Door Popper instal for tahoe Barn Doors

[ladorn45]

Hey Everyone,


I finally got around to installing a door popper in my 2001 Tahoe barn doors. I figured out a way to use the existing wires in the door by using a relay timer. I basically set it up so you hold the unlock button for three seconds and it triggers the door popper. Whats nice with this is you can pop the door from the front seat or from the switch located in the back. Pretty simple to install and figured I do a write up for anyone interested in doing this. This idea can probably be adapted to the older Tahoes as well as any other door.

I am going to split this write up into three parts so people can skip sections.


1 Taking the door panel off

2. Installing the door actuator

3. Wiring the door actuator.





1 Taking the door panel off


The door has two panels that need to be removed. You want to remove the top panel first working from the bottom of that panel (middle of the door) and working your way up. I posted some pics to give you a idea of how it clips in.



The bottom panal just simply lifts up.

 

[ladorn45]

2. Installing the Door Actuator.


This is the actuator that I purchased off amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PWLJ2OC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I used a bike brake cable for the pull cable, something similar to this:

https://www.evanscycles.com/fwe-stainless-steel-inner-gear-cable-for-shimano-sram-EV266109


First you want to remove the two torq bolts off the locking mechanism on the Tahoe door.




Once you pull the locking mechanism from the door you will see a cable that connects to a lever. This is the lever that pops the door open. I ran the bike cable through the lever’s hole.


Next I mounted the actuator by drilling two holes into the door and connected the pull cable.


Next wiring everything up

 

[ladorn45]

3. Wiring the door actuator.

Keep in mind when the door is open none of the wires have power. So when testing you have to have the door closed. Learned the hard way.


In order to have the door pop open after holding the unlock button for three seconds you need to install a timer relay. This is the one I used.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0126WT5QO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


In order to power the relay and the door actuator I tapped the Tahoe unlock cable. Which is a tan wire.


Next you have to ground the relay as well as the door actuator. Tap into the dome light cable for your ground. Normally I would connect the ground to a bolt, but I noticed all the bolts on the doors did not create a good enough ground. You will find a plug that has a black cable and a green cable. You want to tap into the black wire for your ground.


Finally here is the wire schematic in how I wired the relay. I also installed a 10amp fuse between the relay and door lock power wire.

After everything is wired up adjust the dial on the relay to how long you want to hold the unlock button for in order to trigger the relay. Thats it Hopefully this helps someone out or sparks another idea. Also the green wire is a constant 12 volt so if you just want to simply hook up a push button the the door and avoid the relay thing timer that should work as well.

 

[PG01]

Nice, and nice write up

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Nice work, dude.

 

[YukonXL04]

So great work... But I gotta ask what's the purpose of this?

 

[PG01]

So great work... But I gotta ask what's the purpose of this?

Laziness is the mother of invention......i meant necessity, my bad

 

[ladorn45]

Couple of things I got third row seats and sometimes I just put one of the seats in so the person in the back has another way out. Sometimes I lock my self in like an ******, and finaly I camped in my car one night and noticed it's a pain in the ass too get out from the side. Also for 20 bucks it's a useful mod for me.

 

[YukonXL04]

Couple of things I got third row seats and sometimes I just put one of the seats in so the person in the back has another way out. Sometimes I lock my self in like an ******, and finaly I camped in my car one night and noticed it's a pain in the ass too get out from the side. Also for 20 bucks it's a useful mod for me.

Oh well that's cool. Yea I was wondering the motive behind it.

 

[bottomline2000]

Very cool and if you have barn doors u will understand. Nothing like being locked in the cargo area of your truck lol.

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