Whatever the reason that's made you look for new truck doors, you want those new parts to look as if they came with the original vehicle. Looking at a truck where most of the body looks one way and the door looks slightly off can be more startling than many people realise — not to mention that getting a new door often means making some adjustments due to slight model changes. When you have new doors added to your truck, look at specific features to ensure everything went well with the replacement.

The Door Seals

Look over the door seals, all around the door, before you leave the shop. Look for odd dents; those might match up with something on the truck body, but you want to be sure and not assume anything. The seals should not show signs of cracking and should be continuous around the door. If you see anything that doesn't look right, bring a service person over to look at that spot. Either it's supposed to be like that, and the service person will be able to show you exactly why, or it's not, and the service person will be able to start arranging for repairs or replacement.

The Exact Paint Hue

Matching the exact paint hue isn't impossible even if the maker of the door no longer uses that shade of paint. Many shops have the ability to match paint colours. Still, view the door from different angles and in different lights to ensure the hue of the paint matches the rest of the truck. It can be so disconcerting to look at a truck where one part doesn't quite match the rest. If the colour is different, even slightly, and you did not agree to allow that difference, the shop needs to redo the paint job.

The Interior Lock Type

This is something the shop can't do much about as it's a manufacturer design feature. But make sure that, when you're sitting in the cab of the truck, you retrain yourself to recognize the new lock by touch. If the door you got has a slightly different interior design, the lock may be in a slightly different configuration than you're used to, such as a small cylinder instead of a flatter rectangle. In an emergency, that could be startling at first to reach over and grab something you haven't gotten used to.

Any replacement door should have warranties on the work and parts, so get familiar with those. Manufacturers like Mercedes Benz offer good-quality parts, but you want to know what you can do if something goes wrong just in case.

For more information on new truck doors, contact a company near you.