door hard to close
 

my pass door is hard to shut it drives me crazy i dont wanna slam it to shut it!!! i tried adjusting the striker but it did nothng?
i read that latches on these are different between years anyone have info on this ? what ae the differrances

Re: door hard to close
 

is there a big plastic washer on the striker? if not you need one.

eastwoods also sells a door adjustment tool that works really well from what i have heard. aka "butta tool":lol:

Re: door hard to close
 

also i read that if your cab is sealed really well that the pressure cant escape and thats what causes a hard shut.

if thats the case try to see if rolling the window down a little and shutting it makes it any easier?

and if it is i think you just gotta wait for the seals to break in a little.
or find a way to relieve the pressure.

Re: door hard to close
 

When i have the windows up, i have to keep my hand on it to shut it, i dont have to slam it or shove it closed, just keep a hand on it. but with the windows down you can dang near click it shut from like an inch open. on my 77 I totally removed the vents in the lower rear of the door and it helped, but then you get a draft on the highway at 70+mph

Re: door hard to close
 

i noticed on the stricker there are about 3 metal washers ? i will have to see if there is anyone plastic ones

Re: door hard to close
 

It's not a plastic washer, he means a plastic "sleeve" on the striker itself.

Oh, and I can vouche for the "butta tool" It works great!

Re: door hard to close
 

are you sure that the hinges arent bad? alot of the time there is play in the pin and you need to get a kit to make the door shut correctly. The kit contains a new pin and bushings to get rid of the oval shape caused by wear

Re: door hard to close
 

also on top of makn sure it has the plastic sleeve put some grease on it and the latch that helps treemendassssllly!!!!

Re: door hard to close
 

Also check to make shure your hinge pins for wear since its only your passenger door you can probably rule out the seals. Open your door about five inches grab the back of the door and try to lift it up and down. If they are worn you will know right away. They make rebuild kits for the hinges and they work good and relativly inexpensive. Usually the plastic bushing will wear out when the hinges are misadjusted or just worn out.

Re: door hard to close
 

I too have these problems, so thanks for the tips guys.

Re: door hard to close
 

My experience with the problem you described says that normally the plastic sleeve/bushing missing is the culprit. You can get them at the HELP section in most automotive stores. They're not expensive and pretty easy to replace, unless you have a problem removing the striker bolt that's sometimes frozen in place.

Re: door hard to close
 

i think i need the sleeve thing too

Re: door hard to close
 

i put eletrical tape around the striker in place of the sleeve. only cuz i can't get those ******* things loose.... :waah:

Re: door hard to close
 

My diagnostics order......

1] Plastic sleeve on the Nader pin. If you pin won't budge, a quick rap with a hammer will usually loosen then. Use a long handled ratchet or bar to break it loose.
2] Worn hinge pins. Find them in the HELP section at any parts store. Easy to do.
3] The "butta" tool. :metal: Aligns and tweaks the hinges after replacing the hinges or hinge pins. I used mine all of 5-10 seconds, but was well worth it.

Re: door hard to close
 

who sells the kit??

i need one too!

Re: door hard to close
 

^^^^

Re: door hard to close
 

replace door pins?

Re: door hard to close
 

So what part number is the mysterious "butta tool"? I checked eastwood's site, and there is nothing there by that name. I understand it is a trade name, so there are 2 door alignment tools there. P/N 43674 is one for 29.99, and the other is P/N/ 14088 for 59.99. The 59.99 one looks like it has some serious leverage behind it. I need to align my doors too, so I would like to know which one you guys used. Thanks!

Re: door hard to close
 

:haha: :lol: A while back, I bought one to tweak my doors, and proclaimed that they now shut as "smooth as butta!" Thereafter, it became known as the butta tool!

Get the $29.99 one. :lol: That's what I have.

