Door Replacement Question

[p100ki]

Can i replace a '94 XLT front door with a front door off my donor '00 XLT. I'm using the front clip on the '00 to swap onto my '93 but i don't really need the rest of the truck so I'd like to replace the crappy door on my '94. I'd rather know if the door will interchange before i go through the trouble of trying to swap them.

 

[schmidlkofer]

no. probably not.

 

[p100ki]

no. probably not.

The door looks the same externally, i know the door panels are interchangeable. I may just pull it off and make it work if i don't get a definite answer here. I put the back hatch and taillights off the '00 on my buddies '91 a week ago when he got rear ended and it was a minimal hassle.

 

[schmidlkofer]

give it a try then it should not be to hard.

 

[CDW6212R]

Which wiring are you using, and which dash? The doors bolt on any 91-01 Explorer, but the wiring holes are different on the LF, the door latches are different, the handles are different, as well as the windows. When you say front clip, you do mean the whole clip, firewall yes? That requires the matching dash, and then wiring, etc.

Hunt my thread where I built a 99 from my 93 rear clip, 91 LF door, 99 dash, wiring, chassis, front clip. Good luck,

 

[Tbars4]

i like the looks of that....so to change a 91 x front end you would have to go as far as the dash and firewall???

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes basically, the fenders and all other front parts don't swap between gen 1 and gen 2. You could try to fabricate bracketry to support the parts, but it would be like building custom fenders etc. from scratch. Clipping the truck accomplishes the goal, but it is a very big job, mixing dashes and wiring. Regards,

 

[Tbars4]

damn...so as p100ki is doing a door swap, that is doable but wanting to change the nose is a major pain??? holy cow, i know you didn't cut that straight line with just a sawzall....

 

[CDW6212R]

Bingo, the bodyman's favorite tool. My thread; http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146519

 

[Tbars4]

nice job with the milwaukee....thanks..

 

[p100ki]

Which wiring are you using, and which dash? The doors bolt on any 91-01 Explorer, but the wiring holes are different on the LF, the door latches are different, the handles are different, as well as the windows. When you say front clip, you do mean the whole clip, firewall yes? That requires the matching dash, and then wiring, etc.

Hunt my thread where I built a 99 from my 93 rear clip, 91 LF door, 99 dash, wiring, chassis, front clip. Good luck,

It's no problem as far as the front sheet metal, i've done five first to second gen Explorer front upgrades. The front sheet metal is no problem if you have a welder and some fabrication skills. I never owned a first gen Explorer until a couple months ago when i bought two as beaters. I do major bodywork and custom car fabrication on the side for friends and local shops that don't have the time. Everyone local has told me it's no big deal to swap the doors but i figured i would ask the actual Explorer experts first. My cost is less than twenty dollars for a loaded '94 door but that requires me to drive to the yard and pull it off. Why do that when i have a parts truck here.

I read your writeup a while back and it is very informative but i only so swaps like that on seriously wrecked cars, even then i prefer to replace the upper rails and fab the cowl in. My '94 is perfect but it has a big rub down low so instead of doing bodywork and paint i can get off cheaper by just swapping the door and then doing paint. I don't care if it's a bit oddball as long as it physically fits in the opening. I have all the wiring diagram's so that isn't a problem.

 

[Tbars4]

p100ki, i think he was only trying to help....your original post does not say anything about you being a bodyman, that you do this all the time, and you have no signature...he, like i, assumed you have never done any of this kind of work and i believe he was offering his help and info to help you out...what state of the U.S. are you in????

 

[p100ki]

Sorry if i came off rude, that was not my intent. I'm kind of straight to the point so sometimes i can come off as harsh. I'm not really a body man, even though I've been doing it for 20yrs or so. It's just a side thing i do to help out people. My vehicles on the other hand look like total crap because i spend so much time on customer cars i have no desire to work on my own, as you can tell since i want to put a '00 door on my wife's work '94. I'm located in Northeast Ohio.

