2001 TransAm Door Panel Cracks

Anyone having problems with their door planels cracking ? I noticed a

2" crack on my driver side door panel and 0.5" crack on the passenger side door panel. Tried to get a set of new panels on e-bay - got a pair in excellent shape, but they also have cracks starting (in the same location). The cracking happens right below window rubber trim on top of the panel, at about mid-point on the panel. When I took off the panel and looked on the other side - I found that the cracking started in a corner formed by the mounting flange and the panel - looks like GM did not count on stress fractures. By now I have seed 4 sets of panels with this symptom. Contacting my dealer resulted in ... nothing - surprise, surprise. I was just wondering if anyone else has seen this / have had any luck getting GM to replace the door panels.
Reply to
IgorC76
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I have an 01 TA and don't have the cracks. However, my car is parked for the winter so it only sees action about 6 months of the year.

Are they on the backside? Do you have a pic?

Ray

Reply to
Ray

passenger

Nope, they are all the way through. Check your door panels at about midpoint right below the window. My car gets driven about 8 months. I have a feeling that it depends on your location - these cracks look like they are from thermal cycling - I live in CT.

Reply to
IgorC76

, my car is parked for the winter so it only sees action about

I'll check in the spring when it comes out of storage. I don't THINK I saw anything when I last cleaned it... My car is in Manitoba - we see -40F to +90F and the car is stored in unheated shop... fwiw, the last part of my vin is 140748 - is yours newer or older? Maybe a bad batch?

Ray

Reply to
Ray

I have a 2001 T/A with the same crack appearing on the driver side door. Started out as a small fracture and now, with the onset of winter, it has become worse.

As with everything, these flaws show with time.

My solution, fill in with black marker as best you can to "hide" the crack.

Edd

Reply to
Edd Dicker

Ayup, got 'em.

8¼" from the back edge of the panel on both doors. I recall seeing it 111° or more outside in the shade in Texas so I suspect it's not necessarily the cold alone... ~~~~~~ Bait for spammers: root@localhost postmaster@localhost admin@localhost abuse@localhost postmaster@[127.0.0.1] snipped-for-privacy@ftc.gov ~~~~~~ Remove "spamless" to email me.
Reply to
Overlord

Another possibility comes to mind, and that is black epoxy. Based on the assumption that it's NOT a "stress related" fracture in the plastic, but a design flaw in the moulding process, this MIGHT solve the cracks, or at the very least, make them less noticeable, if you can find a good color-matched black epoxy.

It's not as good as proper design and engineering out of the gate, but hey...might work. ;)

Reply to
ElectroPig

That's been in the back of my mind on and off. I have to replace a window motor next week. I've been holding off until I get a look at the braces etc. inside the door first.

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Reply to
Overlord

cracking

nothing -

color-matched

Reply to
IgorC76

Go to a upper end automotive interior shop. Not only can they fix them for you. They can hide the repair. Hell you couyld even get them covered in a fabric that matches the car. Charles

Reply to
Charles Bendig

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