Aftermarket Skid Steer Door vs OEM: The Honest Comparison
SSD
Skid Steer Doors of North America
JULY 2026
You need a door on your skid steer. You have two real choices: order an OEM door through your dealer, or buy an aftermarket skid steer door direct from a manufacturer like us. Here is the short version. OEM doors are a known quantity, but they usually cost more, take longer to get, and come with tempered glass that can shatter. A quality aftermarket door gives you a precision CNC fit, shatterproof polycarbonate, faster delivery, and a lower price. Below is the honest breakdown, including where OEM still wins.
What you get with an OEM dealer door
An OEM door comes from the company that built your machine, ordered through the dealer parts counter. That has real advantages. The design matches the factory drawings. The dealer handles the ordering. If you want your machine to look exactly like it did the day it left the factory, OEM does that.
The downsides show up at the counter. You are usually buying several line items, not one box: the frame, the glass, the seals, the latch hardware. The bill grows with each line. If the part is not on the shelf, it gets ordered, and you wait while your machine sits open to the weather.
There is one more catch that hits owners of older machines hard. Once your model is old enough, OEM support fades. Parts get discontinued. If you run a Case 1840 or 1845C, the dealer may not be able to help you at all.
What you get with an aftermarket skid steer door
We manufacture the Original Shatterproof Polycarbonate (Lexan) Door, and we were first to market with it. Every door is CNC-cut for a precision fit on your specific make and model. All hardware included. No guesswork. You pick your machine, we build the door that fits it.
Instead of tempered glass, you get heavy-duty polycarbonate. Our owner Leighton takes a hammer to our 1/2” thick CAT D Series door on camera, unedited, and the door takes it. Tempered glass does not pass that test.
You also get a warranty that OEM parts counters do not offer: a limited lifetime warranty against door failure or breakage. That means one free replacement for life for the original owner, under normal conditions. Hardware is covered for 3 months.
We build for 12 brands: ASV, Bobcat, CAT, Case, Gehl, John Deere, Kubota, Mustang, Manitou, New Holland, Takeuchi, and Terex. That includes older machines the dealers walked away from years ago.
Aftermarket vs OEM: the honest pros and cons
| OEM dealer door | Our aftermarket door | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Often higher; parts, glass, and labor add up line by line | $1,395 to $1,795 USD, one complete package |
| Fit | Factory spec for your model | CNC-cut precision fit per make and model, all hardware included |
| Window material | Tempered glass on many models; can shatter on impact | Heavy-duty polycarbonate; protection superior to tempered glass |
| Getting it | Dealer ordering; wait if parts are backordered | Order direct; ships UPS 3 Day Air, $150 flat, typically 3 business days (not guaranteed) |
| Warranty | Standard parts warranty, usually short | Limited lifetime warranty on the door; 3 months on hardware |
| Older machines | Support fades as models age out | We build for obsolete machines like the Case 1840 and 1845C |
| Factory-original look | Yes, exact | Close, but not factory glass |
| Buying comfort | Familiar dealer relationship | You deal with the manufacturer directly |
We will be straight with you: not every aftermarket door is a good one. The aftermarket includes everything from precision-built doors to flimsy universal covers from big-box accessory stores. Judge any aftermarket door on three things: is it cut for your exact model, what is the window made of, and what does the warranty actually say.
Price: what you will actually pay
Our doors are priced by brand and model. Terex starts at $1,395. Bobcat, CAT, Case, John Deere, and New Holland run $1,395 to $1,695. ASV runs $1,395 to $1,495. Kubota is $1,595. Gehl, Mustang, Manitou, and Takeuchi run up to $1,795. One price, one complete door.
OEM pricing is harder to pin down because it comes in pieces. Frame, glass, seals, hardware, and often shop labor to put it together. Ask your dealer for the full out-the-door number before you compare, not just the first line item. Many owners find the total lands well above an aftermarket package. For a full cost breakdown, see our cab enclosure cost guide.
Fit: why CNC cutting matters
A door only works if it seals. Gaps let in dust, cold, and noise, and a bad fit wears out latches and hinges early.
Every door we ship is CNC-cut to the exact profile of your machine’s cab opening. The same cut every time, to the same spec, so the panel itself does not need trimming to fit. Cab-side mounting is model-specific: some kits bolt straight on and others require drilling and bolting. Follow the printed instructions in the box; our installation guide explains the general process.
Universal or “close enough” doors are where aftermarket gets its bad name. If a seller cannot tell you the exact models a door fits, keep your money.
Lead time: the dealer wait vs direct shipping
This is where most buyers feel the difference. With OEM, you are in line behind the dealer’s ordering schedule and the factory’s parts supply. If a component is backordered, your wait is open-ended, and nobody can tell you much.
Buying direct cuts the line. You order the door built for your machine, and it ships UPS 3 Day Air at a $150 flat rate, typically 3 business days in transit (not guaranteed). If you are staring down a cold season or a contract start date, call or text us at (800) 781-8000 and we will give you a straight answer on current lead time for your model.
Durability: polycarbonate vs tempered glass
Tempered glass is fine until something hits it. A branch, a rock off the bucket, a chain that slips. When tempered glass fails, it goes all at once, and you are picking pieces out of the cab.
Polycarbonate takes impacts that break glass. That is the whole reason we built our first door, and it is why we put a hammer to our own product on video with no edits. If you want the deeper material comparison, read polycarbonate vs tempered glass.
A door is also about comfort and value, not just safety. A sealed cab holds heat in the winter and keeps dust out in the summer, and a machine with a proper enclosure brings more money at resale.
What’s in the box
One order, one complete kit. Here is what arrives:
- The CNC-cut polycarbonate door for your exact make and model
- Handle with locking latch and keys
- Hinges
- Weather seal gasket
- All nuts, bolts, and washers
No second order for hardware. No trip to the hardware store. If you want to add an electric wiper kit, cab heater, or side window panels, those are available too.
When an OEM door still makes sense
We sell aftermarket doors, but we will not pretend OEM is never the right call. Go OEM if your machine is under a dealer service plan that requires factory parts, if you are restoring a machine to factory-original condition, or if your dealer has the exact assembly on the shelf at a price that beats ours. That happens. It is just not common.
For everyone else, the math favors a precision-fit aftermarket skid steer door: lower price, shatterproof polycarbonate instead of glass, direct shipping, and a limited lifetime warranty standing behind it.
The bottom line
OEM buys you the factory name at the dealer’s price and the dealer’s timeline. A quality aftermarket door buys you a stronger window material, a precision CNC fit, a complete kit in one box, and a limited lifetime warranty, usually for a fraction of the dealer total. Check fit, check the material, check the warranty, and the decision mostly makes itself.
Find your door in 30 seconds. Pick your machine’s make and model and see the exact door built for it: [Find Your Door]. Questions? Call or text (800) 781-8000, Mon–Fri 7am–4pm CST.