Another "why doesn't this exist?"

The main issue I have with that is that is a mighty narrow door opening.

I think it's a Nissan/Infinity concept?

Ian F wrote: The main issue I have with that is that is a mighty narrow door opening. I think it's a Nissan/Infinity concept?

Ford Explorer Concept

ebonyandivory wrote: Ford Explorer Concept

The ugly front fenders threw me...

Marussia F2

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Ian F wrote: The main issue I have with that is that is a mighty narrow door opening. I think it's a Nissan/Infinity concept?

I don't see any real reason why the rear edge of the open door couldn't extend all the way to the back of the vehicle, especially if you put an articulating arm on it or something.

But even if the opening is no bigger than a regular door, the main advantage to the sliding door is for the majority of the population who goes places and then have to park next to other people, put kids in the car, or whatever. And now that most minivans have power sliding doors, it's really a hands-free entry into the vehicle. You can't really do that easily with regular side doors, since they might open into the car next to you, or block you from actually getting to the doorway...

Parking garages would be a snap and I wouldn't have to quietly look around every time I hit someone's car with my door (I cannot squeeze this body into the tiny door openings with parking spaces getting smaller)

^^ Hell, for that matter you could do it on the back doors of crew-cab pickups too...

irish44j wrote: I don't see any real reason why the rear edge of the open door couldn't extend all the way to the back of the vehicle, especially if you put an articulating arm on it or something.

Modern doors are heavy as hell with double-pane glass, insulation for noise, power everything, impact bracing, etc... That articulating hing would need to be pretty damn beefy in order not to flex - and to stay not flexing for thousands of operations... in all sorts of conditions... with essentially no maintenance. Not to mention the structural changes to support the articulating hinge. And the integrity to stay together when an over-weight 10 year old hangs on the door as it's opening/closing...

Problems that could be overcome? Probably. Just costs money... and would add complexity to what is currently pretty simple (two small hinges and a latching mechanism) system.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, and maybe if engineered into the vehicle from the get-go, it'd be possible. But the title of the thread is "why?" and well... this is what I do. I think if crap like this.

Don't get me wrong, I dig minivans. For some reason there is a whole crop of people that hate them.

Model X http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vox78WUVtd8

Ian F wrote: In reply to irish44j: Lastly, the sliding door runs on a track on the bottom of the door. Most SUV's have fairly short rear door sills and the rear of the door follows the rear wheel well. A sliding rear door would only be able to open as far as that bottom sill length.

What if the bottom hinge was offset, and also on a track on the inside of the door? Slide the door back, and when the bottom rail hits the stop near the floorboard, it continues to travel on the track located on the bottom of the door. Does this make any sense?

The only issue I have with a sliding door on a mini van is it limits wheel and tire width. I tried a set of 255's on my old Safari but the sliding door wouldn't open, had to step down to 235's and there was still some rubbing.

The amount of engineering necessary to make it work VS the number of people saying "Awesome! Now that it has a sliding door I want one!" Means that it isn't going to happen. Maybe if minivans were the new hot thing you'd see an attempt, but that's backwards from reality. I personally think the geometry is wrong. I suspect that if you take a tape measure and check the distance from the back of the front seat to the rear tire you'll find that minivans have more distance than SUV's. It's this shorter distance that makes the rear seat less functional, not the door type.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Market research/ market trends would seem to contradict your thoughts. Chevy Venture: Was "butched-up" to become the Uplander which had a more SUV-like appearence. Which then became the underpinnings for the "full-butch" Traverse Ford too got out of vans and into Flex w/ doors

my mom has an '08 Uplander... and i can't think of a single good thing to say about it...

the seats suck worse than anything i've ever been in, and you can't fold the middle seats down flat without taking the headrests out and sliding the front seats forward.

the dash sucks. it sucks to drive. the engine is about a foot and a half below the level of that stupid looking hood.

the power sliding doors don't let you manually open or close them- the motors take over as soon as you pull on the handle and won't let you manually move it faster- and they like to not open or close all the way at random times.

the TPMS sensors all take turns not working at random times.

but my mom likes it for some reason...

regarding sliding doors on SUV's: if you want a sliding door, get a van. i'm a pretty big guy (5'11", 245ish pounds) and i don't have any problems climbing into and comfortbably fitting in the rear seats of newer Suburbans. in fact, i find the rear seat of a Suburban to be more comfortable than any seat in my mom's Uplander.. i'm not exactly agile for a guy my size, either..

