Rick's Tube steel half doors

[Rick]

3

 

[Rick]

The maiden voyage

It's going back this week to have the doors skinned with aluminum.

Visibility with the new doors and the fenders off is nothing less than awesome, you can see exactly what's going on with the front and rear tires. For a shorty like me that's a big help!

I took off the fenders for more manuverability. I can remove or reinstall the fenders in about 15 minutes so it's really no big deal. I would like to get Dzus fasteners for them so it would take less than half that time to pop them on and off.

I started thinking of other options as well though... Like painting the inner steel fender wells orange to match the truck, and install some tubing to act as protection.

 

[jonny 5]

Rick, I really like your rig. What about just having really small fenders? one that about 5 inches below the hood? Or have pipe fenders?

 

[Rick]

It only needs fenders on the street and it's seeing less and less of that all the time. I'll figure something out

 

[Mike]

Ur sick rick... u are... heh.. i love the truck... the new doors look good... they will look great with the door skins.... now you need to figure out somthing for the door jams to make it look nice..

Mike

 

[jshexplo96]

Do the new doors rattle alot, or are they a tight fit??

 

[Rick]

No rattles. They are tight in that respect, but they don't seal to the door jams.

 

[Rick]

Well they skinned the doors. I'm very happy with the front, but not with the back. On the front door they left a section open so I can see the front tire clearly. They did the same on the back, but there is no reason for it and I don't like the way it looks so next week it goes back for new rear skins. They are also going to roll a bead around the skin to help stiffen it and then I get to take steel wool and WD-40 to it to give them a nice finish.

 

[rpenner54]

Rick what about adding a tub like this to your old stock fenders after cutting of course and seeing how something like this would work? Then paint the old fenders and the inner fenders to match. The tubing could be much more rounded and you could attatch the front bumper to the slider too. I don't know if it would work or not though.

 

[jonny 5]

That's what I was kinda thinking Ryan. Fix the rear skins and post a couple more pics please

 

[Rick]

My original old fenders won't fit since they are for the old style Explorer. In fact I was thinking along the same lines today. I may pick up a set of stock steel fenders for a late model and just cut the heck out of them to allow for wheel travel. They will look better than with nothing and will still give more visibility than the big flares do.

I also went into PhotChop and added some stuff to the front bumper, but not going back to the slider.

 

[Alec]

rick, if you want to trade i'm game!!!

 

[coolchris]

looks awesome.... i guess you can forget about going through the carwash after you get it muddy!

 

[rpenner54]

Originally posted by Rick
My original old fenders won't fit since they are for the old style Explorer.

Duh.... LOL Banging head.

Stock fenders would make it look cool if they were chopped and possibly rolled under to make a decent looking lip.

 

[Rick]

Here's the front bumper mods I was thinking about.

 

[Brian1]

I think that would look good Rick, just be sure it will be strong enough and not bend into the body w/ some hits

 

[tdavis]

The hoop should be just taller than the hood; that way, if you have uhm, and incident, it will protect the hood, grill, and radiator from being crushed.

done that one..

 

[RangerX]

Rick, I think it's a great idea to get some stock steel fenders and cut the hell out of them. Think about an early Bronco, and how those 'roadster' door inserts improve the looks, compared to just having no doors. If you ran a rudimentary fender, it would visually tie together all the body lines.

 

[Rick]

Good point Tom, I'll be sure to do that.

Bill I agree that stock cut fenders should look pretty good. Time to invest in a spray gun, cuz I don't want to pay a paint shop again

 

[leenjen]

Originally posted by Rick
I will have some speakers in there, just not sure where yet

kick panels. they sound better in the kicks then in the doors anyway
q-logic makes them for explorers