Are these door panels installed correctly???

[UATahoe]

I had some work done on my truck. I removed the door panels but a local mechanic reinstalled them. They just dont seem right and i honestly dont remember what they looked like before i took them off.

I had new window runs installed as well. Pics posted. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

[Chevrolado]

Seems like I recall mine being a little more snug than that.. I dont think Ive been able to get a finger in between there before.

Those little things always end up bugging me for some reason, so if it were me, I'd probably remove it and reinstall it to just to see if I could get the fit a little closer.

[UATahoe]

Yeah, it just doesnt seem right. I think it needs to be much more snug than it is. And the inner window strip, shouldnt it stay on top of the door panel all the way back? not real sure why it is rolling underneath the door panel towards the rear.

After looking closer, right under the vent window handle, it feels like the door panel is bulging up a pretty good bit. It seems to be really stressed at that point.

[UATahoe]

Should also mention it is like this on both door panels.

[Ski-me]

I think there are some plastic inserts behind the panel (attached to the inside panel) that push into a hole within the door sheetmetal. If it's also bulging a bit, maybe that plastic insert isn't lined up with the interior hole??

[tucsonjwt]

Special plastic inserts and nuts secure the panel in some places. I think Randy is the expert on this - maybe he will post for you. The panels are never Mercedes quality fit, but should be better than what you have. Those plastic pieces are still available but you have to hunt for them.

[Ski-me]

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...uestid=2075102

Something like these???

[UATahoe]

Yep those look similar. They may not be installed properly. Guess i need to take off the panel and try to work with it a little bit. Just wanted to make sure it seemed wrong to others as well. I know it wont fit totally perfect, but it just looks completely wrong right now.

And the bulge is actuall on the top side of the door panel. It seems to fit fine everywhere else. I believe these little plastic pieces just run down the side. I have no idea what would cause the bulge on the top side.

[Ski-me]

Originally Posted by UATahoe

Yep those look similar. They may not be installed properly. Guess i need to take off the panel and try to work with it a little bit. Just wanted to make sure it seemed wrong to others as well. I know it wont fit totally perfect, but it just looks completely wrong right now.

And the bulge is actuall on the top side of the door panel. It seems to fit fine everywhere else. I believe these little plastic pieces just run down the side. I have no idea what would cause the bulge on the top side.

If I recall correctly, there is one or two pretty high up on the panel. Like about 1/5 the way down from the top. They do break off pretty easily though so no surprise.

These clips are located down on the lower part of the door where the screws go into....

[UATahoe]

Yep, those were all still intact and good. What do you think would cause the stress in the top middle part of the door panel? Its literally right underneath the vent window handle.

[TexasJeff]

I have aftermarket door panels and they fit very similar to what your showing.

[UATahoe]

Thanks for the input. After looking at them again, i am not really sure they could fit much better really. They are gm panels but all of the screws are lined up, nothing is in a bind around the fastening locations. May just come down to "it is what it is".

[tucsonjwt]

Now that I think about it, what holds the top edge in place is just "slamming it" down hard on the metal door edge. However, when I reinstalled my door panels for the upteenth time when I was working on the power windows, I did notice that fastening into those plastic clips was necessary to keep the panel from bowing out .

[UATahoe]

How hard we talkin? LOL. I will give it a try this evening.