Del my thoughts and comments are directly related to the OP's complete lack of follow up after first posting this, overly dramatizing it all with a poll no less. Do the poll results count for anything?

My work vans are outside about 99% of the time, weather conditions never a consideration even in high wind situations. If I seem insensitive or dismissive of this as an issue maybe its because I have learned to leave doors in a position where sudden wind gusts won't cause them to open or close so suddenly and cause the sort of damage I know can happen.

Because I own my own equipment which naturally affects how I treat it. Having also owned a body shop once-upon-a-time potential damage to doors or hinge pillars is pretty much top-of-mind every time a door is opened. Fleet vehicle drivers or employees might be less attentive because they don't pay for damages.

So far though I've not seen any real ideas to prevent this---have to wonder how big a factor it is in the general van or truck world? (Not bashing, just asking is all. )

 

my advice , stay out of hurricanes

 

That should have been part of the poll?

 

I never had the hinge break, but on a 2001 e250 the wind ripped the door out of my hand as i was opening it and bent things. the door would not close after that so i used a tire iron at the hinge area and kept closing the door on it until it wold. I did that a couple more times over a few days to get it to close better, but it was always a bit springy when i closed that door, although everything sealed well.

 

I'm with Delgriffith and Phil Lloyd on this one... I had the driver's door of my 2005 E-250 ripped right out of my hands by high winds and yanked wide open, hyper-extending the door. The damage included separating the sealant, and perhaps some of the welds, between the inner and outer door, and bending the sheet metal on the doors where the hinges bolt to them. Best I can tell, the A pillar was not bent at the hinge points, but the hinges have sprung enough that now I have to push a little harder to get the door to shut (still seals okay).


This was in Mexia, Texas, the evening of Saturday, April 18th... anyone living in the North Texas region from Fort Worth to parts East should remember that night well!


Just sayin'...
Jay

 

Wow. That is WINDY !!!

 

the dramatic video gets viewed....................because its dramatic


both doors on my 2003 have been damaged by wind grabbing them and ripping them out of my hand. yes I let my wife drive when I shouldn't be


both doors had the same basic result. outer door skin separation front hinge face skin. R side was enough to separate the skin top to bottom, it had to be "butchered" back together. forced the outer skin back into place with blocks of would and rubber wheel chocks actually. I used the shop migwelder and with just enough heat and wire managed to spot weld the skins back to together. both door are still together over 3yrs later, and the drivers door was making that cracking sound just before the skin separation happened, it has been quiet since. no cracking in the door post or around the hinges from my experience. 471,000 km and counting, and it works for a living.

 

Just to update since the last time I posted to this thread: we had another driver side door tweaked in high wind in a 2006 E-350. It jacked up the fender and has some cracked skin on the door, it closes still but improperly. I'm replacing it with an ambulance door from the junk yard for $200 plus the time and cost of getting the ambulance decal off. No fun

I have another 2011 running around with a slightly tweaked door. Drivers occasionally write it up but I just tell them to slam it harder. I'm sure I'll be replacing that one soon too.

 

Same here...we have 4 E350/450's in our business, and 2 of them are needing driver doors replaced because of wind catching them, and, parking downhill and not holding the doors when you fling them open...but our driver doors are opening and closing almost 50 times a day, and they are mid-2000's, so they aren't young, by any stretch.

 

when my Rside door peeled the skin open top to bottom I did not see any welds broken at all, are these doors just glued together? since I welded mine they have been caught and yanked in wind a few times and my welds have not broken or done any more damage.

 

I'm glad I live in sunny Ca.

 

To all those non believers.. It has happened twice to my 2012 E250. To start off, the door skins are NOT welded on. They are glued on. When the wind grabs the door from your hand it overcomes your finger muscles as there is only a spot for your fingers to hold the door on the arm rest. There is no hinge stop or strap to restrain the door from overextending once it is ripped from your grip. The result is the door skin separates from the door and bends the hinge mount area. The first time it extended so far as to bend the fender as well. I just finished rebending my door jam back to get It back in place and tig welded spots to the skin and regain the integrity of the door. The first time this happened i was unable to salvage the door and fender. The second time was not as bad and was able to get the skin back in place and weld it. There are 2 problems here. There is no stop in the hinge and the door skin easily becomes unglued from the door. It is a poor design. I have always had E series vans and never had this kind of weakness in my earlier vans

 

They make a strap kit for these vans, im trying to find the part number now .

 

Park into the wind seems the best solution. This happened to me just last week, and now I cannot open the drivers side door of my E 150 more than 6 inches...my problem is I cannot find any much information regarding how to fix the problem, and suspect that the fix is going to be more expensive than I can afford. It is a real bummer because I have been considering selling the van, and now I am at a stop gap.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same issue, now. It wasn't one event. I'm a bit rough when I open the door and when I park sideways on an incline, the door can get away from me. I had to get out of the passenger door a few times before I was able to massage the fender and door to get it to open. I'm going to replace the hinge pins and bushings and a buddy is going to weld the skin where it is separating. My van is Torredor Red, so grabbing a white door at a junkyard isn't an option.