Need body guy opinions - new door skin or used door

I'm the original owner on my 04 DC Not six months after driving it off the dealer lot I was driving across an open field and did not see a piece of steel / rebar sticking out of the ground about 8 inches or so. Needless to say, it raked across my rear passenger door and placed quite a deep, nasty gash into the metal.

I took it to a local body shop. They had the truck for, let's say, an "extended" period of time and finally called me to come get it. Within a day or two, I realize the repair has a crack at the top of the door through which I can see daylight. Not good. Back to the shop. 1 or 2 weeks go by. They do the job...again. It's been twenty years, so I don't remember with absolute certainty, but think it had to go back a third time.

Finally, exasperated and sickened by the experience, and no longer seeing daylight (waterproof seal), i decided to just be done with it.

Here's the catch: The skin was never installed properly. I say that because the belt moulding has never fit properly since it was repaired. The belt moulding sits at the bottom of the glass and is that piece where the sun eats away the black polymer material. You know of what I speak....(by the way, vinyl wrap is brilliant way to fix this problem. I unfortunately didn't think of that a few years ago and shelled out the $400 for new ones). I digress...

So, body dudes, do I buy a new door skin and have someone who knows what they're doing paint and install it (I have some other paint work to do as well), or do I just go to the junk yard and find a phantom gray door, move over necessary components, and be done with it?

I lean towards the former.....

Thanks

 

Body dude here. Search junkyard, craigslist, or facebook marketplace for a replacement door

 

Seems like a less expensive option seeing as Toyota wants $650+ for the skin. Only thing I'm thinking I will need to re-work in the replacement door is my speaker. Agree? Thanks

 

Yup. But if driver door, be sure to transfer over the door/VIN stickers so you don't fuck yourself or a future owner.

Only rework is transferring EVERYTHING (including your current door's harness) over to the new door.

 

Rear passenger door thankfully. Transferring everything sounds like a fair amount of work. If you guys think the skin would be just as good, but hesitate due to cost, may go the skin option. Sounds like a trade-off between labor / bloody knuckles and $$$? Thoughts on which would turn out "better" notwithstanding cost?

 

I’d swap door, personally.

 

No brainer. Go get a door from a wrecking yard, swap your speakers and whatever. Paint
as required. Re-skin a door? No way.

 

Fair point. Didn't turn out so well the first time

My list of junkyard body items keeps growing

 

I had a similar issue with my truck but with the passenger door in the first 5000 miles of ownership. Handicapped woman in a van freaked out while backing up in a parking lot when a bee was in her face. She floored the gas, ran over the parking lot island, hit a 69 Harley which got knocked into my door.

Insurance company would only pay for a new door skin and the work to repair. Ended up buying a new door and painting it since my father did the work.

 

Yes, but did she get stung?

After doing a bit of search and thinking about it, I figured out the difference between a door skin and a door shell. The part Toyota is selling for $650+ is the full shell. Suspect this is what shifty and others had in mind....a shell from the junkyard and I move all components into it. I'm wondering if I can't just buy a complete door, with lock, handles, window regulator, glass, etc from the junkyard and save most of the labor of moving stuff.

 

No, I don’t believe she was stung. If you bought a complete door from the junkyard you’ll want it torn apart, painted and reassembled anyway. You’re not going to paint just the outside door skin and door jamb.

Now if you could find an identical door of the same color that’s aged about the same as yours so the paint isn’t too faded, that would be a huge cost savings benefit as you wouldn’t have to paint or transfer over anything.

 

Used door, if you have a garage you can do it yourself easy. Just take your time

 

Issue is, the shell of a door probably won’t include any of the rubber seals, glides, felts, trim pieces, etc. that the used door would already have, and thus don’t need to be bought and installed or transferred. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be from a junkyard, there are plenty of people parting out trucks, and in nicer shape than what you’d find at the junkyard! Hit Facebook marketplace and Craigslist, search things like:

• 2004 Tundra parts
• 2004 Tundra door
• Tundra double cab door

I just did this for both FBM and CL in my area and got ample results. You may also find 2005 and 2006 produce color matched results.

 

Hoping to locate the later. Will keep you guys posted. Thanks for the input. Definitely not going the replacement skin route.

 

When I was hunting for Noah, I was able to find about 2 dozen in great shape, original single stage white. And most, for a complete door including the interior panel, were $300 or less, with the average being $175-250 in price.

I regularly see doors for sale on Facebook in every color of the rainbow to this day around the same price. AC/RC and DC alike.

 

Can you even buy a door skin from Toyota?

I'm betting the ones you are looking at are aftermarket. They are not primed to the quality that Toyota requires.

With that said, installing a door skin would be way more work than finding a donor door.

I do a lot of body work, but door skins are not ever done by me.

 

I'll have to do some hunting. Suspect Albuquerque doesn't have as robust of a market as Atlanta. Thinking I have to find it locally, as shipping would be ridiculous. I'll find it....

 

Near as I can tell, you are correct. No door skin option from Toyota. Like Jack McCarthy, my cheapskate insurance company used one back in 2004 for the original "repair..". That's where I got the (bad) idea. Full shell from Toyota or used door for me....

 

I can't recall if the front and rear DC doors are the same as the Sequoia, but if so, and they share color codes, you may have a bigger pool than you think.

You may need to be willing to drive a bit, like here's a great example that matches your truck:

 

Also, www.car-part.com is your gateway to salvage yards, and you can usually see pics to verify color in advance.

 

Wasn't aware of that site. Thanks!

