Any luck on repro doors?

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Jglew82

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deadbeat

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Not sure on those, the aftermarket doors I dealt with in the past on gmt400 trucks didn't have same hinge setup and required you to bolt them on IIRC.
 

Jglew82

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That's kinda what I was wondering - the pics don't show the hinge halfs installed so I wasn't sure. How was the fit an finish of the ones you used?
 

TechNova

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Try looking for a Keystone Automotive in your area. They supply to body shops and carry aftermarket parts. This will allow you
to look the parts over before buying.
aftermarket parts are not as good as OEM. When I put a set on a Dodge pickup recently, I tack welded a bunch of spots on the hem flange. A lot of aftermarket doors flex at the hem flange. I also added extra foam behind the intrusion beam and added Noico (like dynamat) to the inside of the outer skin. This will give you a door that sounds more solid.
I can still find good used OEM doors at swap meets, if I can find them in Wis, you should be able to in Texas.
 

wiscomick

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I sell aftermarket body parts for a living. A few pieces of info:

Every aftermarket door shell you'll find at any retailer is made in the exact same place. There's only one place in the world that makes them, it's in Taiwan. Every single place you will find a new aftermarket door, you'll be buying the exact same stuff. LMC, Keystone, etc etc etc, it's all the same.

The old 'bolt-on' doors are no longer made and haven't been for years. Those were made for a very short time.

The current new doors fit fine and hang nicely, but there's a big difference in 'feel' when you open and close them. They don't weigh the same. They sound tinny when they close because they're not quite the same thickness in the places that count as the OEM stuff. I have one on the drivers side of my truck and there's a real difference when you close the door. Minor things like the way that the weatherstripping fits may bother you, but from 10 feet away you can't tell at all.

They've come a long way, but they aren't OEM. Go OEM if you can first.
 

Jglew82

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I sell aftermarket body parts for a living. A few pieces of info:

Every aftermarket door shell you'll find at any retailer is made in the exact same place. There's only one place in the world that makes them, it's in Taiwan. Every single place you will find a new aftermarket door, you'll be buying the exact same stuff. LMC, Keystone, etc etc etc, it's all the same.

The old 'bolt-on' doors are no longer made and haven't been for years. Those were made for a very short time.

The current new doors fit fine and hang nicely, but there's a big difference in 'feel' when you open and close them. They don't weigh the same. They sound tinny when they close because they're not quite the same thickness in the places that count as the OEM stuff. I have one on the drivers side of my truck and there's a real difference when you close the door. Minor things like the way that the weatherstripping fits may bother you, but from 10 feet away you can't tell at all.

They've come a long way, but they aren't OEM. Go OEM if you can first.

Great info, thanks!! I'll continue the search for a decent OE door. I'm sure I'll find one eventually! Truck could use a re-spray anyhow, so that'll widen my search criteria since color won't really matter.
 

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Gm has always sold the door side part of the hinge as a bolt on kit. Not sure they are still available. The kit contained the hinge, bolts, and a small reinforcement plate that went inside the door. Doing collision work I can't remember ever putting a brand new GM shell on one as Insurance always like to spec used doors. I don't know what assembly method Gm used to align the doors for welding the hinge halfs, but a door off one doesn't always fit 100% on the next one in which case they would get us the hinge kits to gain some up/down and in/out movement. I have drilled the hinges off, drilled the door holes to 1/2, made some plates , and sourced hardware to accomplish the same thing.

Just a heads up on some issues you can run into.

The aftermarket stuff is lighter weight so I couldn't say that it offers as much protection. I know the ones for square bodies are junk.
 
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Jglew82

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Gm has always sold the door side part of the hinge as a bolt on kit. Not sure they are still available. The kit contained the hinge, bolts, and a small reinforcement plate that went inside the door. Doing collision work I can't remember ever putting a brand new GM shell on one as Insurance always like to spec used doors. I don't know what assembly method Gm used to align the doors but a door off one doesn't always fit 100% on the next one in which case they would get us the hinge kits to gain some up/down and in/out movement. I have drilled the hinges off, drilled the door holes to 1/2, made some plates , and sourced hardware to accomplish the same thing.

Just a heads up on some issues you can run into.

The aftermarket stuff is lighter weight so I couldn't say that it offers as much protection. I know the ones for square bodies are junk.

I appreciate the heads up! I'm still pretty salty about this door. During the short time it was in someone else's possession in the family, the hinge pins and bushings wore out on the original door to the point it sagged and hung up, but rather than replacing the pins and bushings, they went to the junk yard and got a not-so-great door from a red truck and put it on the black truck.
Great, now there's a ****** red door on a black truck with a mismatched vin tag :Stupid Me: and a ****** latch. Threw away the original door, even though it had a new regulator and motor assembly with excellent latch mechanism. Then came the cheapest of cheap Maaco job to try to match the color, full of trash and runs as usual and then the pins and bushings wear out again bc they didn't install them correctly.

Again, rather than replace them correctly, they decided to get mad and punch a bunch of dents into it to the point to where it won't close correctly anymore.

Sorry for the rant!
 

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I appreciate the heads up! I'm still pretty salty about this door. During the short time it was in someone else's possession in the family, the hinge pins and bushings wore out on the original door to the point it sagged and hung up, but rather than replacing the pins and bushings, they went to the junk yard and got a not-so-great door from a red truck and put it on the black truck.
Great, now there's a ****** red door on a black truck with a mismatched vin tag :Stupid Me: and a ****** latch. Threw away the original door, even though it had a new regulator and motor assembly with excellent latch mechanism. Then came the cheapest of cheap Maaco job to try to match the color, full of trash and runs as usual and then the pins and bushings wear out again bc they didn't install them correctly.

Again, rather than replace them correctly, they decided to get mad and punch a bunch of dents into it to the point to where it won't close correctly anymore.

Sorry for the rant!

The aftermarket bushings, ie Dorman and the like are rather brittle. They crack and fall out in short order. I get the pins and bushings from GM. A few dollars more but they last much longer
 

Jglew82

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Agreed. First thing I did when I got the truck back was straighten the door the best I could and went back with GM pins and bushings and a new roller and springs since those were missing. It swings great now, but you have to slam the piss out of it before it shuts all the way. That, and there are cracks and dents all over it, hence my quest for a decent replacement. Hopefully I can get it right so it will close like the passenger door still does.
 
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