door panels 2003

[cpo223]

Some day if I'm lucky, I'll find a set of 2003 3500 ,slt, qc, OE tow mirrors,power & heated. I'm on several back order list. How do you take off the door panels, without breaking plastic tabs,or destroying things?Also is there a book for non-professionel mechanics to do limited work on these 2003 trucks,or what is the best book? Pat

 

[Prairie Dog]

It's really easy. Remove the screw that secures the door handle, the screw at the top where a wing window would be and the 3 or 4 screws at the very bottom. Then just lift upward and she pops rite off but don't forget to unplug the wiring. They don't use those lousy clips any more that wanted to brake or fall off.

The first thing I did was install insulation in all four doors. It made it a little quieter and cut down on the road noise.

 

[rmcnamee]

PCoakley,

I'm buying a pair of regular power/heated mirrors for my 3500 Laramie and would interested in selling the towing mirrors. Let me know.



Everyone else,

Is the wiring and/or connectors different between the regular and towing mirrors so long as both are power/heated units or are they a straight swap?



Thanks

Ryan

 

[bighammer]

Connectors are the same.



The only difficult part was removing the old mirror. There's a retainer clip that's a part of the electrical connection that holds the mirror onto the door before t bolts are in. They were a little tough to release because of their location and the sponge rubber insulation around them. If you had a second set of hands to hold the mirror from dropping when they do release, it would allow you to work with both paws. I didn't want to mess up the paint on the door either.



I like the tow mirrors. The built in convex bubble is nice to have along with a little bigger mirror. I just have to watch the ATM and drive-in windows because they do hang out a bit more.

 

[Shortcut]

Mirrors

The wiring and connectors for the regular and towing mirrors are the same. As a mater of fact, the trucks with factory manual mirrors have the wiring for power mirrors.

I swapped my mirrors out to tow mirrors.



Joe

 

[rmcnamee]

Thanks for the info bighammer & shortcut. I do like the tow mirrors, but I rarely tow anything and they stick out to far. The only reason why I'm getting them is because the dealer can't find the truck I want within 500 miles that doesn't have them.



Thanks again

Ryan