 

[Tbars4]

no problem, it's all good...so did they work??? when you are done post some pics of the work in this thread so we can follow up...i would also like to see some pics of the front end jobs...i am interested in converting another project...

 

[CDW6212R]

Sorry if i came off rude, that was not my intent. I'm kind of straight to the point so sometimes i can come off as harsh. I'm not really a body man, even though I've been doing it for 20yrs or so. It's just a side thing i do to help out people. My vehicles on the other hand look like total crap because i spend so much time on customer cars i have no desire to work on my own, as you can tell since i want to put a '00 door on my wife's work '94. I'm located in Northeast Ohio.

Welcome again to the site, I understand what you have said. I am seen as a little harsh etc. because I speak in general statements to try to help more than one person. I understand that there are dozens or hundreds of people who may read what is said.

You could help a lot of people if you posted a lot of your pictures showing the changes you have fabricated. A great many people could learn how to do those things, if they have good guidance. You can send any pictures to the moderators if you can't post them etc.

To the door, the non LF doors are easy to swap, changing the wiring to the vehicle model wires is best. For the LF, the wiring hole is too large for the 91-94 wiring, you could weld in a matal piece and cut a new hole though, that would be best for the wiring to match.

The 95-01 doors have no door jamb switch, that signal is in the door latch. I installed my 99 latches into my 91 and 93 doors. You can use any model of mirrors, swap in the later mirrors, the early 91-94's all look bad now. Use OEM mirrors, the aftermarket units fit poorly, vibrate, and do not adjust properly. Mine is a work vehicle, so I accept some defects.

The door panels of 95-01's can be used for 91-94 doors, but a hole behind the mirror needs to be opened up. Regards,

 

[p100ki]

Thanks man, that'll save me some time. I figured they switched the door switch into the latch because my big Fords have them there. Gotta keep em lubed up or they will drive you nuts. Thanks for the heads up on the mirror also, i'll definitely stay away from aftermarket ones.

When i do the swap on the front of my '93 i'll take some pictures and do a writeup. I have it down to a pretty good science now but the first one i did was trial and error. A local guy asked me if i could do it and i said it shouldn't be a problem after comparing the two and doing some measurements. It's not as bad as it looks when you first start, it helps if you have a front cut from the donor so you know what yours needs to look like for everything to fit right.

I think i'll swap the mirrors and my door handles this week after i do my wife's.

 

[Tbars4]

no no no, the mirrors can wait, lmao....get to doing a front fender and grill swap...i'm needing ideas...

 

[CDW6212R]

Oh yes, the door handles, the holes which mount them are located about 1/4" from the other models. I installed my 99 door handles into my 93 because I wanted them painted, and the old black handles looked bad. I thought that they were a direct swap, so I had first painted the 99 parts.

I know that the older 91-94 handles have an issue with one of the two springs breaking. If they were still in good working order I would have kept them.

For your truck you will be better to use the later handle with the door because it fits as is. The others you might swap also, but know that it'll take a little work on each door. The trick is to set the new handle in almost all of the way, don't force it because some of the door hole and handle needs to be whittled away. Note where some needs removal, then gently file on the door handle holes, and on part of the handle. Take your time, I didn't do much to the first one, and it was much harder to force in place. The last three I did whittle away more material, and the handles fit in place better. They will snap or pop in place, and the plastic edges will not want to come back off, and you don't want to take them back out. They are not a perfect fit for the different shaped holes, so the less in/out you do with them the better they will fit and stay when finished.

Get the handles fitting close to going in, until you think that they will snap into place without too much force. That's when you need to carefully mark the rivet holes, the new rivet holes. Remove the handles and drill the two new holes, they will be only 3/16" or so higher than the old, so they will overlap the old holes. Cover as much as possible of the interior door parts when filing or grinding, and drilling. Good luck,