Door Poppers

TDUB

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In my LS's bulletproof trunk
I want to shave the door handles on my LS but I don't know what size of door poppers to get. I was looking on ebay and found 3 different 4 door kits. One was 45lb, one was 60lb, and another was 80lb. I know only a few people have ever shaved the handles on the LS but I'm wondering if anyone who has had experience with shaved handles on another car could point me in the right direction or if anyone knows how heavy the LSes doors are. Also, is it ok to get these kits off ebay or is there a trusted brand I should go with?
 
i know a few people who have done that to their cars (mostly imports) and i think every one of them has regretted it. this was all a few years ago and im sure the design of these things have changed but i think the most common problem with theirs was that they were pretty freaking loud. maybe they just had cheap ones, i dont know. and one of the guys also had a problem with them not working when it was raining or cold outside.
 
I wouldn't get any of those cheap ones from ebay unless you plan on having to fix or adjust them all the time. Look up a brand named Autoloc, they make good products with warranties and all. I have used that brand a bunch of times when I use to work at a custom shop.
 
I wouldn't get any of those cheap ones from ebay unless you plan on having to fix or adjust them all the time. Look up a brand named Autoloc, they make good products with warranties and all.

I agree with him, I have had the same ones in my truck since 2000 and have never had an issue with them.

As for what to do when the battery dies, just open the trunk with the key or you can have a hidden wire connected to the solenoid in the door that you can pull on and it will manually pop the door.
 
Right, but what about other cars that have the battery under the hood?

IMO, shaved handles are cool, on cars like old bombs and rat rods that had huge enormous chrome handles. But on newer cars it always looks as if something is missing.
 
Actually they make kits that have a battery backup for if that happens, but I would also suggest have a manual open as a backup just in case.
 
A cable routed to inside the fender well will work fine. You will regret it when your trying to open the door in a down pour or snow and they start acting up.

I kind of miss having that but in all honesty, its not that bad to just pull on a handle to open the door. I have seen a few full size trucks without the handles and they do look strange, Dodge especially.
 
Autoloc is junk. They do not back up their warranty, and their solenoids are prone to seizing because it is metal on metal. Get solenoids that are have one side as a magnet, and have a boot over them.
 
Autoloc is junk. They do not back up their warranty, and their solenoids are prone to seizing because it is metal on metal. Get solenoids that are have one side as a magnet, and have a boot over them.

I have used autoloc brand for about 10 years now and have never had any of the problems that you have had. what brand would you suggest then?
 
how about these

20090426_473449.jpg
 
I have used autoloc brand for about 10 years now and have never had any of the problems that you have had. what brand would you suggest then?

You say Autoloc brand, not their solenoids specifically...so it sounds like you have limited experience with their shaved-door kits. The solenoids are garbage. The metal-on-metal design is bad, period. I would not recommend any given brand; Autoloc just takes their generic remote kit, throws a couple of solenoids into the box, and gives poor directions for the consumer to figure out. Buy the kit with an alarm, and they just toss the generic alarm kit into the box as well. I can do that on my own with better components. Their warranty is bogus, which I tried to cash in on less than a year after purchase. Their customer support is poor, if you ever get through to them. There is nothing about that company I would support.

If I were to do it again, I would piece it together on my own. I had to buy my own relays and wiring for it anyway. Get a decent remote kit, then add decent solenoids to it and wire accordingly.

Here is what the Autoloc units look like:
sl35.jpg


And what I replaced them with after they seized in under a year:
new-spal-shaved-door-kit.jpg


The dew-wipes were brand new on the vehicle when I installed the Autoloc kit. One winter season wiped out the solenoids. The ones I replaced them with have been going strong, in the same weather conditions, for six or seven years now. There will always be a small amount of moisture that makes it into a door, and that is all it takes to kill an Autoloc solenoid. My 2¢.
 
You say Autoloc brand, not their solenoids specifically...so it sounds like you have limited experience with their shaved-door kits. The solenoids are garbage. The metal-on-metal design is bad, period. I would not recommend any given brand; Autoloc just takes their generic remote kit, throws a couple of solenoids into the box, and gives poor directions for the consumer to figure out. Buy the kit with an alarm, and they just toss the generic alarm kit into the box as well. I can do that on my own with better components. Their warranty is bogus, which I tried to cash in on less than a year after purchase. Their customer support is poor, if you ever get through to them. There is nothing about that company I would support.

If I were to do it again, I would piece it together on my own. I had to buy my own relays and wiring for it anyway. Get a decent remote kit, then add decent solenoids to it and wire accordingly.

Here is what the Autoloc units look like:
sl35.jpg


And what I replaced them with after they seized in under a year:
new-spal-shaved-door-kit.jpg


The dew-wipes were brand new on the vehicle when I installed the Autoloc kit. One winter season wiped out the solenoids. The ones I replaced them with have been going strong, in the same weather conditions, for six or seven years now. There will always be a small amount of moisture that makes it into a door, and that is all it takes to kill an Autoloc solenoid. My 2¢.
That sucks you had a bad experience with Autoloc because I have used them for years with no problems. I live in the south and haven't seen snow or really cold weather in years.
 
The only problem with a car with door poppers is that, the people that steal cars know there are cables that will manually open the doors for you. The new Z06 and ZR1 vette have them right under the rear bumper and the Viper has one inside the front drivers side vent. Easy access easy to steal or steal whats inside.
 
That sucks you had a bad experience with Autoloc because I have used them for years with no problems. I live in the south and haven't seen snow or really cold weather in years.

Again, you say you have used them for years, but have no quantity to back it up. I have used them for years, too...once.

The only problem with a car with door poppers is that, the people that steal cars know there are cables that will manually open the doors for you. The new Z06 and ZR1 vette have them right under the rear bumper and the Viper has one inside the front drivers side vent. Easy access easy to steal or steal whats inside.

There are other options, like running a jumper wire that just needs 12V to it.
 
How do you get in the trunk if your car is totalled shaved including the trunk? Oh and if the battery is dead then the thief could get in the trunk and not worry about the alarm sounding.
 
there is no handle to shave on the trunk, removing the keyhole on the trunk is just plain reckless
 
How do you get in the trunk if your car is totalled shaved including the trunk? Oh and if the battery is dead then the thief could get in the trunk and not worry about the alarm sounding.

If you go so far as you shave everything off of the car, you have to have an exterior point of access; you can argue that all day long. Then you just have to be creative enough to make secondary access such a chore that it is not worth it. For that matter, it is just as easy to slim-jim or just break a window.

there is no handle to shave on the trunk, removing the keyhole on the trunk is just plain reckless

Concur!
 

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