DIY Replacement tabs for door interior trim, no solvent required

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11 January 2021
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Location
Ontario, Canada
Many folks have noticed that the tabs for the tabs on the interior door trim pieces are easily broken if they're over tightened or just due to age. Several folks have repaired these tabs with various slurries of solvents, etc.

MITA makes replacements that have been very well received and are apparently stronger than the OEM. Probably a good choice if most or all of your tabs are broken.

If you only have a couple of broken tabs, here are the .stl's to add way stronger tabs on the OEM panels. They drop right into slots in the factory parts and are at least 10 times stronger. Install with epoxy or hot glue. Numbered from 1-7 from Front to Back. Due to the geometry, they are all different (except 3&4); be sure to get the correct side as well. Left and Right 2-6 uploaded - the geometry is more complex around 1 & 7. The location and side are cast into the parts when printed so you don't mix them up.

Installed:
PXL_20240423_011607984-min.jpgPXL_20240422_205754700-min.jpg

Instructions:
3D print the correct tab. I recommend printing solid. Cut the old remnants off, being sure that there is no extra material preventing the tab replacement from fully seating. Epoxy or hot glue it in.
PXL_20240101_213842467-min.jpgPXL_20240102_025419666-min.jpg
Print files at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6592022

Original Parts #'s:
83548SL0A00ZE, 83598SL0A00ZE, 83549SL0A00ZE, 83599SL0A00ZE, 83547SL0A00ZE, 83597SL0A00ZE

Edit: Thought I was original, but someone milled something similar years ago. But if you don't have your own CNC milling machine, these 3D printed tab replacements are probably just as good for much less $:
 
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That's awesome, thank you! I just took my door panels off for Bose repair and each panel only had one broken tab - #6 on one side and #1 on the other. I printed off a #6 on my Bambu X1 and it's perfect. Did you ever end up modeling a #1 and #7?
 
That's awesome, thank you! I just took my door panels off for Bose repair and each panel only had one broken tab - #6 on one side and #1 on the other. I printed off a #6 on my Bambu X1 and it's perfect. Did you ever end up modeling a #1 and #7?
Sorry, no. The geometry was quite different and would have been a lot more work. At least one of each tab from 2-6 was broken on one side or the other so I had nothing to lose sawing off the remnants & printing tabs, but with my unbroken 1 & 7's I was loath to cut off the working tabs in case my printed tabs weren't as good. (Most of the designs needed a little tweak after the 1st test print.) If they ever break, I'll look at them again.
 
Ah, yes, I can totally understand not wanting to cut off working tabs! I've been learning Fusion recently for making some functional parts around the house, so I may take a crack at it if I can't cobble together the broken pieces of the #1 tab I have, and I'll definitely share it here if I do.
 
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