Door panel / arm rest install

[Yooper74]

I've got the toms bronco parts premium door panels, new arm rests, and new handle backplate.

The backplate does not line up with the handle bolts and is wider than the armrests. Feel like got the wrong parts or something but the bags are labeled for my year (1974)

Any ideas?

 

[hankjr]

i have the same are rests and cups for install this weekend. i see the same interference between the arm rest and cup but have not tried to line up with the door yet. i have the steel inserts and will check fit at lunch time and report results

Hank

 

[AZ73]

I have a custom upholstered door panel but the tom's arm rest and back plate. Lined up fine and yes the arm rest covers part of the back plate. I had to make sure the clips in the top of the back plate were firmly in the panel.

 

[hankjr]

i checked the pass side at lunchtime and it fits well. no complaints

Hank

 

[Yooper74]

weird. to get these to fit i'll have to drill new holes for the door handle bolts and ideally trim the bucket sides so the armrest can sit flat to the panel.

i'm going to call TBP. i'll update if they have any more info.

 

[AC932]

Not sure my handle backplates are original, but they also don't really line up with those studs. I've just always pushed them on, helps hold the door panel in place when you're screwing it in anyway.

My armrests also cover part of the backplates

 

[Yooper74]

talked to TBP and watched the online video again. still no idea why mine are off. Figure i'm going to have to drill new holes in the cups. TBP said something about trimming the chrome piece on the panel but I dont want to do that as it'd probably look bad

 

[Yooper74]

So i've been playing with these some more. Neither door cup lines up with the holes and the trim. Even if they did line up the cups are not deep enough to reach the studs to bold the door handle

 

[Howard2x4x4]

That kinda sux. When I was working construction, we'd call that "field engineering". Shouldn't have to do that, especially when a part is year specific. Any chance the door itself is not a 1974?.

 

[1811SAR]

Send Them Back

So i've been playing with these some more. Neither door cup lines up with the holes and the trim. Even if they did line up the cups are not deep enough to reach the studs to bold the door handle

If they don't fit, send them back for replacement. . Let TBP compare them to another set. Don't modify anything, or you'll have to eat them. My 2 cents mate.

 

[AZ73]

Just setting the cups in mine weren't deep enough, so I pressed them into my bountiful padding enough to catch a nut, then just tightened up the nuts. Looking at yours I can see an issue MAY be the hole in the panel for the cup. I cut mine like an "X" almost all the way to the corners because the material was preventing the cup from going all the way in. Then I removed the padding, folded the vinyl over the back, glued it against the panel, and trimmed off the excess.

 

[Yooper74]

Did your cups fit in and line up with the studs with the top of the cup still under the chrome trim on the panel?

There’s no way mine would. The cup would be over the trim

 

[AZ73]

Well, since I don't have trim.......
But I do have my old cups and I haven't installed the driver's side new cup yet, I'll take a picture of them side by side when I get home.

 

[AZ73]

Ok. It looks like the new version is about 1/16-3/64" taller. It's exactly the same width and the holes line up exactly. They look a little off on the back to back pictures, but that was just the camera angle. To show you, I did the black on top, then the ginger. They both fit the same in the old arm rest but to be fair the old arm rest is warped from age so it's difficult for me to show you how much of an overlap of the cup there might have been originally, although lining up the old and new arm rest they look REALLY close.

 

[AZ73]

And I pulled the pictures from my documentation before I started my restomod. The cup partially covers the trim on the door panel, not quite as much as yours, but it's certainly not completely under the trim. I noticed that you're also using the clips to hold the door panel in. You can adjust the clips to make the panel higher, as I had to do when I first installed my reupholstered ones. It's hard to tell if you have much room to move it up, but it might be enough to make it work out. Hope this helps.

 

[Yooper74]

Thank you! that is very helpful and confirms a conversation I had with a tech at TBP today. He told me that the ranger models that had the trim like yours and like my new door panels dont work with the new cups they sell.

He said what I need to do is either cut the chrome trim around the panel (not happening) or sand the top of the door cup down so that it snugs up to the bottom of the chrome trim.

So i'm going to try sanding them down with a belt sander a little bit at a time utnil they fit. I'll update with success or just or a big pile of plastic door cup sanding dust later this weekend.

 

[Yooper74]

Update:

Ive got everything installed. Not terribly impressed with what needed to be done to make it work. I would have though purchasing the 'premium' door panel that everything would just snap together.

So what I had to do was sand the top of the cups off to make them short enough to go under the chrome trim on the panel. I used a belt sander to make them nice and even. I then had to enlarge the holes in the bottom to get them to line up to the studs that hold the handle on.

This info was directly from a tech at TBP. I think they look ok but I will forever see the belt sander job everytime I look at them. Also surprised how badly they line up with the arm rests.

Here's some pics. Good thing is i'm probably the only one that will notice. one of those things.

 

[AZ73]

Looks Good. You won't notice it in a month. If you dare, take a black magic marker and color the sanding. Tape off the chrome trim first.