Re: door hard to close
 

new door pins and bushings more than likely just replaced mine, $10 lmc

Re: door hard to close
 

i'm going to be buying one of the "Butta Tools" pretty soon. but i'm curious on how they work? does it just line up the latch and striker so you can tighten the hinge bolts?

Re: door hard to close
 

I used elec tape as a quick fix on mine.. it does the trick!

Re: door hard to close
 

Mine used to be hard to close. I replaced the strikers because the sleeve was worn. Got them from LMC for like 9.95 apiece. Probably could have got 'em cheaper elsewhere, but that absolutely fixed my problem. I did nothing else, and they close perfectly now.

And as I recall, they were a bugger to get out. If you have an entire new striker, as I did, you don't need to worry about tearing up the old one. I think I used a pipe wrench to get mine out, even after applying PBlaster. Nothing can resist the pipe wrench!

Re: door hard to close
 

I bought the silencers from the dealer. Jay

Re: door hard to close
 

To replace the pins does the door need to come off ????

Re: door hard to close
 

yes

Re: door hard to close
 

Anybody have a web link to the striker and plastic bushing?

Re: door hard to close
 

^^^The striker and plastic bushing come as one piece, but it can be had at any local parts store that has a HELP section. I paid $6.99 each for mine.

Yes, the doors need to come off to replace the bushings. It isn't really very tough at all though. 6 or 7 bolts per door ( don't remember exactly) and if it has power windows &/or locks you need to fish the wiring out of the door before removing said bolts. Once the door is off, just cut the pin in half with a cut off tool, saw zall, air saw (you get the picture) and pop the upper piece out of the hinge...the lower piece will just fall out. This is MUCH easier than trying to beat them out with a hammer, and plays less havoc on the hinge assembly. Next, knock out the the existing little bushing and just replace in the opposite order...minus cutting anything ;)

Re: door hard to close
 

I changed the door pin on mine yesterday works like a champ now

Re: door hard to close
 

so i remove the door but leave the hinge on the piller

Re: door hard to close
 

^^^yepper

Re: door hard to close
 

I love the info that comes across this board. Thanks to the responses from this thread my doors close great now. I picked up some new strikers with the plasticbushing at Pep Boys an put them on this morning. What is difference. I would not have thought the fix would be so simple.

Thanks Guys.

Re: door hard to close
 

i have to remove the door the hinge is alittle sloppy moves up and down!!

Re: door hard to close
 

Fear not, it's pretty straight forward. Just be sure and have some help to take the door off and especially to put it back on.

Re: door hard to close
 

I got mine at Advanced Auto Parts. They had the striker bushing combo which was about 7-8 bucks each ( they only had one on the shelf) or just the bushings for like 3-4 bucks for a 4 pack, which I bought and put on my old strikers.Worked like a charm, however I had to grind down the diameter of the striker for the bushings to slide on...good thing I have a bench grinder...lol. Can't believe the change that ,that little plastic piece made. Thanks for the info guys!

Re: door hard to close
 

The only bushings I could find were for FORDs so I ended up buying the new striker/bushing. I wonder if the bushings you got were the Ford ones?

Re: door hard to close
 

Nah , they were for chevy... I think they are just a generic one size fits most type thing...not very model specific , but thats ok...they worked out.

Re: door hard to close
 

^^^You are correct sir ;)

Re: door hard to close
 

Big ThANK YOU to all involved. I purchased bot sides at Autozone today $8.99 each. Doors shut great. Man, I thought it was more than that. KUDOS. They only had one set for GM vehicles and it worked perfect. They did not sell the sleeves by themselves like they did for the Fords, but mine strikers were wore anyways. Can't beat it for that price.

Re: door hard to close
 

Is this the "butta tool"?
http://www.eastwood.com/e-z-store-do...parent_id=2343
http://www.eastwood.com/media/catalo...e95/p18313.jpg

The also have one that is about $20 more, but seems fairly similar:
http://www.eastwood.com/door-alignme...and-truck.html

Which one did you like?
thanks!
--Nick