First I got to ask is the right door the door when sitting in the truck and also the same side the steering wheel is on?
Here in USA I dont think I have ever seen a right door hinge / pins get play in them?

This is true. Just open the door enough that you can grab it and lift & drop it to see if there is play.
This is where most of the play will be not when open all the way.
Yes it is hard to see just where the play is because the door is all most closed.

If you have play you can either replace the hinge or just the pins. Some kits come with new pins and bushings.
You need to drill out the hinge holes to make them round again, fit the bushings in and then pins. Had to do this on a car hinge I have.

Now if no play through out the opening of the door and the hinge is good I would then look at the latch pin.
Remove the pin all the way. Then close the door and check the gap all the way around the door to cab & fender,
This should be even all the way around and if not you need to adjust the door either door to hinge or hinge to body.

Once the gap is even all the way around install the latch pin.
I would not make it really tight hole the button in and close the door this should push the pin close to where it should be.
Open the door and tighten the pin. Again button in push the door close to make sure the pin is still in the right area when opening & closing the door.
If opening & closing the door feels good then release the button and see how it closes.
You may need to push the pin in a little bit so the door shuts tight but the door should not drop when opened or raise when closed.

Good luck
Dave ----

 

Here in Mudlick, "Right side" is the truck's right = passenger side or off side or Starboard; Left is where I sit behind the wheel.

Before my crooked creep brother stole our tire shop, I couldn't count the times that someone had left a vehicle in the parking lot with a note either rolled up in the window or under a wiper, "the right-rear tire has a very slow leak"

We would take off the right-rear tire and go so far as to put it in the pond and shove it under water with 100-psi in it and never see a bubble.

When the vehicle owner showed up, we would ask and they would point right at the left-rear tire and say "that one right there, the right-rear"


Thanks for all that good information and descriptions; you have started the gears in my head to turning.

Am I thinking right; if I source some over-size bushings, maybe even for a different vehicle, and drill the existing bushing holes larger, large enough to take out the egg shape, and then all my door hinge pivot points will be round and true again....., right ?

Before I go that far, I never before considered the latch pin; I am assuming you are meaning that big peg you pictured (or somebody did) with Velcro wrapped around it; if the latch-pin is adjustable up/down and in/out, then that could very well be making the door feel like it drops as it is latching a bit high; and, when it clears the latch-pin, it can then drop to where the hinge-pins want it to be.

As best I can picture, there are ramped "guides" at the door latch that would ramp the door up onto the latch-pin as it closes and me never be the wiser.

I had never had adjusting the latch-pin explained to me before --- thanks.

 

When you close the door, if the door gaps look good, I would not move the pin. Yes the pin is holding up the door, but it is holding it in the correct position closed correct?

If the door drops, then the door simply needs adjusting. Here's the factory manual and tells you how to do it.

https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/doo...herstrips.html

 

I don't believe the latch pin is adjustable. A few months back I learned the factory put some plastic bushing on it. That disappears of the years. the thread talked about how to cushion it.

You have a hinge issue.

 

The pin is adjustable, there is a oversize hole in the body where it mounts. But if the door looks good when it it shut, I would not touch it.

 

But what if you were in OZ land, the passenger = is the port side / left (when in the seat like you should be)
I am on another site where there are members from down under so you cant say driver / passenger as it is different than the USA trucks.

Also I have never seen the right side door have issues unless it is a right hand drive truck / car and why I asked.

Yes that large pin with the velcro, the door latches on to to stay closed.
Someone may have adjusted it to high and when you open the door it then drops.
That is why I said to remove the pin and check the gap around the door and adjust the door as needed after the hinges were checked.
Lastly the pin install and adjust.
Dave ----

 

Large pin with Velcro?? I have never seen a striker with Velcro. They should have a plastic bushing over the pin.

I do not waste my time with hinge pins. I replace the whole hinge assembly. Something is wrong with the door adjustment if the door is lined up correctly with when closed but drops when opened. Maybe the door hinges need adjustment?

 

The hinges have some adjustability as well. I recall that it took me a couple tries to get the door adjusted properly after the hinge swap.I didn't relocate the latch pin as it was correct.

 

The velcro was my idea to keep the door from rattling over bumps. I never thought much about it until a few months back a thread on here popped up about the door rattling and that Ford put a plastic thing on it at the factory. Seems those fell off some trucks years ago. The velcro was my backyard mechanic fix.

I'll agree, this is a hinge problem, not that someone years ago moved the latch pin. Why would you do that once the factory placed it in the correct position. I'm sure it didn't leave the factory out of alignment.

 

If I recall correctly, the latch pin is also torqued to a billion foot pounds (as in very difficult to loosen the fasteners). I think it's easier to address this issue with the hinges.

 

If that is where you find play then it is the only way.
But the OP said he did not find any play, we also told him how to check for this.
But if no play then he needs to remove the pin as this can be making the door drop and to make sure the door fits right in the opening and adjust if needed.
Once the door fits right in the opening then the pin can be put back and adjusted to the door, never door to pin like might be happening now?

I have done body work since the mid 70's and only the "throw a way" cars that welded the hinges on did you have to bend the doors to fit the opening.
Dave ----

 

Being a tire shop, we had plenty of 2-ton floor jacks and a concrete floor.

At least once a week, someone would park their car or truck of whichever make/model on the concrete and use one of our floor jacks and a piece of 6x6 to jack a sagging door into position --- poor boy style.(Kentucky is absolutely overrun with poor boys; in fact, almost everybody in Kentucky is poor)

No new parts were used; no bolts were loosened; just jack her up a bit, lower the jack and check progress, and maybe jack her up some more, until the offending door would open and close properly.

 

You might be able to adjust the hinges and fix the drop. Do one hinge at a time. Push the top one forward as much as you can and the bottom one comes aft. Two sides to each hinge you might be able to adjust such that the tail end of the door isn't dragging as it's headed for the latch pin. I'm pretty sure I broke my latch pin plastic tube by not addressing door sag soon enough.

 

Been there done that a few times also
Dave ----

 

The right side is always the right side as viewed from sitting in the car, truck, boat or airplane unless you know of some exceptions.