgate to a side swing and the faffing that once the buggie is lifted in once lifted in the air trying to swing it into place?
The dis advantage of that is you require more space behind you for a ramp when parking

Just a thought

Cheers
Mark