 

The door project begins. I am referring to the rear passenger door. Six months after I purchased the truck in 2004, I managed to scrape the door along a length of rebar that was sticking a couple of feet out of the ground. The insurance company / repair shop elected to just replace the door skin and it has never been right ever since. As I recall, Jack McCarthy went through this same ordeal. So, I've decided to replace the whole door. You guys are going to think I'm nuts, but I think I may buy the shell, new from Toyota, and have the body guy paint it and swap the innards. I suspect this is a fair amount most costly than finding one at the junkyard, but I know I can "trust" the innards of my door. I have the part number as 67003-0C100. Can someone double check me?

I will obviously also need a new door window belt weatherstrip. If anyone has ever done this kind of work, can you please tell me other parts that I should supply the body guy? I suspect some parts do not "migrate" too well from an old door to a new one. Thanks.

p.s. Could someone also point me to a thread that discusses what folks do with their door window belt weatherstrip? My original lasted 15 years or so. I purchased replacements direct from Toyota and was disappointed to find the coating only lasted 4 years or so before the sun ate it alive. I had considered going with a "wrap," but an in-the-know buddy said it only lasts around 3-4 years in the NM climate. Seems like paint may be the only way to go for something that lasts?

 

Too funny, I just saw this door for $150 in KY: Says it was listed a year ago, but who knows... I don't see why you can't just treat the metal (Naval Jelly) to eat away the rust, then prime, and touch that up, though. It's what I'd do. I don't see any major dents or gouges.

​

 

Price is sure tempting. Perhaps I'll have another look. Any thoughts on window belt moulding that the sun doesn't eat up in 3-4 years? Probably doesn't exist. Only way I see around it is paint.

p.s. Might add this one to the monster thread. Looks like it's a fairly frequent question?

 

Yes. Buy replacements. There is an OEM equivalent for Double Cab from Mill Supply. This information is all over the forum, courtesy of @Mustanley if my memory serves. He's the one that bought, tested, confirmed it, and it has since been reshared at least half a dozen times. https://www.millsupply.com/auto-bod...rip-kit-4-pieces-left-right-side-39700227.php


LINK ^^

 

Sold. At that price I can afford to just buy replacements every 3 or 4 years or, better yet, just stock up. It looks like some or all are still available from Toyota, but damn...the price! Thanks Shifty. Any thoughts on the paint idea? Look like crap?

 

It's really down to personal preference.

If you want to know my personal preference, which you may or may not follow or subscribe to, it's this:

If there are no dents (or no major dents) and no creases, I would never repaint or replace the panel. I would always use a product to clear off the rust, prep and prime the spot(s), then touchup over the prime. You're talking about $30-50 total in product to do so, and even with limited skills, I believe someone could get that to a "damage disappears from 10ft-20ft" state.

If I had a choice between the following:

• Replace the door with a mint junk/parts vehicle door
• Have a body shop re-skin and repaint the original door
• Have a body shop install a used door (non-matching) and re-paint it
• Buy a new door shell, and have a body shop repaint it

I'd always choose the top option. Main reason being, in theory, a used door from the same year should have approximately the same paint fading, thus it will match. It takes a decent amount of skill or really damn good equipment to repaint something with new paint, in a way that it perfectly matches the 20 year old paint.

But that said, out of the the latter three ... for the cost of an aftermarket door skin, and the labor to install it, you're no better off with either of the middle two. And the last one, I think the only person who'd ever choose that is someone who hates their wallet, or has a neverending supply of "fuck-you money" on-hand to throw it away lavishly in an unnecessary way.

Reality check, in case you need it: You own a 21 year old truck. They all have damage, the important part is, you're not leaving those spots untreated to rust beyond repair.

My truck also has damage I've touched up, but you'd need to look really hard to find it. Like this spot on my hood below, above the passenger headlight, where the previous owner's wind deflector took the paint down to bare metal - find any picture of my truck, and see if you can spot it in the pictures, which are taken from 3ft-5ft. It ain't happening, so I'll circle it for you. I did a SHIT job of filling it in, I left a paint bubble, used an old paintmatched tube, didn't prep or sand shit after it dried. Slabbed it on after removing the rust and prepped it for touch-up, dabbled on three coats.

Beyond this pic, and the head-on, here's another touch-up I did, where my previous owner let the metal rust all to fuck, AND there's a dent in that spot!: https://tnstatic.net/attachments/upload_2020-7-14_23-22-21-jpg.455731/

Both of those pics are from 3ft away.

tl;dr - don't throw away your money, or if you really can't handle it, then wait for a $150-200 door in the same year+color to pop up so you can swap it over.

From 3ft away, note the red circle:



Out in the real-world, from 5ft away, can you find it?

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My apology. I was unclear. I was referring to stripping the polymer coating off of the belt moulding and painting it.

I agree with you on the door. It's not just the rusty spots on my existing door, but the fit has never been right since it was repaired. The belt moulding doesn't "seat" properly (sticks up out of the channel) and the door has always looked misaligned. This aspect bothers me a lot more than the paint spots. Shit repair job on the skin imo...I'm probably a little soft about it since I am the original owner. I'll keep at with the junkyards out here for a while. It is the most reasonable option. Unfortunately, despite the plethora of land, the quantity and quality of our yards seems limited compared to larger metro areas and shipping not an option. Plenty of tumbleweeds and snakes, limited choice of aged Tundra doors .

P.s. nice ride!

 

Yeah, I’d probably swap with a paint matched door. If you’re not already using www.car-part.com to hunt, you may want to try it.

Facebook Marketplace will sometimes net good results, searching, simply, for TUNDRA PARTS or TUNDRA DOOR

 

I have checked out car-part.com. Great site. Will keep at it.