Front Door Pillar

[hillre51]

Good afternoon, I've a 2003 Ford Explorer, Eddie Bauer, V6, 120 K miles. Have any of you ever removed the front door pillars on your Explorer? I need to paint mine due to they have faded, look terrible. A video of how to remove the pillars would be fantastic. Do these just come off after prying with a flat head screw driver or what? Thanks, have a great weekend,

 

[Number4]

I thought they were riveted on.

 

[BigRondo]

I painted my back ones with them on the Ex because they were riveted: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=284189

Removal of the front pillar trim:

This is the front passenger door. I know the driver door is the same except if you have the keypad, then you have to deal with that. The rear doors should be the same. I haven't removed the pillars, so I can't tell you what to do after the screws are removed. I investigated the screws, but ran out of time due to the winter so I never got the door pillars done. Enough chit-chat!

Make sure the window is in the fully down position. Start at the bottom, indicated by the yellow arrow and pull the weatherstripping in the direction of the red arrows. Work your way to the top of the door. It comes out & goes in pretty easy:

There are four screws holding the pillar in, indicated by the red arrows. You can't see the bottom one in the picture, but it's there! Be very careful taking the screws out, you don't want to drop them in the door. Maybe use a magnetic screwdriver:

I hope this helps out! :biggthump

 

[hillre51]

Thanks very much, appreciate your time and response. Have a great week.

I painted my back ones with them on the Ex because they were riveted: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=284189

Removal of the front pillar trim:

This is the front passenger door. I know the driver door is the same except if you have the keypad, then you have to deal with that. The rear doors should be the same. I haven't removed the pillars, so I can't tell you what to do after the screws are removed. I investigated the screws, but ran out of time due to the winter so I never got the door pillars done. Enough chit-chat!

Make sure the window is in the fully down position. Start at the bottom, indicated by the yellow arrow and pull the weatherstripping in the direction of the red arrows. Work your way to the top of the door. It comes out & goes in pretty easy:

There are four screws holding the pillar in, indicated by the red arrows. You can't see the bottom one in the picture, but it's there! Be very careful taking the screws out, you don't want to drop them in the door. Maybe use a magnetic screwdriver:

I hope this helps out! :biggthump

 

[hillre51]

Thanks for responding, I have no idea. I will definitely find out when time allows.

I thought they were riveted on.