Does your rear side door not lock properly or do the doors rattle when you hit a bump? Mine did and I finally got around to adjusting it. You are supposed to be able to just push the rear side door closed but I have always had to push the latch handle down to get the door to close and then push the latch handle all the way up to lock it in place. This procedure has nothing to do with adjusting the hinges, only the upper and lower lock pins. In my case I only needed to adjust the lower lock pin. The upper lock pin was fine.

Also from my manuals I know this works for a 85 and 88 Econoline. My mothers 1978 E100 has the same latch handle and adjustment screws at the bottom of the door so I am going out on a limb here saying that this should be the same or at least very similar from 75-91

Here is a diagram of the doors from one of my manuals.


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Your first step is to remove any door panel so you can access the latch. Mine was very easy as the conversion company cut part of the door framing to install a cup holder in the door panel. If yours is stock then you are going to have to reach up inside the door to access the latch and adjustment rods. I would suggest a mirror and good lighting.


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There are 2 rods connected to the latch. One for the upper pin and one for the lower. I only needed to adjust the lower pin. You can see the 90 degree connector that is threaded onto the rod. I have already adjusted the connector in this pic. That connector is held onto the latch mechanism by a snap on metal clip. The clip can be pushed up by hand and does not come all of the way off.



Here is a simple drawing of how the clip works. The clip needs to be pushed up just enough to allow the 90 degree rod connector to slide out of the clip and the clip remains on the latch. Once out of the clip you can thread the connector up or down on the latch pin rod and then push the connector back through the clip and pull the clip down to lock it in place.


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Another pic of the lower rod.


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There is a tapered cut on the bottom of the pin that allows the pin to be pushed upwards when you close the door about the same as on a house door lock. So when you make the adjustments. the tapered part of the pin should meet the striker around 1/2 way so that the pin can be raised as you close the door.


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Once you have the pin at the proper height adjustment then it is time to adjust the lower and upper pin so that the door is pulled snug against the frame and weatherstripping.
Down inside the door you can see a bracket which is an guide and adjustment retainer to hold the pin in place where it needs to be after you have adjusted it.
There are 3 bolts that hold the adjustment bracket in place. 2 on the outer side of the door and one under the bottom of the door. I did not take a pic of the bolt under the bottom of the door but in the pic below of the bracket inside the door, there is a red circle indicating where the lower bolt is.


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Here is a pic of the adjustment bolts on the side of the door. You have to loosen all 3 bolts do adjust the pin. They only need to be a little loose as you do not want the adjustment bracket to fall loose from the screws, especially on the upper pin!


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As the weather stripping gets old and shrinks, the doors become loose and need to be adjusted from time to time. If you replace the weather strips then you should probably adjust the pins so that the doors close easy. As the weather stripping wears in place then you may need to adjust them again. Orignally my lower pin was set too far down and the bevel was not hitting the striker. To close the door I always had to press the latch handle down and when opening the door, the lower pin would sometimes hang up. The whole adjustment process only took me about 30 minutes on mine..

I am not sure about the upper latch as to how accessible the rod connector retaining clip is because I didn't need to get to mine..In case it is not accessible and you need to remove the latch mechanism, below is a diagram that will help out. Perhaps it would not need to be completely removed but only loosened to access the upper rod clip.




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A last note is that when the door is closed you need to push up on the latch handle to lock the door. when you push the latch up it pushes the pins farther into the striker hole.


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BTW the adjustment at the bottom and top of the door for the pins has nothing to do with the depth but only how tight the door fits against the frame. On my door pins there is a slight taper on the rounded back side of the pins. When you push the latch handle up to the lock position and the pins are pushed farther into the holes, it tightens the door slightly and helps keep it from rattling.. The van body does flex slightly and if the pins are too shallow and not locked, it is possible for the door to open. I never had this to happen but parked on different angles, sometimes I would have trouble getting the to door open because the pin was too deep.
Okay well I hope that helps someone with door issues.
Anna