Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

The doors on my 85 are hard to close. Theys seem to be aligned alright. They only catch on the first click unless you slam the poop out of them. I have greased the hinges and the strickers I have checked the alignment I just don't what else to check. And it is on both sides. Anyone got any ideas?

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Sometimes this happens if you put new rubber around the doors. I know mine did till they got broke in.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Q: what if ur rubbers are old and the door is aligned?
A: then you need to roll your truck over to EOD like Im about to...

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

John is right. If you haven't replaced the rubber, then I would adjust the striker on the cab closer to the door.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

It also may be that you are missing the round platic tube thing that goes on the striker bolt in the door frame.

Someone that knows what im talking about find a picture and post it if you can.....please.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Those are called door striker bushings, you can still order them from your local Chevy house.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Yep...they are also in the HELP section of every parts store!!!!!

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

are the hinges ok? i know that if the hinge bushing starts going you can have problems too like that...

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Don't do that is a truck man....

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Thanks for all the replies but I checked all the items everyone has suggested. But it is both doors and this truck doesn't have that much mileage on it. I think its about 75,000 now. I am beginning to believe that it may be something as simple as the weatherstripping is getting hard and is not as compressible as when it was new. I'm going to check the LMC catalog and see what they want for a set and try that and see if that fixes it.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

I double checked them at lunch and it apears that I may in fact have an wear/alignment issue the doors have play in them when you lift up on the rear of the door which I would expect some as the weight hangs to the unhinged side. These seem to have more than I woud expect. I'll probably wait till spring when it's nice a warm out and re-bush the hinges and then adjust them then.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Bingo. Hinge bushings are your problem. Be carefull with the slamming of the door until then. Mine were so bad all that slamming actually caused the door jamb to crack around the striker pin on one side. The other side the pin was getting hit so hard it actually bent the jamb at the stiker pin so the pin wasn't perpendicular to the jamb anymore.

I'd take close look at the hinge bushings while somebody lifted up on the rear of the door and look at the jamb for signs of cracking. If you see either I'd fix it sooner than later. Cold or otherwise I'd find a place to do it.

Mine were so bad you had to practiaclly kick the door to shut it tight though. Your's may not be as bad so you might be able to wait a little while.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Is the truck rusty? If you are missing rocker pannels the cab may have shifted. If not its probably the hinge pin and bushings

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

I believe it is the door striker bushings, or adjustment of the striker itself.
I have replaced both the striker bushings and the hinge bushings, the striker bushings fixed the issue with needing to slam the door.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Awhile I asked about the same condition.And I had checked my hinges and striker adjustment.Which were OK.So I had started to crack my window when closing the doors,seamed to help.Well I was reading this post and checked my truck and the striker bushings are long gone.I have seen the listed in the parts catalogs but thought I would check the local parts store.I stopped at Autozone and checked the Help parts rack.Found bushings but only for a ford.I checked another parts store was told I needed to replace striker with bushing.The only way they sell it.Not wanting to spend the money for cheapes.I bought the ford bushings and had to open the ID of the bushing slightly.They work great for a easy cheap fix.Till I make a big order for the catalog store.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Actually I replaced the whole striker because I didn't even know there was a bushing until I compared the new striker to the old one.
Looks like you can find the bushing for about $1 on the net.

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

Then The question is , how do you replace the bushing? It seems that if you losen and remove the striker pin, won't the rest of striker plate fall down in the pillar cavity and be lost?? I am not familiar with how the striker is assembled. marvxyz1

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

They simply screw in and out with an allen wrench, replaced both of mine this past summer with new ones from Auto Zone.:metal:

Re: Why do I have to slam the doors on my 85?
 

You will need to remove the rear speakers. If you have rear speakers. This will give access to the striker plate the door striker bolts into. They may be spot welded in from the factory but mine was loose.

Repairs need to be made to the hinge first. Then you can start the adjustments to the door hinge.