Posted this in the audio section but I thought it would help anyone with a need to remove and re-install their door panels.


Just finished with an audio install - well 95% finished. But I was struggling to get the door panels back on. Could not get the top hangers to engage. Tried the fit and hit method and it did not work for me.

After the door pins were partially engaged I simply looped a hanger bracket with a 16ga wire and from the top pulled the wire up. Simple. Worked every time. Installed the panels in minutes. The worst part was trying to engage the lower screw on the passenger door.

 

Good timing. Thanks!

I have both of my door panels off now. I will have to try this.

 

Hmm, I think I understand, but pics would be nice. I did my wifes door panels but I fought with them for waaaay tooo long before I finally defeated them, would like an easier way for when I do my car.

 

Hey racer that's my favorite avatar so far.

 

I've had my door panels off a few times and agree getting those top pieces to enage really sucks. I have to take them off again next week and would love to have an easy way to do it. I'm just not following your post.

"After the door pins were partially engaged I simply looped a hanger bracket with a 16ga wire and from the top pulled the wire up" Not sure what you mean by this. Excuse my ignorance. Is there another way to explain it taht might help?

Thanks

 

Sorry, I did not think to take pictures. I was getting frustrated and just wanted to get the panels on.

The drivers door was easier. Place the door panel in position and partially engage the 8 door pins. Push in the 4 door bottom row of pins about 3/4 of the way. The other 4 pins push in about half way. The top 4 door hangers are not engaged. Working from the exterior side of the door, if you separate (top of door) the exterior and interior door panels by about 1/4" you can see the door hanger brackets by looking down from the top of the door.

I fished a 16ga electrical wire underneath the door hanger bracket grabbing the wire exit end with a long nose pliers from the top of the door. Now I had a loop of wire around one of the door hanger brackets. I started at the hinged end of the door looping that hanger first. Again working from the exterior side I pulled the wire up and slightly towards me while gently pushing the interior door panel into position. The door panel hanger bracket fell into place. Pull the wire out and repeat for the other 3 door hanger brackets. Engage all the door pins fully, fasten the 2 screws, and you are done. Literally it took only minutes.

The hardest part of the job was looping the wire around the hanger bracket. I first tried 14ga solid wire because I thought the stiffer wire would be easier to loop around the bracket. But when the hanger engaged the wire was clamped underneath the bracket so the wire was hard to pull out and because of the stiffer wire. Then I used stranded 16ga wire which work better.

You have to pull on the wire loop fairly hard to pull the hanger bracket up. The hanger bracket has sharp edges and once the wire was cut by the bracket and the pulling force.

The wire loop was large enough so that you can get 3 fingers through the loop and there was about 4 - 6 inches between the top of the door and the top of the wire loop.

The passenger door was harder only because I had difficulty engaging the screw underneath the arm rest. So I did this first, having the door pins only engaged far enough to support the door panel. Working from the interior door side I separated the panels enough to see the screw looking in between the panels from the end of the door. Once the screw is partially engaged do the above procedure.

Someone previously posted the part numbers for the door pins. These are the correct parts. I bought a box for cheap insurance in case I broke any pins. I did break 2 pins removing the panel.

A box of 15 door pin assemblies are about $20.00 from: http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Sea...=12&Search.y=8

Tools needed:
Long nose pliers.
Small flashlight.
16ga stranded electrical wire (3-4 feet should be plenty).
Torx bit.

I hope this procedure helps anyone because until I tried this I was thoroughly annoyed and frustrated trying get the panels on. This really worked for me. Now I think I can install the panel in less time it took to remove it. Please let me know if this works for you.

 

Great post!! First time I had my panels off I turned into a sailor when I tried to put them back on (if you know what I mean).

Second time was much better. I had my son help me. I worked on the hangers, holding the panel from the ends about where the ebony part ends(chahmere interior). Son pulled bottom of panel away from door just enough to keep the pins from touching the door. Went right on. Much easier with 2 people.

 

I hear ya. Those hangers are really a pain and then all of a sudden with no reason they just pop in. I am going to try your procedure and see how it works.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Same here I did mine a week ago in my tight A$$ garage so I couldn't fully extend my doors so it was hard. Had to wait a few days for rain to stop. When I finally tried again I basically bent the top of the door panel back a little and lined the top pins to make sure they were in the right area. I then gave a few firm taps along the top side and made sure the 4 hangers were locked in. This method worked for me.

 

Happy crap!!! That really worked. The only change I made was I used a 18 gauge solid thermostat wire (1 strand) since I didn't have any 16 gauge wire laying around. I could not belive how easy it was. Thanks for the advise.

 

The next time someone removes their panels, a few photos of this procedure would be helpful for those of us who have to visualize everything. Thanks.

 

If I had someone helping me I would have done that but it was just me. You are right it would be nice to have the pics instead of trying to visulize it. But trust me once you start doing it its very obivious. I removed my old ones and installed new ones from DS Vetes which are thicker and I was expecting big problems getting them on. With this method it took less then 10 minutes to get each panel on.

 

To avoid having to fish the wire around the hangers with the panel hung you could cut wire loops for all 4 hangers and then place them around the hangers before you hang the door panels. Secure the wire loops with tape then position the panel pins. Four pulls on the wire loops, pull the wire out, and done.

 

Very good, I wish you would have figured this 2months ago, when I had my panels off

 

Thanks Keppler, that's a GREAT idea, helped me a lot. I just used some spare shoelaces instead of the 16 gauge wire.

 

Looks like a good tip.

 

Damn. Wish that was posted a week ago. I still have nightmares after doing mine.

 

It was 3 months ago...

 

Anybody have any left over door pins from the install? I'm getting some weird crackling popping type noise from my passenger panel or rear cargo area when I'm going over 40mph and hit a ruff patch of road. It's not my top and has to be the lower panel by the little cubby hole because when i press in I get similar noise.
Thanks