Fender and door interchangeability

[phurst]

Good afternoon.

I have an 87 ranger with a banged up front drivers side fender, and doors. The doors are serviceable (both dented in a little), but the fender is pretty well mangled. I was thinking about hitting up the local pull-a-part next week to see if I could find some replacement bits. I know the fenders are different from 1st to 2nd gen, so I'll need that off of an 83-88, but I don't know about the doors. Will they need to be 1st gen as well, or do I have a wider selection there?

Thanks!

 

[Mark_88]

I just finished mounting a 92 door on my 88 and it fit perfectly...so you can use first or second gen doors...even the hinges are exactly the same.

Only problem might be the inside trim. The trim on the second gens will fit perfectly (all the plugs line up the same) but if you use a second gen door the window winder is slightly longer than the first gens (you will notice the trim sticks out a bit more on second gens)...it's fine if you use the second gen trim though.

The door handles are different...the second gens lever will actually fit and if you want to use the first gen interior you just have to swap the lever wire because the second gens are slightly shorter.

I think all the winding mechanisms can be swapped over if you want to stay with first gen trim...but...there are some nice features on the second gens that I found way better...such as the little box on the first gens on mine fell apart so that I was getting cold drafts through the door (they have flaps that prevent this and also allow air to escape when you close the door with the windows up...otherwise the inside pressure can actually prevent the doors from closing properly)...

So...I guess it might depend somewhat on what you find...

I really like the all plastic inside trim because my 1st gen driver side was shredded and I was contemplating refinishing them...but prefer something more solid and easy to clean...that doesn't chip off and look like carp...

 

[phurst]

Excellent info. Thanks!

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