door alignment

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jwmoses31

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im gonna try and explain as best as i can but i took my door of to replace my door pin and bushing on the top hinge i put it all back and lined it up as abest as i could to the original lines where the hinges had the outline and i closed it. well i ended up have a jerk the door up messing up the body panels cause they were so close they wedged together. right now my truck is door less on one side how do i align it to clear the front fender with out then jamming intto each other?
 

chengny

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DOOR ALIGNMENT:

The holes for the hinges are oversized to provide for latitude in alignment.

Always align the door hinges first, then the striker. The doors are properly aligned when the following gaps are measured:

Front Side Door

Gap between door and rocker panel is 6 mm plus or minus 2 mm (0.24 inch plus or minus 0.09).
Gap between door and roof panel is 5 mm plus or minus 2 mm (0.19 inch plus or minus 0.09).
Gap between door and the door pillar is 5 mm plus or minus 2 mm (0.19 inch plus or minus 0.09).
Gap between door and windshield pillar should be 2 mm plus or minus 1.5 mm (0.08 inch plus or minus0.06)

Hinges

1. If a door is being installed, first mount the door and tighten the hinge bolts lightly. If the door has not been removed, determine which hinge bolts must be loosed to effect alignment.
2. Loosen the necessary bolts just enough to allow the door to be moved with a padded prybar.
3. Move the door in small movements and check the fit after each movement. Be sure that there is no binding or interference with adjacent panels. Keep repeating this procedure until the door is properly aligned.
4. Once the adjustment has been made, tighten all the bolts.
 

Old77

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Well....looks like Jerry has ya covered on this one :lol: I was about to post something similar but with a LOT less detail so I'm glad he got to ya first :) His post is much better than mine would have been :)
 

Logan2500

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I had a similar problem with my doors and what I had to do is loosen the cab bolts and the front radiator mounts to adjust the gap between the doors and front fenders. I also had to shim the cab in the front to make the gap even from the top to bottom. It wasn't a easy task but if you don't have enough adjustment in the hinges I would look into adjusting the cab.
 

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The hinge to cab bolts is had by reaching under the dash,it helps to remove as much as You can below the steering wheel.there is a hole that You shove a socket on an extension through to loosen them inner bolts.PLEASE !!!!!! tape the socket to the extension so it does`nt get pulled off and dropped down,into the "Body Cavities" then You`ll be crying like a gurl at a boyband concert.:driver:
 

89Suburban

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:popcorn:
 

cbrodine

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DOOR ALIGNMENT:

The holes for the hinges are oversized to provide for latitude in alignment.

Always align the door hinges first, then the striker. The doors are properly aligned when the following gaps are measured:

Front Side Door

Gap between door and rocker panel is 6 mm plus or minus 2 mm (0.24 inch plus or minus 0.09).
Gap between door and roof panel is 5 mm plus or minus 2 mm (0.19 inch plus or minus 0.09).
Gap between door and the door pillar is 5 mm plus or minus 2 mm (0.19 inch plus or minus 0.09).
Gap between door and windshield pillar should be 2 mm plus or minus 1.5 mm (0.08 inch plus or minus0.06)

Hinges

1. If a door is being installed, first mount the door and tighten the hinge bolts lightly. If the door has not been removed, determine which hinge bolts must be loosed to effect alignment.
2. Loosen the necessary bolts just enough to allow the door to be moved with a padded prybar.
3. Move the door in small movements and check the fit after each movement. Be sure that there is no binding or interference with adjacent panels. Keep repeating this procedure until the door is properly aligned.
4. Once the adjustment has been made, tighten all the bolts.


Where are do these measurements come from? Assembly manual or something?
 

chengny

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Nah nothing official like that- I just make 'em up.

Seriously, they come from the service manual but might not apply to your truck:
 

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89Suburban

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I need to do this, see the bottom of the pass door sitcking out? resst of the door seems to line up perfectly, it's just that rear lower edge where the trim is. :shrug:


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friscobob

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Looks like the back door bottom hinge needs to be moved out.
 

89Suburban

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Looks like the back door bottom hinge needs to be moved out.

I was concentrating so much on the front door I did not even think about that, thanks! LOL.


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johnnieb

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Changed my Hinge pins yesterday and I thought that would take care of the body line issues, the door shut nicely but I just couldn't leave the body line alone. I tried to sneak a variable amount of tools to loosen the hinge bolts and got two loose but that was it. I decided to dig in and take the fender off and do it right, You do not need to remove the hood just brace it up "securely" by the way I got away without loosening the inside hinge bolt, just jacked the rear of the door up and everything moved where I needed it. It wasn't really that big a deal and put the door right where I wanted it, I had to move the fender forward as much as I could to get clearance between the door but it all looks good now! One thing I would suggest when changing the hinge pins is to use a press, I was able to use a c clamp but the dorman pins are a bitc there is no way to just pound them in, also if you need to use the oversize bushings, I used a 31/64ths bit, I could not find any info on what size to use and it's not listed on the pkg? wtf...Tackle the drivers side tomorrow
 
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circuitguy

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Just got done lining up my doors and fenders, not an easy task even with new hinges. They turned out good for me, before and after pics for you. Can tell the difference. Please PM me if you need help with yours.
 

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johnnieb

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Did you have to loosen your core supports?
 

Camatruder

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The hinge to cab bolts is had by reaching under the dash,it helps to remove as much as You can below the steering wheel.there is a hole that You shove a socket on an extension through to loosen them inner bolts.PLEASE !!!!!! tape the socket to the extension so it does`nt get pulled off and dropped down,into the "Body Cavities" then You`ll be crying like a gurl at a boyband concert.:driver:

Old thread i know but i need to align the driver door and man that doesn't look like it's gonna be a walk in the park. I already changed the pins and bushings and aligned the door in and outwards so it sits flush with the other body panels. But it still closes badly, it's too low at the rear panel end. So i need to remove the fender (which will be a first challenge) in order to losen 2 bolts and then i need to loosen that one bolt from the inside under the dash. In contrary with what Marty says here, in my '91 K5 the bolt is not reachable from under the dash. I removed the dash bezel (hope i'm getting these english words correct here) and the only way to reach it seems be through the vent hole. Is that true? Also there seems to be a rubber gommet in the hole with 2 wires in it (probably for the door light switch). Do i pull it right out? Or am i seeing this completely wrong here?
Thanks.
 

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