I have been looking at adding a factory cupholder to my drivers door but I guess most who have them say they break real easy. My question is do you guys theink there would be a way to reinforce these things? I dont know where exactly they break so I dont know where th eweak point is on them. I have enclosed a pic of the back side of it.

 

When I bought my car it had one missing on the drivers side. It was broke where it fastens to the door. If you look at the cup holder you can see how flimsy they are around these points.

 

what about triangulating the 3 mounting points togehter or something like in the pic link below

 

That would help but, the weak point is the screw holes themselves. The plastic is thin around this area. I cracked one on my old 91 while putting it on.

 

well if I made a triangular brace out of some thin gauge steal with 3 holes in it that are the size of the outside diameter of the mounting holes then that alone will stop the cup holder from twisting. Then maybe I could add some 2 part expoxy all over the mounting points to further stregthen them. It will stil mount to the door in the same way. I dont know of any other way to make this stronger

 

I thought about putting washers under the screws to help distribute the pressure. I don't know if this would work but, it is an idea.
I was also wondering what type of wheels are on your car? I really like those.

 

I wanna try this mod but I need to find a drivers side cup holder first. As for the wheels in my sig pic. They are 17" American Racing Le Mans wheels. They came out in the early 90's and are very very rare. I am or was the only 3rd genner with them in the whole country I believe but they just didnt sit where I wanted them since they are 4th gen spec wheels so I ended up selling them to a 4th genner for $1,000. The backs are 17x11 and the fronts are 17x9.5. I now have NO WHEELS. I am shopping around though.

 

Black ones are still availible from Hawk's. That is where I bought mine. I am also looking at buying wheels. Wheels can make or break a car. Where can I see more pics of your car?

 

the holes it self broke on mine so i didnt put it on just sittin im my closet....tobad think it would look ok in my iroc

 

Along with your mod if you run an aluminum band under the lip of the cupholder section then drill another hole on the outside lip it will take some of the weight off the cnter screw mount.

 

you know the more I look at that thing the more I scratch my head. I dont think these things are breaking from putting a can a soda in there which is what GM designed these things around. Its the huge super size cups of soda that do it along with the contant shock load on the cupholder when you hit a pothole or bump in the road with a full cup in there. GM should have design this with a 4th mounting hole on the edge where the cup holder is. The way it is now, all the weight is being transferred to the lower screw hole in the middle.

maybe another tweak to it would be to make the brace like I drew it but extend the bottom brace all the way to the other end where the cup holder is and then triangulate it back up to the top hole. then just tack weld a 3"x3" piece of thin gauge steel to that extension piece so the drink will now sit on that plate and not the bottom of the cup holder itself. I know this may seem like a lot of work to some people but I do a lot of this stuff for fun so its no big deal to me. I could bust this out in no time. I just gotta buy a cupholder. Anyone wanna sell me a broken one to use as a templete?

 

you couled fiberglass the inside of the holders and that would make them more rigid at the same time blend the triangulated bit in to the glass making it one single piece

 

Is there room to make a cup holder out of steel or aluminum (if you have the ability and machine to weld aluminum) and just use that piece as a cover?

Mathius

 

I think that they get destroyed more from people kicking them, and getting banged around. (at least in my case)
I've been thinking about this as well, I've gone through two sets so far. I think I'm going to reinforce the next set around the screw holes with epoxy or fiberglass or something.

 

that idea ranacross my mind already. Before I can anything though, I first have to get a cup holder. IM trying to find one that is black AND broken. Im not paying $50 for a good holder just to modify it possibly to makeit better. I would rather start off on a broken one in case I mess up. SO, if anyon ehas a broken black cup holder that they want to sell cheap, then let me know Drivers only please. no need for a passenger cup holder since they can hold their own damn drink

 

At a glance I think I would melt some plastic or pour some of that mixable resin type epoxy into the original holes and fill them up then go back and redrill the same holes but not go as deep.If ya look at the pic the screw holes are shallow at the end and the passage they set into is recessed.By filling the passage up then redrilling the screw holes just not as deep you would have a thicker base to hold the screw to the door.Also maybe coat and recoat the outside of the passages with same epoxy stuff to attempt to make them thicker as well.I have found thet most car screw ons don't have enuff material at the point where the screw head bottoms out or in the passage the screw sets in.By filling and drilling as well as coating the outside of the passage the cheap stuff stands up to my abuse better.Upon drilling the holes not as deep one of corse then uses longer screws like the ones holding those coathanger hooks onto the sail panels.
Just a thought.And it worked on my 04 blazer doors for those little junk storers at the base of each door.My big feet tend to break stuff made of flimsy palstic and those door panels get xpensive.