Half Door Opinions

BillTheCat

BillTheCat

New member
Looking at buying some half doors for my 4 door. Which ones do you like and why? My vehicle is my every day, but it's used a lot on weekends and camping trips.
 
BillTheCat said:
Looking at buying some half doors for my 4 door. Which ones do you like and why? My vehicle is my every day, but it's used a lot on weekends and camping trips.
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Jeep Half Doors 3.jpg

I have the Strike Force Zebra plastic doors and I love them, they are not for everybody though, they don't make uppers, at least not yet and I wouldn't hold my breath on that and you can't really paint them, or at least have it come out perfect and stay that way. But for half doors I can throw on in a jiffy and they don't weigh anything and you cant hardly hurt them they are great.
 
BillTheCat said:
Looking at buying some half doors for my 4 door. Which ones do you like and why? My vehicle is my every day, but it's used a lot on weekends and camping trips.
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I love my factory Mopar half doors. Expensive, but we'll put together and have a great 'finished' look compared to aftermarket doors. If those are too much, the Rugged Ridge Would get my vote, simply because they also offer a finished look and IMO look the best of the aftermarket half doors.
 
I really like the Mopar half doors too. They're the nicest looking doors, and since they are steel they'll hold up better to wear and tear and should offer you a bit more protection in an accident than plastic doors. The thing I don't understand is why they are so expensive and why they don't sell them as a factory finished, ready to pop onto the Jeep package. It sounds like Mopar doesn't think they would sell, but if they made finished doors available at a reasonable price I'm sure they would do much better than they think. Hell, they could even offer a "dual door" option when you buy the Jeep, just like they do for dual tops.

I actually asked about ordering some through the dealer in town, and they told me they would be $6K to $7K assembled and finished! That was really just going to be my starting point for comparison because I knew there would be a dealer markup, but that's still outrageous! The main reason they're so much is because they have to order each part separately, so you end up paying full price for each separate item as a "replacement part." Even then the door bodies only come primed, so you also have to pay for painting and labour to put them together. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm in an isolated northern community, so shipping and labour costs are way more than they should be compared to the south, but still... come on.

I think I found a place that I can order a set of four for about $4500 CAD that I could paint and assemble myself. That said, the best deal might be to get a set of used doors from a scrapyard if you can find them. I'm still only thinking about getting a set, but unless I see them on sale somewhere they're pretty far down the "to buy" list.

The Rugged Ridge doors do look really nice too, and they're a much more affordable alternative. If I wanted plastic doors I'd probably get them, but I'm willing to pay a little more for steel (just not nearly as much as I was quoted). The fact that the handles are at different heights on the front and rear doors might irritate my OCD, but I think eventually I could get over that... lol.
 
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I know I love my factory half doors but I doubt I'd pay the Mopar price to get them. I've heard good things about the Rugged Ridge ones so that's prolly your best option
 
Wardell said:
I really like the Mopar half doors too. They're the nicest looking doors, and since they are steel they'll hold up better to wear and tear and should offer you a bit more protection in an accident than plastic doors. The thing I don't understand is why they are so expensive and why they don't sell them as a factory finished, ready to pop onto the Jeep package. It sounds like Mopar doesn't think they would sell, but if they made finished doors available at a reasonable price I'm sure they would do much better than they think. Hell, they could even offer a "dual door" option when you buy the Jeep, just like they do for dual tops.

I actually asked about ordering some through the dealer in town, and they told me they would be $6K to $7K assembled and finished! That was really just going to be my starting point for comparison because I knew there would be a dealer markup, but that's still outrageous! The main reason they're so much is because they have to order each part separately, so you end up paying full price for each separate item as a "replacement part." Even then the door bodies only come primed, so you also have to pay for painting and labour to put them together. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm in an isolated northern community, so shipping and labour costs are way more than they should be compared to the south, but still... come on.

I think I found a place that I can order a set of four for about $4500 CAD that I could paint and assemble myself. That said, the best deal might be to get a set of used doors from a scrapyard if you can find them. I'm still only thinking about getting a set, but unless I see them on sale somewhere they're pretty far down the "to buy" list.

