YLO Z06

Finally, after 4+ years of ownership, I have repaired the dreaded floppy door panel syndrome that has plagued my car :D . You too may be suffering from this disease, where the top of the door panel pulls off the door frame and kinda hangs there, flopping around, only be held on by a few door screws and pegs at the bottom.

I went to Lowes last week and purchased a bag of four 1" x 1/2" zinc-plated corner braces and screws by National (# 38613 227385 under the UPC bar). They are "L" shaped braces with a screw hole on each end. I removed the door panel, unscrewed the rear-most window rub bracket (10mm socket, the felt covered ones), put one corner brace on, and screwed it back together. I did the same thing to the other window rub bracket that is bolted in the middle of the door, so I have 2 corner braces on each door. Then I took a hammer and chisel and took a few whacks to the corner braces in order to bend them inward slightly (towards the inside of the car) to conform to the shape of the door panel. Now reattach the door panel by guiding the top of the panel onto your new braces and then reattach all the door handle parts and screws. That's it -- good as new and tight as a drum :cool: . Total cost = about $4 and an hour of your time. Now everyone go out and fix your floppy door panels!! :cheers: :thumbs:

65Z01

Nice work; I've been thinking of doing just that fix to my driver's door.

I'm tired of it sounding like a Rustang every time I shut the driver's door. :(

joecaver

That sounds almost too easy to be true. I'll have to look into that. Mine are not flopping but are pulling away some. Thanks :cheers:

Steel Blue 91

Great information. My DS door suffers from that illness. For $4 I can give it a shot.

DocToss

Any pics? What is a window rub bracket?

65Z01

There are some brackets inside the door with felt pads that align the window in/out position.

Nathan Plemons

Hmm, my car doesn't do this but I know one that does. Let me pass this info along.

Don't guess you took any pics?

YLO Z06

No, I did not take any pics -- no digi camera :( . But this repair is super-easy. Once the door panel comes off, the 10mm bolts are right there on the top of the inner door frame. It's a no-brainer, even for a not-so-mechancially-inclined individual such as myself :p: .

Sparky_OKC

You are a Man Among Men! I already fixed the passenger side door where the molded-in support arches undeneath cracked and split. Just a few weeks ago, the driver's side door started to do that funky flop thing. My mechanic just shrugged and said he thought it might be warped. Har! I'd love to get new panels, but I have yet to find any reasonable repro. units yet. So, in the meantime, your solution sounds perfect. Thanks! Now, go get yourself a tall, cold one - on the house!

JADVette94

I know what I'm doing this weekend. Thanks! :thumbs: