So I just got my first truck, been waiting for years to get a Ram! I love this thing, it is everything I hoped for.

Question on the rusty doors problem though. I have done a search and read through a lot of post on fixing the issue. Here is what my doors look like on both sides but this is just the passenger side....





Now my question is, to get this fixed do I have to replace the whole door or just the lower panel? If just the lower panel where is the best place to order it from and will a body shop fix this? If so, what type of range will I be looking at to have it fixed?

Thanks and looking fwd to learning a lot about my truck on here and fix'n her all up!

PS the specs on her are 2000 Dodge Ram Quad cab with magnum V8 and the SLT package.

 

Just sand that rust down, bondo over it to smooth it, and get it repainted. Thats not through the panel and doesn't look bad at all. you only need to replace panels if it is rusted through. If you really want to spend a fortune and fix it with sheet metal then yes you can buy the outer door skin and even the bottom door frame if you need it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I would say when it comes to DIY I can handle beginner through intermediate jobs. As for body work though I don't have the place nor the tools to do it myself. At least I don't thinks so.

The door doesn't look bad but once you open it up the rust goes around/underneath the door and into the seeping (sp?) holes on the door and it seems pretty rusty. Thoughts?

 

Pop the door panel off and see how bad it is inside the door. If it is all surface rust just media blast (better than sanding) it then get a good sealer/primer and then have it painted or do it all yourself.

That rust is not bad at all I wish my truck was that clean. The bottoms of my doors don't even exist and neither do the rockers.

 

I let my door rot go to long on my passenger door so I am not able to bondo it. It looks like the OP's picture where you could scrape it and be fine, but the lip of the skin that wraps around on the door is gone. Been on the look out myself too for a color matched door but this green is hard to find in my area. Asked a body shop what it would cost and they quoted me $800 to fix. I'll get around to it one day.

 

Yeah, those doors are hard to find. I know my local salvage yard has two rust free passenger doors. I've got one waiting to be painted. Anyone know where to get and how much the black decal that goes between doors on a quad cab?

 

+1. But I wouldn't media blast. That stuff is messy and gets into things that aren't friendly to the grit. Really, the truck is new enough and if you don't have any experience in this area, I'd plan on having a professional do it.
If your set on a DIY......
If the rust is from the outer surface and the inside of the door skin looks solid then I don't think you'll need a skin. Back in the old days, after grinding the scale and getting down to decent metal we'd seal with some stuff called zinc-chromate, but they might have something even better now. Then apply filler, primer and paint. If yours is like my 99, you'll have two-stage with clear coat.
If it is rusted inside, the ONLY way to fix it with some permanency is with a new door skin....or a solid used door. Price will vary depending on shop and area of the country.

 

Ok, so I sand it down to get rid of the rust and then bondo it? Looks like a google search is in order on how to bondo a car??

But how do I paint it? I don't have a paint gun or a way to mix or match paint. If I do the sanding and bondo is there any chance that an auto shop will do the painting or will they laugh and charge me to redo my work??

 

Sorry for my body-shop ignorance, what is a door skin?

 

Tell you what I did to fix and stop mine from rusting.(along with small rot hole in rocker below the doors) ....first I popped the interior door panel off and cleaned and painted a couple nice thick coats of zero-rust (por 15 works too) in the very bottom seam to seal it up at the seam and made sure the drain holes were clear.
Then I took a wire brush and ground all the rust I could out of the lower bottom inner lip then sanded the ourtside and wire brushed it as well.... then I slopped on some navel jelly to help remove the hard to reach rush followed by the rust converter....
After all the prep work was done I went to habor frieght and bought like 10 tubes of the two part epoxy (looks like jbweld but clear) jbweld would work too....I slopped it in the inside door lip all along the bottom in a couple coats nice and thick....then did the outside where there was rust...
Waited a good 24 hours and then used a sanding block and file to get it looking smooth and straight...
I then primed and painted and followed it up with two coats of hurculiner dabbed on with paint brush only up to the lower bend/bodyline (about 5 inches up from bottom covering the inside door sill making it a non slip surface) I did this to my passenger side last fall and it completly stopped any rust through the whole buffalo winter and all the accompanying road salt...I didnt get to coat the driver side with hurculiner so there is some slight surface rust on the door rocker surface because of it...But I will fix that soon.

I should mention the po used bondo and it was wet under the paint causing bubbling and more rust...I ground all of that out and used only the epoxy and a little med hair fiberglass for the two golf ball sized holes after spraying the inside with rust converter/sealer)