Door panel removal

[sparks57]

The screw that goes into my driver's side door panel right by the release lever has stripped out of the inside of the door, it's been that way ever since I got the truck, and it's annoying because every time I shut my door it feels like the whole panel is going to come off. How does one go about removing the trim panel from the door?



This is something I have been meaning to fix for a long time, thanks for any help.

 

[JLEONARD]

I've had my drver's door panel off a couple of times. Remove cap and screw from window crank and remove handle. Remove screw from door release handle and remove handle. Remove any other screws from the panel.

Then there are those wire spring like clips that can be removed with a stiff putty knife or small prybar... just be careful not to mar the panel... once you get one off and can get your fingers behind the panel the rest pop out easily. Then you have to lift it up and off the lip at the window base.

Going from memoryand that's scary.

jay

 

[sparks57]

Thanks.



Do those little clips break easily? I recall the last time I tried to get the door panel off I thought it sounded like I broke one of the holding clips.

 

[JLEONARD]

No. They do not break easily... . but they do slip off the door panel easily... one of mine went flying and I still haven't found it!

Good thing my son had a couple of spares!!

 

[sparks57]

When I opened up the door there was only 4 clips left, all the other ones were missing. Thanks for the help, I got it all apart... but now I need to go to the dealership and get about 20 or 30 clips to replace all the missing clips from both doors.

 

[TSuter]

I usually just go to a junkyard to get "new" clips, Like $1 for a hand full. I would be scared to find out what a dealer would charge.



Tom

 

[Ian]

Panel clips

I needed some for my 1st Generation a few years ago, went to a local auto parts supply store and found what I needed from the rack.

One word of caution, make sure that both the legs of the clip are in their respective hole before pushing the panel 'home', otherwise you'll have bent clips and have to start over again.

Good luck.

 

[sparks57]

You couldn't be more right. None of the parts stores had them so I went to the dealer... $1. 53 a piece! WAY TO MUCH for me. I'll go to the local junkyard and check.



Sometimes I wonder why dealers charge so much. When I first got my truck, a peice of the black trim that goes along the truck (the peice by the very back of the cab) was cracked and they said a replacement would be $73!

 

[TSuter]

$1. 53, WOW:--)

 

[sparks57]

TSuter, you hit the nail right on the head... I went to the junkyard and got a whole handfull of perfectly good clips for, you guessed it, $1.



Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Midnite]

Originally posted by CB_Parker



Sometimes I wonder why dealers charge so much.

While I'm not normally one to go easy on dealerships, they tend to have only a very small markup on parts prices. Blame DaimlerChrysler and the other vehicle manufacturers for the high prices of dealership parts--they've made the business decision that the profit they'd like to have, but can't get via vehicle markups, they'll get via their parts market.



Mike

 

["Mad Max"]

Another reason the dealers sometimes have seemingly high prices, and yeah, $1. 53 is way steep, is becasue they just don't move a lot of 'em. If you go to a restoration place that's all they deal with - the hard to find and usually easily breakable stuff, like those little clips. Sometimes good swap meets have vendors that not only sell the clips to just about anything, but sometimes have little packs of clips for various applications (door panels, sill plates, fender bolts, etc).

PS - I love 'shopping' in junk yards - lots of good treasure in there! Look in my readers rigs at the dually - Built totally from scratch using literally nothing but junk yard pieces. Sure the stuff was rebuilt and restored (except the paint... ), but all hardware, driveline, suspension, body panels, steering, brake lines, clips, dash panels, everything came from wrecked Power Wagons. The only thing I had to start with, literally, was the frame, cab hull, two rear doors, and a title. All for $150 and it was all mine. The side of my house looked like a Power Wagon had exploded... my neighbors had odds against me getting it all assembled into one ugly truck... .

... wow, I write a lot - sorry...

- Sam