This is also a good place to search for used parts: http://car-part.com/

And yes, the doors are THAT heavy All the cross bracing and crash prevention adds quite a bit of weight...not to mention the sound deadening material an the glass. Plus you want to be careful not to mess up the paint or ding anything. The door was definitely THAT heavy on the Silverado I just did.

If you have a pulley and some rope...and a rafter in your garage, you could use that to support some of the weight.

Like I said, I used a cherry picker and two dog collars to attach the door to it, and then a ratchet strap to balance it.

BTW, the kit I used was a DORMAN kit. Great company!

Here are some pics of how I pulled the door...

[IMG]local://upfiles/16690/C6E0DBE8B2E842AF8335C357637C738F.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/16690/C249F18E18464247AEFBD481D86992C2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/16690/1FD4E08FD43743FABCD6319FD3DD972A.jpg[/IMG]

 

One quick question about those headlight doors.

With the part numbers for the chrome versions, I find at some stores some chrome doors with prices ranging between $42 and $50. A Rockauto, which seems to have better prices, the same part number yields something that is about $23 and they call it "black and bright". strange that the same oem number would lead to different things. Is there really a "black and bright" in addition to the painted and the chrome, or would that be a mistake?

 

Well, if it's *that* heavy )

That might have to wait until the funds are ready for the body shop. The paint needs to be done so that's not an issue, but I've got no rafters, and the 1-car garage is for woodworking. I don't have space for the truck between the table saw and the jointer (the woodworking is why I sold my volvo 760 and got an old truck...gotta transport that plywood...)

 

black = painted, bright = chrome.

Bright is the industry keyword for shiny non painted stuff, and I've never seen a factory body colored bezel, they always seem to be black.


And I went for a drive out in the county once and found a guy with a bunch of old dodge trucks in his yard so I stopped and talked to him for a while. Cool guy, used to run his own little Dodge truck wrecking yard

Anyway, I never needed parts but my friend got a bunch of stuff from him on the cheap. You might try looking for an old farmer type with trucks lying around.

 

What I'm wondering about is the fact that every other store carries the painted version, as well as the bright version for about twice the price of the painted. Rockauto sells the same painted, and instead of the bright one, they sell a "black and bright". Does that black and bright exist? (they don't seem to know themselves). The bright version sold by the other stores are obviously all chrome. Yet, the part number is the same.

 

For my truck, when I needed a lot of those things, to get it looking just right, there are a few people around our town that have a lot of those old trucks in thier back yard, that are just rusting into the ground. If you offer then 25 or 50 bucks, and to take it away, usually they will sell it to you, and you can strip it down, and save all the parts you think youll need, and not have to store a whole vehicle. And if you even use one part, theres your money back compared to going to the junk yard. When im driving around, I always keep my eyes open for trucks growing into the ground.

 

Alright....I just received 2 headlight doors and a grille. I bought the "bright", or chrome versions. Actually the headlight doors are "black and chrome". One thing is disappointing though, that chrome is not chrome but more.....chrome painted plastic. They are not the "painted" version, as those are flatter grey paint, but still, correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't chrome be metal? Shouldn't those parts that are called chrome be something else than chromed-up plastic? Could it be a difference in which company makes the part or is this just as good as it gets and I got the right stuff? I am especially surprised by the grille, which I though would be metal. Maybe only the grille frame is metal?

Thanks.

 

It might be that the the 1st generation of Rams is so old that they're not making "quality" replacement parts anymore. [:'(]

 

That seems hard to believe. Any other point of view?

 

The "chrome" trim around my replacement taillights is gone now, worn away by various tarps covering loads and whatnot.


Here's the problem with older Dodge trucks: They weren't popular.

They didn't sell particularly well until the 94 came out, so there never was a huge aftermarket for them. Sure, they had the strongest frame for their day, and sure they're tough as nails, but they just didn't catch on with the general public like the Chevy and Fords did. Farmers bought and loved the Rams because they were so durable. State agencies loved them for the same reason. They're utilitarian and almost indestructible. But they didn't sell all that many. I've seen more than a couple of Rams that SHOULD have been put to pasture long ago that are still working their asses off. I saw one diesel Ram towing a horse trailer down the freeway. Big deal, right? Yeah, well the whole truck was crooked because it had been rolled. New windshield and some plastic for a rear window and it was put back to work. They're just that good. Tomorrow I'll go take a look at my 86 OEM grill and see if it's all plastic too. Something tells me that parts might be, but I know that the outside edges are metal.