A friend of mine got out of my bronco the other day, and when he shut it, it would not shut all the way. There is nothing getting in the way, and pretty much looks like it is completely closed, except it rattles a lot now. You can hear two clicks when shutting it slow, and when you go to open it, the release of the locking things (i dont know terminology) makes a louder noise than usual.

I know this is quite vague, but I was hoping maybe someone else has had this issue before because I can't figure out what happened. The handle appears to work fine, the two hooks that latch when closed work fine.

Any ideas?

 

Make certain the striker bolt in the jamb hasn't worked loose and BOTH of the cams in the door latch should be spring loaded. Its possible that they still work but without the spring tension, they will allow the door to rattle. A peek inside the door to see if there are any pieces of broken spring might be a good idea.

 

Hey Greystreak, thanks for the reply. I pulled the door cover off, but don't see any broken pieces down there. The cams do seem to work properly. I can put my finger int here and make them latch after two lwo steps. The Bolt they latch to is solid as a rock. What I notice is this: I push the door shut slowly and hear the two licks of them locking, but then the door backs off just a little bit (enough to cause a rattle). When I push pressure back on the door and then open it, it sounds fine. However, if i don't push on the door to the positions it should naturally be in, when I push on the door handle, the unlatching is much louder. Any ideas? I tried taking the locking mechanism out, but no luck there.

 

O.K. I know this will sound kind of "Sanford and son" but if you take a piece of garden hose cut to fit the bolt that the locks close around it makes a better fit and no more rattle.An old trick my father taught me.

 

my truck did the same thing about a yr ago and the bolt the door latched on, was rock solid like you said urs was but we went ahead and loosened it and put it back and its been fine ever since ... 10 yrs of closing a door will cause a little shift ..(that's my two cents)

 

Well just in case anyone is interested, I found the problem. After opening my eyes, I noticed something may be missing from the bolt since there was a piece of tape loose and coming off around it. I checked the driver's side and noticed there is a small piece of rubber rapped around the bolt. So I just rapped duck tape around the bolt on the passenger side and all is well. Thanks for the help!

 

you can buy replacment plastic bushes for these from JBG. I tried the tape trick for a while on the tail gate but it wears out too quick and starts rattling again.

Simon

 

You can also get the striker bolts at parts places like Napa. The trucks I drive at work these wear out fast and we have to have them replaced just about every 18 months or so, from getting in and out so often.

 

Listed at advance auto parts , in the help sections red packs model# 38424 .These fit our ridesand are cheap TR

 

I had the same problem......I backed off on the torx fastener at the end of the striker/bolt and moved it around until the door was closed tight, and everything lined up.....then tighten her back down and your done.......no?

here you can see the torx. BTW: you can buy this piece from Rock Auto for about $8.00 USD.