2000 rear hatch to a 96 rear hatch
 

Hello i'm new to the forums,but i was wondering if you can swap the whole rear gate assembly form a 96 to a 2000? I like the folddown tailgate as opposed to the lift tailgate. Any imput would be great, Thanx.

Hey! I just looked at my 96 & 97 jimmys and while the glass mounting hardware is bolted to the body,the lower gate hard ware is WELDED to the body. It can be done I am sure but maybe not in your back yard. You will also have to closely inspect the upper mounting area on the 2000 to see if it uses the same type of hinge mount.
Good luck!

Anything can be done with $$$ and time, but it really isn't going to be worth it. There are quite a few differences.

I'm curious to know the history and reason behind GM making this change from 96 to 97. Did they do it to just to match the Explorer or was there more behind it? That's a pretty big change for them to make without some reason.

Could be demand based. Customer feedback is a typical driver for change. If they think they can do something *and* make more money, they'll do it.

yeah, i guess that's what we have to assume to be the reason unless we hear otherwise from someone within GM familiar with the change. I'm glad that the Blazer I'm about to get is a 96 with the tailgate. I figure it's better to support 4'x8' sheets when I need to haul them. Overall, I'm just surprised there was enough of a preference one way or the other to change it mid-run.

Yeah thanx guys i appreciate all the imput. Guess it looks like im going to be workin around this big ugly hatch....