JohnRW1621 wrote: Is this the answer?

holy freaking god yes that is the answer.

I think Mazduece has pointed out the bigger issue: space.

Sliding doors would make an SUV easier to access in a parking lot, but they would still fall short of a minivan when it comes to cargo space behind the third row.

Our Sedona has more cargo space behind the third row than most SUVs.

I like minivans and have no issues with them. They are practical and worth their weight in gold in people and cargo hauling.

   My gripe is with Ford for not offering a manual transmission with the Transit Connect. I like everything about it sans no three pedals.

But has anyone else seen how narrow parking spaces are now? In an effort to cram as many consumers as possible into stores, parking spaces seem to have gone on a crash diet.

I'm 6'-3" and weigh 255 and squeezing into my truck at the mall so I don't ding the car next to me is a pain and would be much easier with sliding doors.

Isn't the sliding track that's bears the brunt of the weight of the door part of the structure of the vehicle? If not, why can't it be? Just below the rear window, not in the roof nor the floor. The roof track would serve merely as a guide.

A good clue to see if manufacturers will do it is to read and watch auto shows to see how people liked sliding doors on SUVs. If nobody really cared, it will take quite a while before people want them.

I also just had a thought that minivans probably have better third row seat access because they have short hoods and small engine compartments. That makes them a pain in the as$ to work on but it gives them fairly easy third row seat access and plenty of people and cargo space. It also gives them an overall length of a little shorter than a midsized sedan.

But keep in mind, just because they don't build it DOES NOT necessarily mean it's not awesome or won't become one of those "how did we live without these" types of things. Witness the 4-door pickup.

In reply to ebonyandivory:

4 door pickup is a byproduct of a lack of big floaty RWD cars. We never lived without them, they just changed shape a little. Throw a tonneau cover on any of the current 4 door half ton pickups and you've basically got yourself a 70s Buick 3 feet off the ground.

I beg to differ... A 4 door pickup is a natural evolution of an extended cab pickup with the mini-suicide doors which itself is an evolution of an extended cab pickup with just two doors (like my avatar) which was an evolution of a standard cab pickup.

As you can clearly see, each step in the evolution is another step toward convenience and ease of entry/exit.

Sliding rear doors in SUVs are just one more logical evolutionary step in this same direction.

Either that or "we" just saw how useful all those toyotas et al were overseas for so many years!

In reply to nicksta43:

On older ford vans you could cut and extend the arm that went into the track on the side of the van at the back of the door. I helped a friend build a few dollar vans in Brooklyn and we would do that to clean the running boards and 12 in wide rears. That, a homemade door opener to let the customers in and a Haitian flag mural on the back made for a bitchin' van back in the day.

Mitchell wrote: What if the bottom hinge was offset, and also on a track on the inside of the door? Slide the door back, and when the bottom rail hits the stop near the floorboard, it continues to travel on the track located on the bottom of the door. Does this make any sense?

Yes, makes sense. However, looking at the slider on the bottom rail of my Caravan, the lower hinge is already at the forward edge of the door. Actually, it's ahead of the leading edge and the rail goes into a pocket under the front seat. If you think about it, this keeps the two sliders as far apart as possible for rigidity as they move on their respective tracks.

4 door pickups aren't new.. Chevy started in the 70's, and Dodge had them in the 60's...