Are the doors the same?

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Superchargeme

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Hello all, I just picked up my second gmt400. It's an 88 light duty k2500. It's a little rough, but will get the attention it needs. It has some rough and rusty body panels, and by a stroke of luck, I happened to find a near cosmetically perfect 2000 junkyard truck with the exact same color scheme. My question is this, are the actual doors the same and interchangeable between the early 400's and the late 400's? My 88 is all manual, the 00 is power. From what I'm reading, the interior parts are interchangeable, but the main door structure is what I'm wondering about. The paint is bad with some rust on my 88, and the 00 door is fantastic, and I want to put it on the 88 with the 88 guts. Any help and guidance is very appreciated.
 

JOHNGAAA1

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The doors are the same, but the inside holes for the handle and door cards are 1988-1994 the same, and 1995-1999 the same. You can modify the newer door and cut a few holes to use it. Just pull out the two pins on the hinge, and the connector for the harness is on the kick panel. Possibly you can modify the connector and it will save you switching the door cards over.
 

Superchargeme

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The doors are the same, but the inside holes for the handle and door cards are 1988-1994 the same, and 1995-1999 the same. You can modify the newer door and cut a few holes to use it. Just pull out the two pins on the hinge, and the connector for the harness is on the kick panel. Possibly you can modify the connector and it will save you switching the door cards over.
When you say door cards, what are we talking about exactly?
 

east302

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Going from early to later model doors (and you’re at the extreme with 1988 to 2000) has been problematic for some before even though they should be identical. I’d still be tempted to try it, though.

@someotherguy has mentioned it before, maybe he knows some tricks.
 

someotherguy

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Going from early to later model doors (and you’re at the extreme with 1988 to 2000) has been problematic for some before even though they should be identical. I’d still be tempted to try it, though.

@someotherguy has mentioned it before, maybe he knows some tricks.
They might work, they might not. The closer you stay in year model for the donor truck, the better chance you have of them fitting without drama. The dies used to stamp out these doors have taken a serious beating over the full course of GMT400 production, and I suspect the dies were completely replaced in roughly 1995-1996 due to the minor changes where the door module (or "door card" as some call it, the inner panel with the window regulator etc.) and the exterior door handle fit. That's one big question mark for compatibility - yes the doors are largely the "same" but then again they're not. Dies also wear with that large amount of use, so the resulting product changes over the years.

Richard
 

Motrhedx81

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This may not impact you, but 1999 & 2000 have smaller hinge bushings (therefore smaller holes). They 'should' be the generally the same otherwise as far as I know (except for the stuff previously mentioned). Just be aware if you decide to replace the bushings. Upper bushings are body hinge, lower bushings are door hinge.
 
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