Suburban questions

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I likely will be getting rid of my small car as I just do not appreciate it enough for what I pay a month. I have a work van so needing a DD is not praticularly nessacary.

While thinking about what to replace my car with, and getting something for camping/fishing trips with my son. I started thinking of a suburban.

Which style of rear doors is most user friendly for throwing sheets of 4x8 into with a 2-3 mile drive home.

Right now I am leaning towards the doors vs the tail gate style option. Since it seems to me to be easier to throwing a thing or two into.

[Killer Bee]

barn door advantage - you can walk all the way up to the bed to reach in

tailgate advantage - offers more horizontal surface to support longer loads and easier to rig for driving with doors open if necessary..

tailgate/liftigate is also handy when loading/unloading in the rain, liftgate keeps cargo area a little drier..

and of course 'tailgating' requires a tailgate

[mongocanfly]

barn door for me..having to reach over open tailgate to get stuff out of my blazer sucks...not to mention hitting my head on the upper glass...or the upper glass falling on your head when those dampners give out

[kwmech]

Barn doors on both my 'burbs. Wouldn't have anything else. For a longer load-----get a trailer.

[rideair]

I've always thought the barn door models are more of a work version, where as the tailgate is more of an upscale version. As Kill Bee said, got to have a tailgate to tailgate. When you get a little older like me, you'll want a place to sit down and drink a cold one.

Tailgate for me,

Enjoy,

[Dead Parrot]

Not a Suburban expert.
If being able to safely haul 4x8 sheets of stuff is a requirement, can you haul a 4x8 sheet with the barn door style and still close the doors?

Would think the barn doors would make the expedition through the piles of camping supplies to find that gizmo you need a bit shorter and less like entering a tunnel.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Thanks guys.

I guess I will end having to decide which advantages I prefer at that time.

[Eyegore]

IMO-Barn Doors the way to go, after having numerous K5's and Suburban's, the tailgates always rattled, or the glass mechanism failed (electric & manual), but after having a burb with the doors that is the way to go. As for tailgating, never done it but I think that's why camping chairs were invented. As to drywall sheets never had a problem carrying them in my burb, but then I got a flatbed trailer, that was the real solution.

[Killer Bee]

lol, rideair nailed it!

where the hell ya supposed to sit with yer cold one?

lawnchair?! ain't ya got a truck?

tailgating is an American pastime

barn doors belong on barns and mini vans

I own trailers

I own pickups, all with tailgates btw

gotta have a tailgate on my burb too, ymmv

good luck on your decision op!