The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Burbs With Barn Doors Prior to 1950

I just read in a Chevy truck book that the barn door option for Carryall Suburbans was not available from 1947-1950...all you could buy was clamshell tailgate. First of all, is that true? I have what I believe is a '49 Burb with barn doors...was I deceived or what?

1938 was the first year Chevy offered either type rear clam type gate or doors(same as panel) on the Suburbans. 1938 job #897 had rear doors. 37 job # 877 and 38 job # 711 had the "clam" type tailgate.

that Gunnell's book? - maybe barn door burbs weren't 'normal production', but as long as the panel truck still had'em, the dealer could switch'em - no deceptions involved, just gotta remember back then you could always get what you wanted, even if it wasn't regular production, and also keep in mind that you never know what that ol truck you've got has been thru in 55 years

Bill

I understand that barn doors were available from 1938 through the last of the 1947 Art Deco models. I'm trying to find out if the 1947-49 AD style Suburbans came with barn doors as an option.

they may not have been actually produced in the regular run of things w/ the barn doors, but the panel body is the same as the burb, and they did make panels, and they did make the barn doors for the panels, so the burb body would have had the provisions for the doors, and anything in existence could be ordered and installed by the dealer

Bill

Chevy had both types of rear clam drop gate & the panel truck barn doors from 38 through 42 I don't know if they both were offered after the war. They were not dealer installed but were ordered from the factory. All the parts are listed in the Parts Price list Supplement for Special Models issued April 30, 1942. It supplements the Master Price Lists ffor 1942.

What Bill describes sounds vey reasonable. The dealer might have installed barn doors in '49 and they could have been changed any time since. Does anyone have a pre-1950 Suburban that has the end gate AND holes in the body for the panel rear-door hinges?

As far as barn doors being available from the factory during the Advance-Design years (1947 to 1955-1st), the 1950 Truck Data Book states "SPECIFICATION CHANGES - 1950 Model: Model 3106 - Carryall Suburban with panel rear doors is added".

My 49 sub has barn doors however all the hardware for the clamshell was installed in the body. The cables are there as well as the rectangular holes for the tailgate hinges just above the gravel shield between the body and the bumper. It did not have the barn door limiters that were supposed to be installed on the top of the doors that held the doors open. These limiters were designed to also position the doors perpendicular to the body so that the truck could be backed up tight to a loading dock. I found a pair in a local boneyard off of a panel that I will install when ready. In the case of my sub there is no way to know if the truck came from the factory with barn doors or if the dealer installed them, removed the clamshells and left the hardware in the body. I suspect that it originally came from the factory with the clamshells and somewhere along the way it was changed over to barndoors. One reason for this rationale is the lower hinge holes for the tailgate were covered with a welded patch and it was not a very good job either. The patches were then bondoed over and painted. Which brings up another question. When did bondo replace lead as the material of choice for body work? Weeds

Weeds,

For at least some years that panel doors came from the factory on A-D Suburbans, the rear-door stops/limiters on the Suburban were different from the rear-door stops/limiters on the Panel Truck.

The Panel Truck limiters had a groove and two-locations to stop the sliding arm. This allowed (as you said) the Panel Truck doors to open/rotate far enough around for the truck to back up to a loading dock.

The Suburban limiters/stops did not have a sliding arm (and the Suburban could not come as close to a loading dock). A few years ago, I think MotherTrucker posted information describing this difference.

If this information is correct for all years, it might support the possibility that your doors were Panel Truck doors added by the dealer or later.

Tim

I contacted the guy I bought the truck from...it did originally have a clamshell rear...for some reason he converted to barn doors. He did a great job because I can't tell the difference between the factory installation on my '52 and the modified installation in the '49.

History is interesting when it pertains to AD suburbans. Weeds

I parted out a 1948 suburban a few years ago. It had the clamshell doors BUT it also had the provisions for the barn door hinges [ these barn door hinge access holes had factory plugs over them ].