I want my doors off!

[fumanchew]

Has anyone on here ever done this. I was thinkin about removing the hinge pin and replacing it with some kind of hitch pin or quick release that way I wont have to readjust the mounts when I put them back on. I have power locks and windows so I figured I could find a plug to make them quick release also. My biggest worry is that there are so many wires from the cab to the door that Ill have to use a bunch of connectors or find a connector that can hold all of them. Also would this be street legal, Im not sure why it wouldnt since jeeps can do it and they dont even have any kind of roof but you know how laws are.

 

[Clint]

i am in the process of doing this but like u said i am trying to find a plug that will hold all the wires and then when i want to put the door back in i just reinstall the pins and push the connector together another option is to make a half door

 

[BoatsRcool]

update me because i want to do this too, oh yea you would have to mount side mirrors. would this be street legal?

 

[Phi 844]

As far as the side mirrors go, I know that on the J@@ps that when the doors are off so are the side mirrors. I think it would be ok, but then again no one said the laws had to make sense.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[special ed]

when you guys are through i would like to see pics .
sounds like something i would do
and something i might do come to think of it
hmmmmm.........

 

[samtheham]

Hey just as some advise in your door changeing quest, I would not use those generic connectors like the nylon kind you can get at Radio Shack, they seem like they would work good but they are a complete pain the butt to wire up and dont stay together real well as well as take a lot of finesse to get right, I would say that I would be in your interst to find someone to get you a high quality harness connector or go to the junkyard and cut up some of their wiring harnessed to get the connector.

As far as the mirror law, I have lived in both california and oregon and they both seem to decribe the law as that you have to have either an unblocked center rear view mirror or have side mirrors, you dont need both middle and side mirrors, just one that you can see with so If you took off the side mirrors I dont see any problems, but those black and whites are allways just itching for an exuse to give a ticket.

 

[JDraper]

You guys might want to consider using a "Molex" connector. They are fairly cheap, but reasonable quality. I suggest going to http://www.newark.com to look for connectors. We use connectors from them all the time in the electronic equipment our company manufactures. They are a very reliable source.

 

[BoatsRcool]

where I am you do have to have mirrors, but anyway, the jeeps you dont really notice them, and if you are in an explorer without doors, you know the cop will be looking for something to pull you over. (mirrors) I really want to do this, so keep me uptodate!

 

[Road Turtle]

No doors?

Bad idea in my opinion, SUV doors like car doors are heavy, and they take more than one person to carry completely assembled. Quick connecting the door wiring will cause future problems with your vehicle, moisture etc in the connector. Not to mention when you reinstall the door you will have to true it to the body and I hope you know what you're doing because done by a novice the door may not close properly, or if it does you may have huge gaps when you put it back on. Hey whatever its your Explorer not mine so do what you want, Just remember I warned you.

 

[samtheham]

I would have to diagree ,road turtle, the doors on the explorer, at least up to 94, seem to be relativly light weight, if you mark the hinges with a marker ,permanent or yellow, you should be able to rienstall the doors fairly easily. I do agree with moisture problems, the interiors were not meant for that kind of wear and are inherintly harder to clean then say, its jeep counterparts( I.e. the TJ has plugs in the floor so that you can hose the interior out). All in all I dont see real great advantages to being able to take the doors off compared to how much B.S. you would have to put up with that we have been talking about.

 

[fumanchew]

Like I said I was planning on replacing the pins in the hinges with a hitch pin of some sort that can be taken out easily so that the actuall adjustable parts of the hinges that mount to the body and the door would never move there for It wouldn't have to be realigned every time I reinstalled it. As far as plugs in the floor go I already have my floor hurculined and I used a chassis punch to cut holes in the floor for draining and installed rubber jeep floor plugs. I would like to make this as street legal as I can so I think I will try to find some black sport truck mirrors and mount them out on front of my front fender like the Jaos SUV's do it. Oh and thanx for the link to the connectors JDraper. I think I may use that brand.

 

[ChewieM16]

do u think u guys could post pics of like "in progress"? i'd also love to see "fumanchew"'s interior, it sounds very interesting!

-mike

 

[BoatsRcool]

i still want to do this, and im bringing this post back up to get it going again.

 

[Randall]

You guys should check out Rick's thread on half-doors:

Dead Link Removed

 

[BoatsRcool]

he thanks, but im sure those wil be a bit pricey if it even goes through. i could do this for less than $100

 

[BoatsRcool]

perry I took my door apart today, all but like 2 wires will dissconnect. im thinking about cutting those though.