"My dilemna is that i have a rust free 51 cab with a set of great 52 doors and am trying to figure out if they will work together without having to modify heavily or go to an expensive bear claw system. I have 51 strikers and the door closed but in reading other forums, it seems that there are some issues with them."

1952 doors should be used with 1952-1955st latches/catches.

The 1952 door should work fine on you 1951 cab, as long as you use 1952 or later (1952-1955-1st series truck) latches/catches.