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Bent door.

old_coot

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Joined
April 8, 2014
Messages
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City, State
Stamping Ground, Ky
Year, Model & Trim Level
2003 ford explorer
I have a 2001 sport trac and yesterday the drivers door got hit while it was open and bent badly.....does anyone know if a door from a 2001 explorer will fit...the local junk yard does not have a sport trac....Thanks.
 



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The door is easy to remove (the wire barrel connector bolt and 4 hinge bolts). IDK if a 4-door Explorer door would fit (I'm thinking it would not). The '95-'01 4-door regular Explorer's are not the same as the '01-? Sport Tracs or Sports. While the '01 Sport's body panels are similar to the Sport Trac and some of the front end parts are interchangeable, the Sports are 2-doors and therefore the doors are much longer than the Sport Trac's front doors.

I've found that there are surprisingly few parts that interchange with the Sport Trac. Even things that you'd think would interchange do not. I had to replace my plastic coolant/window washer reservoir and found I had to buy one unique to the Sport Trac. The guy that replaced my windshield said the ST windshield is unique as well.
 


















Where are you located? I have rust free drivers side front and rear doors for sell. $150 each.
 












Ok, using my phone and it doesn't show location. Thanks.
 






Thanks for the reply's fellows and yes I am in kentucky but I am retired so a road trip is not out of the question..it may have to wait until after the holidays though.....I bought this 2001 Sport trac and a 2001 5.0 explorer...the sport trac has a 4.0 V6 with a bad 5R55e and the explorer has a bad engine....the intent is to build a 351 based stroker and use the rest of the drivetrain from the explorer in the sport trac....this bent door is just a minor bump in the road compared to the rest of the project.....Feel free to contact me about the door and anything else if you want to....
 






Since you have both vehicles, and I assume both are parked, I would take the doors off and try the Explorer door on the Sport Trac. I asked the same question a couple of years ago when I came across a perfect Explorer door in the salvage yard already off the Ex, and we never came to a definitive answer. We looked at collision part #s which seemed to show different parts, but a closer look showed the # for one of the vehicles was for the door, and the # for the other was for just the outer skin. The parts diagram and lists didn't show both parts for either the Explorer or the Sport Trac. Looking at my son's Mountaineer vs my STs, I think the front doors interchange, but I'm in the minority. The top of the door glass opening is the same because the same window visors fit both. I've seen an '01 2dr Sport with an earlier front end on it,(or vice versa), and aside from the body line over the wheelwell not blending into the door trim, the door fit perfectly. Obviously the (removable) trim panels are different, and that alone would be why interchange manuals for used parts are going to show different parts. We're not going to know for sure until someone tries it.
 






There's a chance the door will fit. I once measured my doors looking for an replacement weather strip and they seemed to be the same height and width (I wasn't measuring to the 1/8" for weather stripping) but it will look pretty awful due to the different body lines. I guess if your stuck for a door it's worth a try.

I wouldn't be surprised if the wiring for the windows, locks and speaker might not match up as the ST just seems to be a different animal, but who knows.
 






The top of the door glass opening is the same because the same window visors fit both. I've seen an '01 2dr Sport with an earlier front end on it,(or vice versa), and aside from the body line over the wheelwell not blending into the door trim, the door fit perfectly.

To clarify my earlier post - the door on the Sport was the original '01 door. The rear edge of the earlier style (or '01 4 dr) front fender and the front edge of the '01 Sport's door matched perfectly. If they had removed the trim panel from the door, it would have been difficult to tell what had been done. The '01-03 2 dr Sports share front fenders with the '01-05 Sport Tracs. The earlier style fender would be the same whether it's from a 2 dr or 4 dr. The top edge of the window opening being the same on the Ex and the ST doesn't guarantee the outer edge of the door is the same, but it seems likely. If the top and front edges are the same, surely the bottom and rear edges of the door are too.

Changes to the fenders, hoods, etc are really just cosmetic as those are bolt on parts, but changes to the doors requires changing the underlying structure and that would be expensive. But like I said in another thread awhile back, there's a lot about the Sport Trac that doesn't seem to make sense from a manufacturing point of view. Like coming out with it in 2001 which was the last year of the Explorer platform it was based on, and using a unique front clip and other parts that are specific to the Sport Trac and '01-03 2 dr Sports. I probably would have used Ranger parts (hood, etc) instead of something entirely unique, but then they would be Ranger Sport Tracs, not Explorer Sport Tracs. I used to drive Rancheros, another Ford hybrid, and the only parts that were unique to them were the roof and rear window. The front clip was Torino or LTD II depending on the year. The doors were 2 door Torino/LTD II. The rear quarter panels and tailgate were the same as Torino/LTD II station wagons. I even saw a '78 Ranchero with a T-Bird front clip. I like that the Sport Tracs have their own front clip, but it would have been less expensive if Ford had used all the parts they could from the Explorer and Ranger.
 






Thanks fellows and Just to follow up...the door fits perfectly and all body lines align perfectly...just have to transfer the side trim to the explorer door...there is some minor difference in the molding around the glass but I'll swap that out too....a coat of paint and no one will be the wiser.......Dan.
 






THANK YOU!! Now I really wish I'd bought that Explorer door a couple of years ago. I wouldn't have even needed to paint it.
 






Nice, please post pictures when you can. Now I can just get both passenger side doors to build my half doors for Battle Born. I already have both driver side doors from my parts Sport Trac.
 






Thanks fellows and Just to follow up...the door fits perfectly and all body lines align perfectly...just have to transfer the side trim to the explorer door...there is some minor difference in the molding around the glass but I'll swap that out too....a coat of paint and no one will be the wiser.......Dan.

Hey, sorry Im a little late to the party, but how did the interior go? Were all the holes for the door panel there and were the speakers and wiring compatible? Was it difficult to transfer the inside door handle and such?
 












All of those doors are shot.
 






^ +1 Agree. That was a hard roll and even harder roof impact. Doors appear tweaked big time, and will probably never align properly.
 









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