doors hard to shut

[Chevyguy111786]

I have a 78 1/2 ton lwb and my doors have been hard to shut since i bought the truck. they aren't lined up right and sag a little when open. how can i go about fixing this? do i need new hinges or can i get some kinda of rebuild kit? can i shim the ones i have? can the striker be adjusted also? if so, how would i go about doing this.

[8t5Silverado]

It's a GM, what do you expect?

Seriously, there are some guys on here that slip a piece of plastic or vinyl tubing on the striker and it lines up great...help me out here.

[useRc10]

i think they can be shimed (at least thats what we did on my '72...the '85 needs some work since you have to "follow through" in order to get the door shut...if anyone knows a trick, i'd be interested

[Lynx]

Well first you have to find out which problem it is your having. If your hinges are worn it will sag. If your door is miss aligned it will cause problems. Your striker can be miss aligned and the little plastic tube on the striker can be worn or broken also causing problems.

[Chevyguy111786]

hmm...i don't think i have a plastic tube on my striker....interesting, and the doors do sag...so maybe a combination of both?

[76bonanza]

Get new striker or just the plastic tubes, mine are the same and with new strikers they are 90% better.

[useRc10]

do you have to order the plastic tubes through a vendor or do they have them at parts stores?

[76bonanza]

The help section at any autoparts store should have them.

[leastbay]

they have them at the parts store but lemme tell you the problems i had my drivers door needed new hinges, you can tell by lifting up on the door when its open and you sill see the pin move around in there , autozone sells a repair kit so installed 2 new ones on there , but the problem i ran into was that now that my door didnt sag anymore it didnt line up now i would save yourself the trouble and take it to a body shop seriously , you will be pissed trying to line that thing up

[MylilBowTie]

I vote worn out hing pins and bushings. If those are bad its possible that the hindge itself also had ware on it due to the pins and bushings not being replaced sooner. You dont have to open the door all the way to see if its them. I usally just open the door about 6 inches and then lift up on the door handle. The door will either move or it will pickup on the cab raising that side of the truck. When I lift the door I somewhat wiggle it up and some to kind of determan how much play there is in the door. Trying to adjust the door with wornout parts is just going to be that much more of a chore when it does get replaced.

[Destructo]

I put new bushings and pins in my hinges and new strikers or adjusted them properly and now my passenger door closes like butta, now I need to work on the driver side door.

I found that the biggest problem was the striker being to far in toward the cab.

[Ronald29609]

The body shop returned my 67 Chevy truck and the passenger door is misaligned. The hinges are rebuilt and the doors are new aftermarket pieces. The striker doesn't line up and you have to really slam the door to close it. The gaskets aren't on yet. The truck isn't drivable. Can one of you experienced guys help me fix this? It's my 1st built and I am in over my head.
Thanks.
Ron (the retired guy)

[swissarmychainsaw]

To: Chevyguy111786

There are three things that can be wrong here, there are lots of good youtube videos on this too. Sadly I have had each one of these on different vehicles.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...uck+door+hinge

1. Your door striker is mis-aligned; needs plastic bushing.
This is not your problem because you said your "doors sag when opened".
Well you probably have this problem but this is the LAST step in your repair.

2. Hinge Bushings
If doors sag, it's likely due to the bushings being bad.
HELP sections carry both the hinge bushings and the strikers/bushings.
(total less than $20

I have found that once you replace the bushings you need to then align the door. This is fairly tricky (see links above) but it's the right way to get your door to "shut like new".

So: bushing, alignment + sticker/bushing = easy open/close

My advice though, is if you are going to all this trouble, just replace the hinge too. They are only $20!


3. Cracked door.
Symptom: Gross door sagging. You won't be able to open/shut it with out "lifting" up on the door (or slamming really hard).
Look for wear on the bottom of the door sill (where you step in). If you
door is wearing a bit hole there, or touching the B piller, check for this.
Open both your doors, and look carefully where your hinge attaches. It's common to have a little crack there. Remove door, get it welded (then replace the bushings and striker).

[swissarmychainsaw]

Originally Posted by Ronald29609

The body shop returned my 67 Chevy truck and the passenger door is misaligned. The hinges are rebuilt and the doors are new aftermarket pieces. The striker doesn't line up and you have to really slam the door to close it. The gaskets aren't on yet. The truck isn't drivable. Can one of you experienced guys help me fix this? It's my 1st built and I am in over my head.
Thanks.
Ron (the retired guy)

Ron that sucks. Take pics and start a new thread, since yours is a 67 and uses a different mechanism. I have not dealt with this type before.

What about taking the truck back to the "body shop"? What did they do?
Maybe you need to find a better body shop?

From what I have heard the "aftermarket" sheetmetal might not fit as well as the stock stuff. However you would think a body shop could figure it out.
I KNOW you can. You have the internet and you're retired! :-)

Start a thread and these guys here will help you sort out your truck.
You can do it!

[1774btcrew]

I was going to bring up the cracked door thing as well. These doors are notorious for cracking at the hinges. They were flung open and over extended over the years. This is the main thing I check when I go to the wrecking yard to find a replacement door. Even if your doors are closing fine, look for cracks around the hinges. Many of these trucks have this problem.