Hey y’all, been a long time since I visited this forum. I have a 2002 Yukon. Yeah, I know it’s old but is in mint condition, in fact it is the best vehicle I’ve ever owned. The horrible door trim looks so bad and am wanting to remove it. Was wondering if there is clear coat under the trim. What is the best way to remove the trim.
Removing exterior door trim
- Thread starter bmg88201
- Start date
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Don’t need to explain why you have a 2002. Lots of us wish we had one. The trim goes on after it’s painted. You can warm it a little and use a plastic pry tool or my favorite is fishing line behind it.
Finally removed that horrible old plastic door trim. It was brittle, turned yellow, cracked and just plain ugly. Why GM would glue door trim on is beyond me. Anyway, I just started pulling it off, it just crumbled in my hands. Used no heat or chemicals. I gently scraped the glue off with a wooden paint stick (you know the stick you get when you buy a gallon of paint) that I sharpened with a bench grinder. The clear coat was still good and it looks so much better. My 24 y/o Yukon is still mint, purrs like a kitten, rides like 747 and is quiet as a church mouse. Best vehicle I have ever owned.
xMeatMissil3
TYF Newbie
Do you have any pics of the before and after. I want to this to mine.
Sorry no pics, also I miss typed and said it was a 24, oops it’s an 02. I left the chrome strip on because it was is good shape. Using a heat gun does not sound good to me nor using hash chemicals. I think because the trim was 24 y/o it came off easier than expected. Was afraid to damage the cleat coat and paint. I’ll try to send pics of the after but obviously pics of the before is not possible.
Here are some after pics of removing the plastic door trim. I left the chrome strip, it still looked okay.
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ScottyBoy
Full Access Member
I wish we could do that on a Chevy. On the Yukons, the door trim is separated from the chrome strip. But on the Tahoes and Suburbans, the chrome strip is actually ON the door trim, not under or below it. Regardless, I've never seen a Tahoe of this era with faded door trim but the chrome strip still looks good. The chrome on these usually bubbles up and/or peels too. At least thats what mine did. On the Yukons, the chrome stays looking good dang near forever! I believe its because the ones on the Yukons are chrome plated plastic. On the Tahoes and Suburbans, the chrome strip is chrome covered rubber. The chrome strip is flexible, and I'm sure thats what makes it degrade faster than the ones on the Yukons.
I wish I had taken a before pic, it was so bad. Peeling away from the door, cracked, faded, brittle. I was so pleased with the condition of the paint after removing the old plastic/rubber trim. There was mold/mildew and dirt under it. The area where the trim was looks like the rest of the door paint. I washed the area and waxed it and dang it looks good. Still it’s idiotic to glue door trim on in the first place, why GM does that I’ll never know. My idea of using a sharpened wooden paint stir stick worked well to remove the glue. Like I’ve said before, this 24 y/o Yukon is the best vehicle I’ve ever owned. Fix’in to take it on a 2000 mile round trip to New Mexico and won’t give it second thought.
