Do I need a new door?

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AJ9P

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So, it’s getting warmer and I am starting to get ready to work on my body rust. I took a look at my driver side door and I am worried that it would be cheaper to replace the entire door. But as I am new to body work. I would like to get some more opinions. Thanks
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So, it’s getting warmer and I am starting to get ready to work on my body rust. I took a look at my driver side door and I am worried that it would be cheaper to replace the entire door. But as I a, new to body work. I would to get some more opinions. Thanks
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Doors are getting harder ad harder to find, especially where I live in the rust belt. Any KJ at a junkyard has rusted out doors.
 

daves06lrenegade

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I found good rust free doors at my local Canton, Ohio Pull-A-Part yard... I have gotten cars/Jeeps/KIAs from the Cleveland/Akron/Youngstown area and YES they have been badly rusted... My yard just south of the above areas has had some good doors (both passenger side doors and the rear swing door) and they were cheap... It only costs $2,00 to search the yard and if you go to another PAP that day not even that... I have a Black 2007 Liberty with two red passenger doors and a dark green swing door... I filled the bottoms of the insides of the doors with "Fluid Film" and have no rust there... Come summer I will need to remove the plastic rocker panel covers and replaced the metal rockers hiding there... The rest of my Jeep is rust free...
Dave
 

David13

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The rust is not too bad here in Utah, as the climate is so pathetically dry. Rust needs water, moisture. But shipping the doors to you would cost more than a new door.

You can try car-parts.com. They list junk yard parts nationwide. But then check out your shipping costs. And, I haven't called. Another guy (body shop owner) told me when they call those parts are all ... NOT AVAILABLE.

I spent the first of my years in Michigan, and I'd say you don't have rust too bad there in your photos. A little Bondo and some rust paint and you have that fixed.
dc
 

LibertyTC

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I've seen a lot worse than that. Outside grind it down a bit fill, prime & paint.
Inside looks minor, it all & looks repairable.
Photo of bottom of door should be included.
 

LibertyTC

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Installing mudflaps really helps in preventing the salt spay onto lower door areas.
My Jeep has also been washed after a salty outings. I used the OEM rubber flaps up front & rear has wider aftermarket.
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jeepchic79

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I have this issue too thankfully plastic is covering mine I am going to sand it down prime fill and cover the bottom with a black flat diamond plate . These are just ideas atm lol
 

David13

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I found good rust free doors at my local Canton, Ohio Pull-A-Part yard... I have gotten cars/Jeeps/KIAs from the Cleveland/Akron/Youngstown area and YES they have been badly rusted... My yard just south of the above areas has had some good doors (both passenger side doors and the rear swing door) and they were cheap... It only costs $2,00 to search the yard and if you go to another PAP that day not even that... I have a Black 2007 Liberty with two red passenger doors and a dark green swing door... I filled the bottoms of the insides of the doors with "Fluid Film" and have no rust there... Come summer I will need to remove the plastic rocker panel covers and replaced the metal rockers hiding there... The rest of my Jeep is rust free...
Dave


Dave, I think Pull A Part is all online nationwide and you don't have to walk/search the yard at all. You just check first what they have and also the date they got it, as to how cannibalized it may be at this time.
dc

Remember tho' that the door has to let water flow out the bottom. Usually there are two holes on the bottom so as water goes into the door around the windows, it drains out the bottom. When I was a kid in Michigan I found a number of doors that had silt built up at the bottom inside the door, thus clogging the drain holes, thus holding water inside the door, thus rusting the door out from the inside out. Don't just fill in or bondo in the bottom of the door.
 

tommudd

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Dave, I think Pull A Part is all online nationwide and you don't have to walk/search the yard at all. You just check first what they have and also the date they got it, as to how cannibalized it may be at this time.
dc

Remember tho' that the door has to let water flow out the bottom. Usually there are two holes on the bottom so as water goes into the door around the windows, it drains out the bottom. When I was a kid in Michigan I found a number of doors that had silt built up at the bottom inside the door, thus clogging the drain holes, thus holding water inside the door, thus rusting the door out from the inside out. Don't just fill in or bondo in the bottom of the door.


Like in Floriduh , bottoms fill up with salt , from salty air blowing around, goes down in the doors and rusts them out
I used to buy older Caprices ( from older folks ) out of Floriduh to sell up here in the Midwest
First thing I looked at was the bottom of the doors
 

Runion

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I live in the rust belt. Our roads might as well be made of salt, or whatever corrosive chemical they use to melt snow.
All four doors have the lower outside showing rust damage.
Last year I used a rust modifier and then primed and painted them. I was hoping it would stop the rust but after the winter, the rust is looking as healthy as it did before I worked on it.

My attack on rust on my old 86 Chev K10 was to cover exposed metal (frame, brake lines, supports, etc) with mineral oil. Stopped all rust action and super easy to apply.
Where there are pinch seams I put the mineral oil inside. Once the mineral oil is on and in the rust, water cannot get into it to start rust again. This treatment lasts a couple years then do it again. Makes the ugly rust area turn dark and actually looks good. Stops the rust right away. I have had to replace brake lines twice before I coated them with the mineral oil. Ya got to stop the rust.

The door treatment on the Liberty is going to go a bit differently.
My plan is to clean the surface rust off, prime and paint. then I want to cover that lower portion of door with truck bed liner, reinforced with fiberglas cloth. The truck bed liner will saturate the cloth and even if the door metal does rust away, the liner should be strong enough to outlast the Liberty body and frame.

We are at a point that replacement of the doors is getting to be difficult. The rust belt here has no good doors and you have to choose from the best ones you can find and go from there. Might as well repair the ones you have.

My take on the door rust.
 

LibertyTC

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Best-O- luck with the rust repairs. I'm not sure how well the glass mat will bond with the bed liner though. Have you tired this before?
Most states use a brine which is a mix of rock salt and sodium chloride & magnesium chloride.
They dissolve it into
water, then spray this nasty mixture onto the road. Later after it drys, it turns to a powdery fine dust, that still eats the Jeep alive.
Power washing frequently & soap/water is the best course of action after driving in these conditions.
Ensure there is good drainage from the doors. I've drilled a few extra drain holes in the bottom of doors.
 

AJ9P

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This will be my first attempt, but i am waiting for my new rockers to come in before starting this project.
 

Johnny O

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So, it’s getting warmer and I am starting to get ready to work on my body rust. I took a look at my driver side door and I am worried that it would be cheaper to replace the entire door. But as I am new to body work. I would like to get some more opinions. Thanks
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Just did this repair myself. It’s not nearly as bad as it could be. Like others said, grind it down, scotchbrite or wire wheel prep, follow that with a rust converter to get the microscopic stuff. A little filler, some primer and paint and good to go!
 

EricNorton

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I did all four doors this summer it was a pia but a great learning experience I had no experience before and I learned a lot from it like spend the money to get power tools it ***** to hand sand or get sanding blocks and it took me (19 years old) and my dad (45 years) about two weeks total due to having to wait for the paint to harden we used spray max 2k products. One might save some time if they remove the plastic strips that say liberty off also make sure to stop at the body lines to hide the pain line. I would post the pics but I think I have to post more. My doors weren't that bad just some major paint bubbles and some reddish tinge.
 
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