Door Slamming
 

Why is it such a misconseption to most of the public, that when you get in or out of an old car/truck you HAVE to slam the door? We hired a new guy on at work last week and I am training him this week. Well, today was our first day out in the field and of course, I drove. The first time he got in the truck it was SLAM ! I thought the window was going to fall out of the track, he shut it so hard. I politely told him that the doors on the Nugget shut pretty easy, they don't have to be slammed. He did fine the next time, but that was it. After that, he slammed it everytime. After about the fifth time, I jumped his a$$ and told him that the next time he slammed my door, he's riding in the back and I wasn't kidding. Guess what, he quit slamming it. :rolleyes: Still harder than he should have, but not near as bad.

I've gone through this the entire time I've owned an older vehicle and still don't understand why people insist on slamming the doors. It makes no sense to me, especially when they are told that they don't need to do it and not to do it. I worked hard to adjust the doors so they shut with ease, not to have some idiot screw up my adjustments with thier slamming.

I'm sure most of you have delt with this phenomenon, what's your thoughts or stories?

I once had a guy slam the door to my '65 so hard that the window fell out of its track and went to the bottom of the door. On top of that, it was at a car show that the truck was entered in. He's not my friend anymore. (for more than that reason though) ;)

i have no earthly idea why people do that either, my little brother does that when he gets in my truck and i jump his A** every time for it

My kids have the same problem but it's from going from the caddi which is like a pressure chamber and hard to shut to the truck that shuts with ease. I don't sweat the small stuff with them however. I instead focus on a fun day.

I didn't even think about the newer car's air tight seals. When it comes to my wife's truck ('02 Silverado), you have to shut the doors pretty hard or they won't latch. I think most of the time with most people though, it's a lack of respect.

I'm with ya Warbones, when it comes to the kids, you just grin and bear it. They are worth way more than any vehicle any day. A good day with the little ones is worth more than 10 yrs with a truck.

My dad has to be the worst one when it comes to that, in his opinion, anything over 15 yrs old should be crushed, and anything that gets less than 25 MPG needs to be against the law...so in hes eyes, my truck is the worst thing on the road.
I'll tell him not to slam the door, and 5 seconds later, he'll slam the door on the "old piece of sh!t". I'll tell him not to open the wingvent, (rivit is missing) and wouldn't you know it, every single time, one block from the house, he's opening the wing vent...had to catch it once. Everyone else does the door slamming, and I get all over everyone of them, but it seems in the "everage joe's" mind, that old vehicles need slammed.

been there ..reminded people many times .... old doesn't mean broken down... these trucks are metal not like your plastic honda over there

I have the opposite problem with my wife, she never closes it hard enough the catch the full latch on the door. Its probably not aligned right so it take a good tug to get it fully closed. The other thing is my 69 has solid door pannels inside with no armrests so the inside handle takes quite a beating to boot.

Okay... I gotta admit it, I've done it to myself :banghead: My Bug is like Warbones' Caddi and if you don't shut the doors hard enough they will not close... so when I go from the car to the truck I have forgotten :p Now granted, my truck is a beater compared to some of yours.

One day last summer I had the windows down on the Bug (so no air pressure) and almost broke the window! No damage, but DANG... "..easy on the paint there, fella!"

WHAM! I cringe every time someone slams my door. What bothers me too is when people lean on an open door.

It's just what your used to riding in that sets your slam calibration...thats all. Habit. The prob with our trucks is it's like being inside a drum. Next time bail out first!
Y'know what I hate, our drive way slants towards the house and when my wife and kids jump out of the Durango they just let the doors swing open and bounce to a stand still...bounce,bounce...bounce. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

People do that to my truck all the time... Drives me nuts!

I usually "help" them into the truck first, then close the door myself so it doesn't get slammed, lol

Scores points with the ladies, and saves the poor truck's door...

The annoying part is that the passenger door actually closes easier than the driver's door too, lol

haha Rusell, mines exactly the same way so as soon as I get fifty bucks I'm replacing the latch mechanism.

People do that to my truck all the time, and I think, "how hard is this to remember?" But everytime I get into my brother in law's '70 Goat, don't ya know it...BAM!
I'm always paranoid of old cars' doors because my dad's 1950 Chevy truck would swing open without warning on the highway.

When I was about 14, so many years ago now, we all went to a restaurant for dinner. My little brother and I were in the back seat. When getting out of the car I naturally assumed my brother was getting out the other side. I jump out and slam the door right across the side of his head! OOPS! sorry!

Anyway, yeah I feel the same way about the way passengers close my doors. One friend slammed the door so hard I figured glass would break, good thing the window was shut tight, otherwise it would have popped. Since I replaced the door rubbers I tell passengers to close their door "with authority" because it takes longer for the rubber to settle in as that side is used less. That particularly doesn't mean slamming, ie. letting the door go halfway thru the swing. I mean you keep your hand firmly on the door handle and close it all the way while maintaining constant pressure on contact, just common sense. I shouldn't have to write a manual on it for these guys.

I have the same problem when people get in and out the '89. I also ask them why they had to slam the door but appearantly to some people it is just a truck. They have yet to realize it is my daily driver and only means of transpotation. Once they get a vehicle, I should do it to their cars. The Golden Rule can always come back to hunt.;)

Cam

That is one of my pet peeves too. I just hate it when people slam doors - my house doors too. I've got my immediate family trained and I don't usually have other people in my vehicles so I don't have to get cranked often.

I have a friend that every time he rides in my truck he slams the door. I hate it Ive told him so many times but he still does it. I have thought about putting a bracket on the door with a ball on the end that smashes into the person as they slam it!

remedy
 

haha, well on my drivers door, I still need to adjust it a little. so I just pull it in and then hank it hard. I dont take the chance of some numbnuts to slam my door, so everytime I have a passenger I will open the door, and close it for them.
My uncle had a good remidy for door slamming. when I as 13 I worked with him and my cousin on the farm. well one day we were picking up some wood, and I had accidentally slammed the door. hopping out really fast and the momentum on swingin around catching the door made it close quite fast.
anyways, He came hauling ass around the truck, cussin at me. He said ok here close the door ten times slowly. I did that and not one more time after that have I ever slammed a door.

ok that's what I will do, it will not be long before someone rides in it and I will give it a shot
thanks

my doors need to be slammed - outta alignment, but it does piss me off when good doors are slammed

just to comment on what race2c said
That mentality drives me crazy, my dad was throwing a big fence post with a big long piece of rebar from the back of the truck, and of course he threw it so the rebar stuck in the ground, and the post flew back, and made a big dent right above the tail lights. His reply to all of my cursing " its just a truck". Soo, its just a truck, the purpose of trucks is to just be dented and smashed, who cares, thats what trucks are for... well my truck might be a beater, but now i have one more dent to fix, and it will be a hard one too.....

No offense...he seems to have raised you alright (better than alright - a fan of 67-'72's!) but your dad seems like he really needs a good beating. Probably loves hondas too :mad:

Maybe because of the weight? Alot of new cars have light doors and fiberglass skins. Our old truck doors are good old steel baby!

haha I slam mine every now and then by accident...usually cause of a hill and not thinking. Hardly do it though because my step dad's 97 dodge's doors shut real light. Mom 2003 envoy front doors have an i-beam in them to protect the driver and passenger seat...so they shut like a blast door... I always have to shut it twice. The back doors don't have the i-beam though so I end up slamming them then...annoying.