Every time I get my door where the body lines are close and it shuts good,the top front corner of the door is just making contact with the body.Anyone have this problem or a solution?(64 f-100)

 

hammer? try a fender washer in the top bolt where the hinge connects to the truck.

 

Thought about trying that but the hinge has 4 bolts with 2 in a pocket.Might still try it.Thanks.

 

I've found that my door gaps are fairly horrible. But, when you consider there were just built as trucks (work implements vs. a regular car), AND they are an almost 50 year old, body-on-frame design it's not too bad.

My solution is to get the body lines squared away. Then get the door/fender gap lined up at 5/32". And finally weld and/or grind the remaining gaps to achieve the same 5/32" gap all around. This assumes bare metal so that once paint is on, it shrinks down to a nice 1/8" gap.

If you don't want to go to that much trouble, you could always do an abbreviated version and just grind the top corner down. You'll almost certainly break through the folded seam, so plan on welding it up a little bit.

 

if the door is touching on the doors inside pinchweld to windshield post, the top of door needs to be kicked out just a itty bit..loosen top door hinge...keep outer 2 bolts loose so as not to scratch paint if it matters. Use the inner 2 to do the adjustment...a little at the hinge will move it out alot up top.

If you need the edge itself as the doors closed to go rearward a bit...loosen upper door hinge to door bolts...use 1 to do the adjustment and suck the others up after adjustment done...dont slam door during adjustment.
Upper hinge adjustment point is behind plastic upper door panel if so equipped and then behind small access plate held on by 2 phillips screws...


trick...there is none...except lots of patience...and a helper maybe..


- cs65

 

Old used car dealers trick to re-align sagging doors:

Park the vehicle on hard level ground.

Take a 5 foot or so 2 x 4. Place one end on the ground, the other end on the door sill about midway.

Close the door till it just touches the wood, then give it a slight push.

Check alignment, then repeat as necessary. DO NOT loosen the hinge bolts beforehand.

After the door is aligned to your satisfaction, then tighten up the hinge bolts.

 

thanks,I think I might just work on that top edge a little.Every time I try to adjust the door I end up having to put it back where I started.

 

Sooop


Before you do any changes to the shape of the door, you need to check and or replace cab

mounts / supports ! Bad cab mounts / supports WILL cause the door to close badly / misfit !

I had a few trucks in the past that the doors closed and drug on the jambs / sills and you could

jack up one corner of the truck, and have a look see how it closes with the truck jacked up !

This ( Test ) will show you how much ( FLEX ) can be in these old trucks if they have bad mounts and or bushings !

I've stuck a jack just under the I-beam and jacked them up and the door close the easist it has ever closed !

P.S. check your cab (Mounts) and the body rubber ( Bushings ).



Wally Womack

 

Pro-Street/State Trk,
Is it possible just to loosen the cab mounts and install spacers to make the difference? My drivers door sags and the passenger door shuts perfect. It makes me a little crazy and would like to fix it. I was just about to take the door off because I figured it was just some bad bushings in the door hinge. Thanks for any help you can give with this.
JRB65

 

You have adjustments at four places, at the door post of the cab, upper and lower, and the hinges where they are bolted to the doors upper and lower. An adustment at one location will effect the others. I had quite a time setting mine up, but once you get it right it makes you smile every time you close the door.
First, remove your striker pin or latch assembly from the door so that is not affecting things.
The best "trick" I came up with is to get a bunch of wooden paint stir sticks, maybe 6 or 8 of them.
Position the hinges on the cab in a spot close to where you think they were when they came off, or about center of adjsutment for a starting point. You don't have to cinch up the bolts hard everytime because you will be doing alot of trial and error, just snug so the hinge won't move around.
Loosen the hinges where they mount to the door just enough so you can move the door fore and aft with a little resistance.
Lay down a strip of wooden stir sticks in the bottom of the jamb and close the door on them. This will lift the door up the thickness of the wood.
Use one stick to wedge between the back edge of the door and the cab.
This will push the door forward in the jamb, the thickness of the wood.
The door is still closed at this point. Go into the truck from the other side and tighten up the bolts that hold the hinge to the door. Get back out and try opening the door. At this point you will have to make adjustments to the hinges on the cab posts to move the door in or out as needed. After you make these adjustments when you close the door again your gaps where the wooden sticks had been may be tight again. Loosen the hinges again in the doors, put the stick in and close it, go back in the truck and tighten them. Repeat all day long until you're happy, then put your door latch back in and adjust the striker pin.

 

modeleh,
Somewhere along the 44 years of my trucks life someone decided that the lower door bolts didn't need to be tightend. My Son and I worked on the door for about a half an hour and found out that the bolts were loose on the lower part hinge where they attach to the door. We then put paint sticks on the door opening and sat the door on them and made sure the opening spaces around the door was uniform. We worked with the striker plate until the door shut properly. What a difference it makes when things work the way they are supposed to. Thanks for all the info, it was a great help.
JRB65

 

JRB, glad to hear it worked out for you. It is a tedious job, but like I said before, very rewarding when you get everything working nice. And I should have mentioned in my previous post that it helps to not have the door rubbers on when you're doing the alignment. Not that anyone would want to tear off a nice set if they're already on, but if you're planning on putting a new set on, it's worth it to do the door alignment first.

 

Thanks for all the info.My truck is still in the early stages but I wanted to get the alignment close before primer and paint

 

My seals on my door are fairly worn out and weather beaten. I have thought about changing them. I noticed on the bottom that they are press in, are they like that all the way around the door? They would be pretty easy to put in if that is the case.
JRB65

 

I've just found that no matter how much tweaking I've done the gaps are still pretty bad. The doors close nice and smooth, and the body lines are matched up properly, but the gaps are still pretty inconsistent. This is after ensuring that the cab mounts, hinges, and body parts are all in proper shape.

And the only way I've found to have really even, dead straight 1/8" gaps is to weld and grind the edges until they are perfectly flat along the entire length. Line up the body creases first since they are your defining points, and shape everything else to fit. In the past I've spent up to 25-30 hours (or more) on customer's cars just lining up the the shut lines. But, it really can seperate the top notch cars from the almost great ones. I'm not recommending that everyone drop the coin on just the gaps. Most fab shop rates are 60-90.00/hr. Do the math and it's not cheap to have perfect lines, but taking your time and fine-tuning the gaps is only sweat equity, assuming a person has the equipment, and will make a subtle but noticable difference.

HTH