The Rugged Ridge doors do look really nice too, and they're a much more affordable alternative. If I wanted plastic doors I'd probably get them, but I'm willing to pay a little more for steel (just not nearly as much as I was quoted). The fact that the handles are at different heights on the front and rear doors might irritate my OCD, but I think eventually I could get over that... lol.
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I recently purchased a new set of Mopar half doors from jeepsareus and could not be happier. The jeepsareus deal was as competitive as I could find and their website makes it easy to “punch-out” with the various options. For example, I did not want power doors locks or mirrors. I believe I paid ~$2,500 for four doors shipped to my house. A new set of four Rugged doors cost ~$1,900 on eBay and I don’t believe that price includes shipping. Ultimately, I figure I paid $500 more for the Mopar half doors vs. Rugged Ridge which seemed worth it in my opinion.

What about uppers? When I purchased my doors from jeepsareus, I held off buying the uppers thinking I could find a better deal elsewhere. Sure enough, I found a better deal ($100 less) on uppers through a dealership in North Carolina (stevenwhitemotors) via eBay. I paid ~$670 for the four Mopar uppers which is about what four Rugged Ridge uppers cost on eBay (rugged ridge uppers probably a bit less but not by much). In hindsight, I would have contacted the dealership directly for an even better deal as they pass on the ebay commission to the buyer.

What about painting? Rugged Ridge has the advantage here because their doors do not require painting. The Mopar doors do require painting, but I switched things up a bit and had my half doors powder coated. The gloss black powder is almost a perfect match to my factory black paint. If you look hard enough in direct sunlight, you can tell there is a difference but the average Joe is not going to notice. Powder coat cost was $240.

Of course if you want your ignition key to work in your door lock, prepare to spend even more money. I paid $170 to have my new doors locks keyed to match my ignition key. What I don’t understand is why my half door kit did not ship with the little wafers which slide into the lock cylinder. The half door kit only included the lock cylinder and housing and the fasteners which fasten it to the half door. So, I had to pay the dealership for each little wafer (~$3 ea). All in all, $170 seemed like a fair deal given I probably paid $30 in wafers.

FWIW, if having uppers was not a requirement for me, I probably would have purchased Savvy’s half doors. From a parts only perspective, I discovered the price difference between Rugged Ridge and Mopar was not as much as I thought and felt ok with paying $500 more for the Mopar factory fit. And if times ever get tough, selling Mopar half doors will not be a problem (knock on wood). :yup:
 
I've have strike force zebra doors, rugged ridge half doors and tops, bestop element high rock skin half doors and tops and they all offer different options.

SFZ: light weight, level handles, strong, great storage, no tops, horrible customer service, accepts full size mirror.

Rigged ridge: great doors, black diamond tops, little heavier than sfz, cost more than sfz, strong, pop and expand in hot/cold conditions, accepts full size mirror.

Bestop Elements: strong (and I mean take a beating), all metal, black diamond tops, weight about the same as rigged ridge, don't seal well without work, middle of the road for pricing vs three, accept full size mirror.

If you have any question on these doors let me know. Also I'm selling them since I don't really use them much anymore.
 
jk12blk said:
I recently purchased a new set of Mopar half doors from jeepsareus and could not be happier. The jeepsareus deal was as competitive as I could find and their website makes it easy to “punch-out” with the various options. For example, I did not want power doors locks or mirrors. I believe I paid ~$2,500 for four doors shipped to my house. A new set of four Rugged doors cost ~$1,900 on eBay and I don’t believe that price includes shipping. Ultimately, I figure I paid $500 more for the Mopar half doors vs. Rugged Ridge which seemed worth it in my opinion.

