hello everyone. i have a 1997 ram 1500 club cab. my door panels were loose so i bought some replacement clips from ebay. i recieved them today, i pulled the driver side off first to find that the little plastic "cups" if you will, are all besides one , completly broken off. so unless you guys know of a fix/repair for that i know i need another panel(i have power windows,locks and mirrors for anybody who has some laying around for sale, light grey in color). the passenger side was fine, replaced all those clips and its like new. so i looked on craigslist for driver side panels and i found one from a 98 1500 EXTENDED cab. im not entirely sure if these are interchangable. i dont want to spend money where i dont have to. anybody who knows if this will work for me id appreciate your insight. thanks ahead of time.

 

If you don't care what it looks like, get some wood screws in whatever length you need (have to measure) and run them through the door panel into the door. Just don't get too long, could interfere with the window.

Or get a new (to you) panel. I'm not sure what is interchangeable though, sorry.

 

lol i do care about how it looks. im sorry but thats gotta be the worst advice ive ever heard :P thanks anyway.

 

I've done that. I did not use wood screws though. I got some nice looking flat head sheet metal screws and used those, then painted the heads black (I had black door panels). I was able to install them low enough where the only way you could see them is to lay on your back under the open door and look up. You can't see the screw heads from normal height and they work fantastic. It's called ingenuity, not bad advice.

 

You can try plastic welding with a soldering iron; take excess plastic from around the panel and build it up near the cracked tabs. You could try a good epoxy as well. These panels were meant to be put on once at the factory and left alone. Make sure you are using a door clip remover tool to minimize damage when taking them off. I'm with you on not using screws; not clean and reminds me of people who are too lazy to do a job the correct way.

 

ruining my door panel even further? thats ingenuity? no thats called rigging. driving a screw through my door panel....lmao this is not what i expected to hear from a forum of such high standards.

 

id like to use what i have, FIX whats broken. lmao not drive screws though the panel. id rather gorilla glue the clips to a piece of abs plastic then that ridiculous advice. lol and he says ingenuity???? hahaha ok so im gonna mess with it tomorrow and ill see what im able to come up with. thanks for the responses fellas

 

Well aren't you a sunshine flavored lollipop. If you don't like someones idea its best to NOT comment.

Back to topic.
Uncle Google shows that they have differing part numbers so my immediate response is no. after looking another 30 seconds at pictures the shape of the 4 door door panel is different confirming the no.

 

your contradicting yourself. i already figured out they dont fit. the rear bottom of the panel is squared off on the 98 and mine is rounded. im gonna fix mine but not the way these guys suggested.

 

High standards??? That's why door panels used to be held on with screws, right? And, some even still are. If that's too good for you, then I suggest you drop the cash and get a new panel.

Just remember to take out the factory screws when removing the panel.