One Piece Nomad Liftgate / Tailgate

[Michaelmotorcycle]

So I replaced my tailpan about a year ago and upon doing so I had to remove my tailgate and hinges. Once I finished mocking up the tailpan and got it painted, I became fixated on the idea of making a one piece liftgate (like the sedan deliveries). I have seen a few Nomads with thier custom made one piece liftgates/tailgates. I am indecision about this because about three years ago I purchased a rechromed/straightened liftgate from Michael Bakotich (MadMook) thinking that it would my make me content with the liftgate area and I do not want to modify it (I'm afraid of ruining it). From what information I gathered, one Nomad I saw seemed as though they replaced the stock liftgate portion with a modified wagon liftgate and then connected it to the the tailgate (I thought this was ugly in my own opinion). I saw another where a bracket was fabricated so that it basically was a skeleton for the stock liftgate and tailgate to bolt up to. This bracket would connect to the liftgate hinges and the gas struts so that no stress was put on the stock liftgate and tailgate (I really liked this idea; however, this required removing some material from the liftgate and mine is already rechromed so I am really discouraged from doing this). I remember reading a post on a thread where someone said that a Nomad owner in Long Beach, CA had made one out of fiberglass. I'd really like to ask them how well it held together (did it crack? did they install all of the trim? what did they do with the liftgate portion since you can't chrome fiberglass?). If I remember correctly, the "Glomad" (Snap-on sponsored Nomad) had a fiberglass liftgate; however, I called the company they used to purchase the fiberglass parts (doors, front clip, tailgate/liftgate) and they said they did not make a fiberglass tailgate/liftgate for the Nomad. They did make a fiberglass one piece liftgate for a sedan delivery (that works out for all you wagon folks). I figured that I would bring this up since I hadn't seen any posting on it.

[chevynut]

Welcome to the site Michael. Personally I love the look of the stock chrome liftgate and tailgate on a Nomad. The only thing I'd like to do is remove the lower hinges, so they're not visible. I don't know of any way to do that cleanly and easily.

I do recall seeing someone connect the liftgate to the tailgate, though. Not sure how tough that would be.

[Michaelmotorcycle]

Welcome to the site Michael. Personally I love the look of the stock chrome liftgate and tailgate on a Nomad. The only thing I'd like to do is remove the lower hinges, so they're not visible. I don't know of any way to do that cleanly and easily.

I do recall seeing someone connect the liftgate to the tailgate, though. Not sure how tough that would be.

I thought I loved my stock liftgate and tailgate until I had to load and unload some items from the cargo area (hated overextending myself over the tailgate and the cables that are in the way). I fell in love with the ease I could use to load the back of a family van with a one piece tailgate (my wife has a 2007 Chryseler Town and Country which is easy to load and unload in the cargo area with its one piece liftgate). So now I am rethinking how I want to go about making my stock liftgate and tailgate into one piece. I am thinking that I will eliminate the tailgate hinges as well (unless I just leave them and cut the hinge pin to allow the one piece liftgate to open and close).

[Michaelmotorcycle]

So I inquired with VFN Fiberglass (the company that made the front clip and doors for the Snap-on sponsored Nomad "Glomad") about making a One-Piece Nomad Liftgate. They said they would make it for about $600; however, they would need a Liftgate and Tailgate so that they could create the molds. I am passing on since I do not have a spare liftgate and tailgate at this time. Just wanted to pass this on in case any one wanted to follow up on this.

Hi Michael.

We can make one for you, however to do so, we would need the actual part to make a mold from.
As you're aware, making molds is both costly and time consuming. Because of these reasons, we would charge $600.00 to help recover some of our costs involved in making this piece for you.

We unfortunately could not offer them in carbon at this point....
Due to the amount of work we see in the back, it is generally difficult to remove one guy from our general production area to devote them fully to carbon fiber.
There are times when we do take limited carbon work, but I don't see that happening until end of October or November...and that's not a definite. Not sure if he'd be willing to make this guy in carbon, as we generally stick with flat trunks and hoods to keep our normal production work on time.

If you're interested in sending one up, please let me know and I can work with you to make further arrangements.

Thanks.
Jean

[chevynut]

Wow $600 is cheap, imo. I'll bet Madmook could hep you with getting parts for the molds. Once the mold is made, I assume they could build many of them.

[Michaelmotorcycle]

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I got to thinking some more and wondered about those "steel" liftgate frames that were made customly by some fellow Nomad owners. I was under the assumption that the original potmetal liftgate was adapted to mount on the "steel" liftgate frame. I also assumed that the stock tailgate would mount to the "steel" liftgate frame as well. Now I wonder if there has been anyone that just made a "stainless steel" liftgate frame that had the exact same exterior contours as the original potmetal liftgate frame and also had been lengthened to accept the tailgate (so that the tailgate could be mounted to it and act as a "one-piece liftgate").

Hey Madmook, with all the stainless steel reproduction parts you are making, do you planning on doing something like this anytime soon?

I just want a "one-piece" liftgate.

[Romax55]

The one-piece rear gate is the most refreshing idea on this forum ; hope you go for it , and get rid of those dumb-looking lower hinges at the same time . There's not that much engineering to make a mold of the rear gates yourself , maybe a bit messy , but the idea is excellent . The fiberglass rear gate would be a bunch lighter too , even with a tube frame inside it. Nobody knows what those Nomad rear gates are really like till they've tried to load and unload from them . You're right ; the new Caravans make the Nomad gates look bad . Keep us posted . Be safe...Bob.

[chevynut]

It wouldn't be that hard to do with a stock tailgate and liftgate, if you were willing to modify them. Sure, it could be made from fiberglass....at least the lower gate. Why not pay the $600 and get one made? To me that's cheap for what you're trying to do. It wouldn't be difficult to tie the two together either. There was someone who did just this recently. I think I could figure out how to do it if I wanted to. It's been done before.

A stainless steel liftgate would be an expensive proposition, IMO. Especially if it was anything like the stock one.

[kcwildman]

Interesting topic, we have a 56 in Kansas City that a shop built a one piece. I called him and asked about doing mine and he said $3500. Looked good and worked well except the sides and top of the lift gate were painted and I couldn't pull the trigger. Decided to try and design a hidden hinge to clean up the back. I think the nomad I am speaking about sold last year at Good Guys but I could get you in touch with the owner and the fabricator if interested.

[Rick_L]

I think that making the Nomad liftgate/tailgate one piece with hinges at the top and keeping some style to it is darn near impossible. Even a fiberglass tailgate attached to a stock looking liftgate is going to have some serious structural challenges. I also think that a $600 fiberglass replica would take more than that again in finish work to look right.

What I would look into for a unique look and practicality would be a window that rolls down into the tailgate and a fixed liftgate frame that has a channel for the window. Like a Suburban or Tahoe. It would be a lot of custom work but the end result would be practical.