Oil Canning in Driver Door at Handle

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squaredeal91

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All for saving paint lol. I'd probably want to not touch that paint either and be trying something. I have schemed about fixing my door without heat and shrinking but it's pretty bad where mirror got ripped off.
 

Mr Stay Puft

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Painting is beyond my skill set. I'd have to have it done somewhere. The existing paint was redone at some point by the previous owner. It's not show room quality and has numerous imperfections, but is decent for a daily driver/camping rig. I have the door apart anyway to redo all the weather stripping and I'm going to add in the LMC relays for the window. I think I am going to send my vent windows in to Precision too. I can make a stiffener at work pretty easy and using some epoxy to bond it to the panel is quick and cheap.
 

Doppleganger

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Doppleganger,
Very cool, that's along the lines I was thinking but with a bent edge flange to increase rigidity. Something like this.

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However, the flange is gonna have to be pretty short. I though there was more room between the panel and the window because when the window is down there is plenty. However, as Squareroot pointed out, when the window is up there is barely any clearance with the supports at the bottom of the window.

I also noticed the existing reinforcement in the door area there isn't bonded to the panel out at the edges:
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So I can slip the stiffener in a little way but not all the way to the screw. I think bonding the existing support out at the edges as well as using something like you did or something with a small edge flange might be enough.
TBH......that plate I used is probably twice the door skin thickness and original rigidity by itself. It is rock solid.
 

SquareRoot

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Mine was exactly like this when I got it. I tried the heat/cold stunt and it sort of worked....but where it was stretched was right where you'd always be pushing or pulling it. So I added a thin patch plate from a hardware store - with 3M panel adhesive. Worked like a gem and is rock solid now.

I also had some major oil canning on the roof from hauling my stripped cab to be soda blasted and the 50mph air rushed into the open interior light hole and stretched it. About 100 dabs with a spot welder and cold wet rag tightened it back up just fine.

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If my wife saw that you left the sticker on you would never hear the end of it. Ask me how I know. Doesn't matter that no one will ever see it. It's a matter of ones pride in their work she says. Now I'm just more careful to cover things up when she's around. lol
 

Rob red

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My CUCV has the same problem with an OEM door. When I got it both doors were bent down slightly and dragging on the strikers from what I assume was years of folks hoisting them selves in the cab using the doors. This could be a contributing factor.

To fix it I would do some small heat shrinks around the handle opening to tighten it back up. This would require body and paint work.
 

Sydney C10

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Call your painless dent removal guy back to fix it if he's left it oil canning. You should actually be able to fix it by stretching it a little - a block of wood, brick bolster or similar up inside that sharp body line and a few taps should do the trick. Imagine stretching the skin on a drum, pulling from the edges will make it tighter. This technique generally works for oil canning panels that have been warped when welding too. Good luck with it!
 

Doppleganger

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This is my roof after the oil canning. I found the center of the stretches in 3 large sections - started on the right section. 75-100 random spots with a stud welder and a cold wet rag. By the time I finished the right and middle areas, the left side was taunt again and fine. The sheet metal is so thin I was always wondering how you could buff it as much as it bowed. This is rock solid now, so I'm relieved. Will take a thin coat of filler / high build primer, but will be fine.

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Camar068

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my door handle does the same. I also noticed the inside support is not solid and assumed tacking it would fix it.
 

Mr Stay Puft

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So I was able to fix my door with just epoxy. I used DP190 because we have a ton of it at work. For my oil canning, it was caused by the existing stiffener around the handle not being bonded to the door skin. I stuck a plastic panel tool in between the two to create a gap so I could squirt in the adhesive. I then used a clamp to apply pressure to the bond. It’s rock solid now. I am going to do the passenger door next. It’s not nearly as bad but the fix is so simple and it greatly improves the rigidity of the door in that area.
 

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