Opinions on Aluminum Trail Doors
- Thread starter DuncLJ
- Start date
Aluminum half doors are not a replacement for factory half doors. They are a cheap solution to half doors and I wouldn’t be a fan if I didn’t live in the south west.
A factory style hinge is monstrous compared to the dinky hinges. They cover those unused holes.
Got good condition factory hinges from Ebay with hardware. Even got the correct color.
I recently made acquaintance with a TJ salvager in TX. personable, and keeps a eye out if you want a specific item. ill PM you his info tomorrow.
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Awesome. I hate thinking I'm gonna give in and settle for trail doors again, but at least UCF doors have a ($140!) option to accept OEM uppers. Same bestop latches I had on the JCRs, but others don't seem to have the rattle issues i did so maybe I just got a bad one.
Get some 3/8” plastic air line and cut it and slip it over the striker. Easy fix.
I did fix that problem by installing some weatherstrip around the perimeter of the door which preloaded the latch against the striker. My problem was actually the exterior handle/paddle rattling in the housing. I tried a couple things to tighten that up but it always left the paddle sticking slightly out from the door which didn't look right.
I ran into that problem when someone would just yank the handle to open the door, I prefer to push in a bit before pulling the handle.
The handle mechanism is bendy. If they are sticking out they can be bent back in. So when the door is open the paddle sticks out, push on the paddle and it'll bend back in. Not sure how many times it'll last before fatigue wins but I've bent mine quite a few times with no negative issues.
Whatever else Bestop does well, latches are not on that list. They have been bendy and rattle prone from Day 1 and they do not give a shit. Very specifically why I did not use them when I designed the Savvy Trail Doors. The lackluster quality of aftermarket door hinges is why I did not design them to use OEM hinges.
UCF website specifically says their brackets can be used to fit OEM soft uppers. I emailed them to ask if that wording was intentionally used to indicate incompatibility with hard uppers.
edit: the following applies to the genright half doors, ucf may have a wider armrest or top sill that allows for oem uppers and most likely hard varieties too since they fit into the same factory lower.
here's the dealio soft uppers come in 2 varieties. regular, and bestop soft lower compatible.
the difference is the amount of horizontal travel inboard toward the center of the vehicle from the frame wich holds the window skin rigid.
we could look at this like wheel offset if that helps. this is because Factory half doors are approximately 3 times as thick as the top edge of a Genright aluminum trail door, with the pin holes being roughly centerline.
therefore if you put a hard upper or standard soft upper on an aluminum half door, the pins would be inches inboard of the mounting holes. ( on the genright)
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have the same issue. basically i open the door for anyone that rides so they don't dick up my stuff. gets old though... only gets worse with the soft uppers.
yeah, I went through that ordeal with my JCRs. Had bought a set of OEM style soft uppers to use with some factory lowers before giving in and getting trail doors, so I got to learn the difference (in both design, and pricetag!) between the bestop uppers and oem uppers. If I only knew in early 2020 what I know today, I could have had factory half doors when it was reasonable to find a pair in ok condition for $600.
From what I've gathered on their websites it seems JCR and GenRight accept Bestop uppers; while UCF, with their $140 bracket upgrade will accept OEM style soft uppers. What I'm trying to figure out is if they will also accept the hard fiberglass slider uppers intended to fit an OEM lower half. The pin locations would be right, but I have a feeling the top edge of the door probably isn't shaped to interface correctly with the fiberglass upper. As far as I know, factory lowers are the only ones that have that chamfer on the top edge. I'm just waiting for them to confirm that and solidify that Ill have no choice but to pay out the nose for some OEM half doors and hope I can at least find some in PR4 so I don't have to spend another couple hundred bucks on paint supplies.
You can still find them for 500-600, just takes time and patience. They have become hard to find quickly locally.
I found the yellow ones (that @mrblaine picked up) for Chris' old rig in Yuma and told Chris about. I just saw the below ones today in Facebook.
If I were to buy a set for trail use, the only ones I'll buy are the ones designed by Blaine and sold by Savvy. While it looks all the same, there is enough detail in the half doors and Blaine's design is fully thought through like everything else he does. Other companies might be good, but I've been burned enough that I'm not willing to play the guessing game and waste my time. Money is not the factor here, but I do value my time and I appreciate the good thoughtful design and careful attention to detail.
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Dammit I'm gonna end up having to get back on FB.
I agree on Savvy. For trail-only or even daily use in the area that Savvy and Blaine exist in, they'd be the clear choice. They were my original first choice but I had a timeline and they were on backorder. But I have climate and geographical (and relationship lol) considerations that make uppers a requirement for me.