Door Hinge Shims

[iflyfisher]

I picked up some donor doors for my 73 K20. I noticed in taking off the driver door the upper hinges had a single washer shim while the bottom hinge had two washers under each bolt. I put on the donor door and the vertical gap along the B pillar was still a bit wide. I moved the hinge mounted to the body as far back as possible, but the gap is still too wide. The gap looks like it could use another washer shim. That would put three between the hinge and the door on the lower hinge and two on the upper. How common is it to need that much of a shim to get the doors aligned? I looked at the passenger side, and there are no washers between the hinge and the door on that side.

Curious

 

[waterpirate]

Paging Keith.
Eric

 

[TotalyHucked]

Got any pictures? I've taken several of these trucks apart and never found shims under the hinge. Inward and outward toward or away from the cab is adjusted on the door side, forward/backward and up/down is done on the cab side. Sounds like maybe your truck had some trauma at the pillar or someone didn't know what they were doing. If the gap is still wide at the A-pillar, take the shims completely out and try again

 

[iflyfisher]

Thanks for the replies Gents. Attached are some pix for reference. You can’t see the gap at the bottom due to the camera angle, and I have a replacement rocker clamped in. The top door side has single washer shims. The bottom door side has two washer shims. The truck side of the bottom hinge is pushed back as far as possible. Looks to me as the door side top and bottom hinges need one more washer.

The truck could have had some trauma, but it is my Dad’s ol’ truck, and I am not aware of any meaningful damage.

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[TotalyHucked]

Yeah there shouldn't be any shims or washers under the hinge, either at the cab side or the door side. All your adjustment is in the hinge, if you need more, open up the holes on the hinge. Those washers being there lessens the contact patch quite a bit and could cause cracking over time, especially on the door side. You need the full contact patch. Someone in the past didn't know what they were doing.