I replaced my wore out door latch and striker with new ones from Mid-50. Is the door latch mechanism supposed to be lubricated? Reason I am asking was it was working pretty good when I initially installed it (driver side door latch). Then I thought maybe I should lube up the working parts of it, so I put some Lubriplate white grease on the inside star gear and paw assembly and the out side rotor. Now sometimes the door wants to bounce back out on the 2nd click. The Ford shop manual tells you to lube the parts with a special lubricant, and it gives a C4 part number. You probably can't find that today anywhere. Anyway it got my thinking to ask what other people have used, or if it's even necessary.

 

Hello, just recently in a thread about problems with 55 doors, locking themselves when closed, Axracer commented they should be lubricated with lubriplate, never WD40 etc. Maybe they need adjustment a little, it is hard to imagine a lubricant causing a closing problem.

 

Thanks Aus! if Ax Racer recommends Lubriplate, then I'll use that. BTW. you have a nice truck there. Mine is the same color painted by a PO. Do you know what the actual color name is? my PO didn't and I would like to know.

 

I would never use a a grease or oil on latches and things that are exposed and not sealed. Many manufactures also do not recommend it as it collects dirt which causes wear and cause them to not move freely. I highly recommend graphite. That is what they use on locks for the very reasons I mentioned. For door latches and automotive use I recommend the spray graphite. It has a liquid that carries the graphite into the mechanism and the liquid evaporates leaving the dry graphite film behind.

P.S. Where in Iowa you from, I am from Le Mars in the NW corner.

 

I apply the grease with my finger then brush away any/all excess with a cheap stiff brush like the metal tube handled ones that usually come in a package of several.

 

Thanks for your comment about my truck. I am sorry, I do not know the colour name. I love it, there are a lot of great colours around on these trucks, especially the custom stuff, but I guess for the standard colours, I really like this one. It seems whenever I saved a picture of one, it was usually this colour, and a big window, which unfortunately, mine is not. It is just a standard colour, plenty of blokes will know, I am sure.

Truckteemford, that is interesting about the graphite spray. Good to know.

 

You can find powdered graphite lube in small squeeze cans sold as "dripless oil" (a bit of a misnomer as it will run and drip like crazy until the kerosene carrier evaporates, shake well). I typically use it for lubing lock cylinders.

 

Hi Dave! I appreciate your input. Great suggestion from both you and Ax Racer about using Graphite. That's what I should of used. As far as where I am from it's Mason City. I have been through Le Mars many times. Great town! In fact I just got done with a bowl of Wells' Blue Bunny Ice Cream.

 

Graphite will wash away so does not add water resistance, needs to be reapplied. I figure if a latch or hinge has lasted 5 or 6 decades greased from the factory and likely never again, using a high quality grease like white lithium (lubriplate) or moly based will not collect or transfer much dirt, will resist rusting (the real killer), and with the minimal movement involved they should last a lot longer than I will.

 

Thanks Ax!

I ended up pulling it back out and applying some Lubriplate to it. So it looks like it should be good.