Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave
Well, I decided to reach out to one of the major suppliers of sheetmetal for our trucks, specifically with suburban panels in mind. I explained the issues with 1/4 patch panels, the main one being the beauty/style line in the arch patch doesn't line- up with the lower panels style line. I asked if a feasibility study and the cost of a outer full 1/4 skin had been developed. I knew in part that this request had already been brought up but was unaware how far it actually had been developed.
As it turns out, the cost that was quoted was 180k for the outer skins to include the tail piece and 250k for the inner and outer complete. This cost covers the dies, tooling and fixtures, however these costs do not cover shipping and packaging. The ROI on manufacturing the panels would take longer than what's generally a accepted amount of time. This is primarily due to that there aren't many suburbans left or at least registered thru the BMV. I suspect this how they determined at starting point of possible suburbans that are out there, then how many of those would need and order full length panels. It's a logical and fair question indeed.
However, I was given an assignment to come up with a close up picture of a unmodified or untouched original suburban 1/4 panel and email it to them. Which i intend do shortly. I think the thought here is to make a panel that covers more of the wheel opening.
Lastly, I asked if they would consider making the 3rd door lower sections inside and out. This request seemed to be well received with the greater possibility of actually making it to manufacturing. I don't want to give any false hopes but I think as our trucks are approaching 50 plus yrs old and good used parts drying up there's needs to be more sheetmetal available for our hobby. Now, I know some of you may say... Why didn't you ask for rear hatch and tailgate feasibility? The short answer is we ran out of time, lol. But I will be in contact them again not to worry.
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I totally agree with you on the 3rd door inner panel. The one that everyone sells is for a truck NOT a Suburban. I learned that the hard way after purchasing one and ended up buying another passenger side inner rocker then cut it down to fit . I made sure to document that in my build thread to spare others the aggravation I went through