What about uppers? When I purchased my doors from jeepsareus, I held off buying the uppers thinking I could find a better deal elsewhere. Sure enough, I found a better deal ($100 less) on uppers through a dealership in North Carolina (stevenwhitemotors) via eBay. I paid ~$670 for the four Mopar uppers which is about what four Rugged Ridge uppers cost on eBay (rugged ridge uppers probably a bit less but not by much). In hindsight, I would have contacted the dealership directly for an even better deal as they pass on the ebay commission to the buyer.

What about painting? Rugged Ridge has the advantage here because their doors do not require painting. The Mopar doors do require painting, but I switched things up a bit and had my half doors powder coated. The gloss black powder is almost a perfect match to my factory black paint. If you look hard enough in direct sunlight, you can tell there is a difference but the average Joe is not going to notice. Powder coat cost was $240.

Of course if you want your ignition key to work in your door lock, prepare to spend even more money. I paid $170 to have my new doors locks keyed to match my ignition key. What I don’t understand is why my half door kit did not ship with the little wafers which slide into the lock cylinder. The half door kit only included the lock cylinder and housing and the fasteners which fasten it to the half door. So, I had to pay the dealership for each little wafer (~$3 ea). All in all, $170 seemed like a fair deal given I probably paid $30 in wafers.

FWIW, if having uppers was not a requirement for me, I probably would have purchased Savvy’s half doors. From a parts only perspective, I discovered the price difference between Rugged Ridge and Mopar was not as much as I thought and felt ok with paying $500 more for the Mopar factory fit. And if times ever get tough, selling Mopar half doors will not be a problem (knock on wood). :yup:
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I saw your thread with the powder coated doors. They turned out nice! I'm not sure how they look in person, but from the pics I can't even tell they were powder coated.

jeepsareus was the least expensive site I found too, but when I priced it out I think I did all the options including the power locks, uppers and even assembly. It worked out to $3531.00 USD (or $4415.44 CAD once I factored in the exchange rate). That's assuming I don't get dinged with extra shipping to get them sent way up here, and doesn't count the inevitable customs fees when they cross the border. If there is someone who sells them in Canada (other than a dealership) that I could order though I could probably get them for a much more reasonable price. :(
 
I will have Savvy rear doors here this week, I'll post up my experience once I get them. They do not have the option of uppers, so if you need uppers disregard these.
 
crippledpetey said:
I've have strike force zebra doors, rugged ridge half doors and tops, bestop element high rock skin half doors and tops and they all offer different options.

SFZ: light weight, level handles, strong, great storage, no tops, horrible customer service, accepts full size mirror.

Rigged ridge: great doors, black diamond tops, little heavier than sfz, cost more than sfz, strong, pop and expand in hot/cold conditions, accepts full size mirror.

Bestop Elements: strong (and I mean take a beating), all metal, black diamond tops, weight about the same as rigged ridge, don't seal well without work, middle of the road for pricing vs three, accept full size mirror.

If you have any question on these doors let me know. Also I'm selling them since I don't really use them much anymore.
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which one are you selling?
 
Wardell said:
I saw your thread with the powder coated doors. They turned out nice! I'm not sure how they look in person, but from the pics I can't even tell they were powder coated.

jeepsareus was the least expensive site I found too, but when I priced it out I think I did all the options including the power locks, uppers and even assembly. It worked out to $3531.00 USD (or $4415.44 CAD once I factored in the exchange rate). That's assuming I don't get dinged with extra shipping to get them sent way up here, and doesn't count the inevitable customs fees when they cross the border. If there is someone who sells them in Canada (other than a dealership) that I could order though I could probably get them for a much more reasonable price. :(
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I suppose you can check around with your local dealerships. Check this out...since I had purchased my mopars half doors from jeepsareus, I had not even considered inquiring what the dealership charged for half doors (the dealership where I purchased my uppers). Anyway, I called them for grins and turns out they are about the same - maybe less. What I did not know is you can apparently order the mopar doors in parts (inner door, outer skin, etc). Check this out -> http://www.stevewhiteparts.com/auto...-gas-engine/body-cat/door-and-components-scat . I suppose if we ever damage the outer skin beyond repair, a new skin can be purchased separately. Had no idea.
 
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