55.2-59 Door alignment issue / help

[QBRacing]

Hey all.

I spent countless hours this week trying to align my doors but i just cant get it right.

On my drivers door the front rectangular section at the windiw base needs to come out more (see pic 1) as even without the door rubber its just touching the a pillar.
The second problem is that the lower rear section is too far out. (See pic 2)

I have undone the main 6 bolts that hold the hinge to the a pillar pockets but just cant get enough travel to correct either issue.

Am i meant to use shims between the door hinge and door frame? To me this looks to be more for front to back alignment (which im gaving an issue with on the passenger side) but thats a different problem for another rainy day

Any help, pics, video links appreciated

Q

[my56chevytruck]

I have no pictures of how, when and whatever I did to align my doors, it's not an easy task. Is this aftermarket doors/fenders, and if so this is a problem to begin with. My only suggestion is to stuff your door in as far in the cab at the front side that you can go and close the door on the handle end on a piece of wood to pry the door out!! Does that make sense to you?? If you haven't already, GOOGLE the issue you've got and several videos will pop up. Wish I could be of more assistance, best of luck

[_Ogre]

que martinsr and his door alignment write up

gotta remember that trucks of this era were for work, not to look good
stampings ie: doors, fenders, cabs, wouldn't come close to todays standards
these trucks flex a lot, even driving into a gas station entrance at an angle will twist the frame and move door gaps
getting gaps too tight causes lots of paint chipping as the body moves, shakes, rattles and rolls
i see a lot of guys spend days welding 1/8" rod on door edges to close gaps and all i can think of is paint chipping

when hinge bolt alignment won't get that last little bit
old skool means of lining up sheet metal applies here
skinny window frame is easily bent to match door gaps
slamming a 2x4 in hinge still works as well as in the 50s

[dsraven]

yup, with Ogre on this one. even new cars with wind whistles etc will get the knee on the door and bend the upper section to bend the door into submission.
like said earlier up, problems can be attributed to:
aftermarket door?
aftermarket hinges?
previous body damage?
hard working history of the truck?
door(s) not the one(s) that came with the truck from factory?
door hinge mounting plates were bent/rusted/repaired at some point in their history and so the original geometry could be "off a bit"?

long story short, do what you have to do to make the door seal and the gaps be ok without getting too close to paint on paint when the doors open after a few bumps in the road and some parking lot entrance twisting of the frame back and forth. remember the cab is rubber mounted at the rear and sitting on a metal on metal pivot (basically) at the front, then the rad support is sitting on rubber but the fenders are bolted to the "pivoting" cab. you gotta leave some room for flex. especially if you plan to drive the truck a lot on uneven surfaces, not just on and off the trailer and up the showroom floor ramp. they are sorta like a kids teeter totter, the cab front mount being the pivot because it is metal on metal and the rad support and rear cab mount being the flexible up and down part. because the fenders are bolted to the cab but allowed to flex some at their forward mount that means the door gap to fender can possibly move. get the door fitting the opening first then adjust the fender to fit the door. some shims added under the front cab mount or under the rad support or rear cab mount may be required to accomplish a passable door to fender gap. I have also seen guys bending the aftermarket hinges to get a decent door fit/seal and door to cowl fitment. get the door to fit the opening without a latch in place, then install the door latch and adjust, that is so the latch doesn't pull the door in or out or up/down when fitting the door, then install the door rubber. some door rubber is not very flexible so with those seals the doors are sometimes to tight to close the door properly. I suggest to use soffseal or other soft door rubber for those because it/they is more compressible (?) than some of the cheaper generic ones out there. also be aware that the hinges have the bolts on the door pillar, that are easily visibly when the door is open, but also have a couple hidden bolts deeper in the back end of the hinge to the front side of the pillar. if those areas where the holes are were replaced possibly the holes will need a bit of slotting to get a proper adjustment, that would mean the deep part of the hinge could be moved to allow some angle change to the hinge which would allow the door to pivot closer or further away from the body. make sense? end of day try to get the hinge pins to line up in the same plane so they don't fight each other causing premature wear.

I have a couple of sets of original doors (3 sets). one set fits my cab not bad, not awesome. the other sets are a series of way outta whack for my cab. none were the doors that came with my cab. doors were tweaked at the factory to fit the cab they left with. fenders as well. same scenario with the fenders I have (a couple sets of originals).

over and out, roger, 10-4?

[QBRacing]

Thanks fr the replies guys...

The issue isn't with the upper window frame or the panel gaps but the lower door section right at the front edge where the rectangle section is where the guard drops down... this is way to far in.

These are original 58-59s doors and guards and I rebuilt the hinges with new springs etc etc etc

Initially once i fitted the door it wouldn't close cause the inner door rubbed metal on metal on the a pillar.

I undid the top 2 inner door pocket bolts and the third hidden one from the wheel arch side for both hinges and got enough movement for it to just miss on rubbing when closed .... but when lined up to the window channel , front panel and the guard lines it still low about 5-7mm and I cant get it out anymore

Guess I am getting the angry dremel out and slotting some holes.

Thanks

Q

[dsraven]

Check 5he door opening dimensions side to side for discrepancies first.

[QBRacing]

Dimensionally the door sits purfect in the frame and im happy with the gaps its just leaning inwards in that one corner which in turn throws the lower rear section of the door outwards....

it just needs a pivot.

Can you fit the hinges to the wrong side/upside down somehow ??? Pretty sure thats not it but ive been known to do dum sh.. sometimes.

[dsraven]

Do a dimension check in an x pattern on both door openings to ensure the cab isn't tweaked before you start grinding. Maybe a slight push one way or another is needed.
Think the hinges are the same side to side. Just different upper to lower.

[QBRacing]

I removed all the hinges and checked all the bushings and everything appears fine.

With the hinges off i placed the door in the frame and can align it pretty darn close to perfect before it slides on one of my guides holding it there and i swear some.

There used to be a graunching noise from the right upper arm which appears to be the main hinge bar that goes into the door running on the smaller door open armstay bit.

On the rhs (when flipped over) this arm runs above the hinge bar so it cant grauch... is this normal??? Refer images

Its almost like i have 2x rhs upper hinges but everything i can see says upper hinges and lower hinges.... just checking

Q

[kensousa]

I've been told to remove the hinge and follow this picture to change that kind of alignment problem. It's scary, but I've done it.