I was over at a friends house helping him pull the transmission from his 79 Explorer. I was looking at his interior and stuff and I noticed his doors seemed heavier than mine on my 77 and also when shutting it shut very easily with a solid thud. My doors shut pretty easy but they sound feel totally different from his. I know his doors don't have any sound deadener or anything on them so I was wondering whats the difference between his doors an mine? Anybody have any ideas?

 

There are different door panels but I doubt there is much diffrence in weight, maybe hes got speakers mounted in the doors? That would add a few lbs.

 

Ask a simple question......

The hinges will behave differently based on past use and whether they have any lubrication or not. His hingess may require more effort to push closed and thus feel heavier.

The door latches will...see above. And because of that will change sound/click//thud.

The door adjustments could be completely different, check the gaps on your truck and his truck. Is there more gap at the front of the doors or the back? The top of the doors and the bottom? Are the gaps crooked-big at the top and small at the bottom-etc...

The door seals could be made by different manufacturers using different rubber compounds giving a different sound when closing.

Not all door seals are installed the same at the bottom where the aluminum doorsill is screwed into the floor, sometimes they are too far out of the cab and sometimes they are too far in the cab or sometimes they are crooked, this affects how the door can shut and sound and keep the wind out-as in whooshing/howling noises sometimes.

Does your friends doors have speakers, map pockets, or door panel insulation(the fabric stuff) that add weight? Are the door mirrors bigger or smaller than yours? Do his doors have exterior chrome trim-just one upper strip or the lower one as well? Window rain protectors above the windows? These all weigh different amounts that add up to different closing behaviors.

Not all mirrors are hollow stainless steel or aluminum tube frames, there are solid steel bar versions as well and those suckers are very heavy! (whether from factory or aftermarket or a guy in his shop somewhere I don't know but they do exist)

If there is exterior chrome trim present, how often is it washed? There could be a couple pounds of leaves/needles/dirt packed in there from the past decades.

Does one set of doors have one coat of paint and the other set of doors have 10 coats of paint? It all contributes to weight and noise vibration.

How are the cab mounts-is there any twist to the cab from a rubber mount being wore out or a mount rusted away? This would affect the hinge alignment.

Were his doors all damaged to heck and a previous owner just filled with 10lbs of bondo each side to make them look pretty?

 

Now that you mention it this may be it, because the pin on mine that is supposed to ride along the two little wheels/rollers to hold the door either partially open or all the way open doesn't even touch them on mine.

I'll look at the gaps next time I'm over there.

The door seals are different, because I recently changed mine out for some from a newer truck, but it didn't change the way my door sounds when I shut it.

The wind noise is why I changed to the seals from the newer truck.

We both have speakers in the doors, neither have map pockets, I know mine doesn't have fabric door panel insulation, IDK about his. Neither truck has chrome in the dent. Neither has the rain protectors.

We both have the same little "sport" mirrors I think they are called.

His is original as far as I know and mine have two coats of paint.

Both of our cab mounts are good.

This is possible too, but I don't know for sure.

So I think I've narrowed it down to the hinges and his may have some extra insulation behind the panel that mine doesn't.

Thanks guys for all the information.