Sagging doors: where to start?

[EastAustinSawdust]

I have what appears to be sagging doors on my ‘78. It’s much more noticeable in the front…the cab gap toward the bottom of the door is almost nonexistent. See pics below.

Question is, where do I start? I’ve read other threads where people have shimmed door hinges, replaced hinge pins, replaced the door striker, or even adjusted the panels surrounding the door. Curious to hear y’all’s thoughts on how to approach this.

Per the last pic, both my door strikers have a notch worn in them. Reckon that is contributing to the sag? Should I replace those bushings? The doors close fine, doesn’t seem to be affecting that.

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[Chris64]

Your strikers aren't in terrible shape.

Usually the door pins need to be replaced assuming the doors haven't been completely removed.

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They're pretty cheap and relatively easy to replace (watch videos). I removed the door from the outer bolts to do it and I ended up just cutting the factory pins out. The new ones went in easier.

If that doesn't level it, you can adjust the doors but it's a pain. You loosen the bolts on the hinge located behind the fender (I think you have to remove the fenders, which means the grill and hood too. Also one is in the kick panel too IIRC) If it comes to that I've heard it's best to remove the striker and get it to align properly without it. Optionally, there's a tool that can help align the door, but that requires the striker.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Replace all four hinge pins and bushings. Then adjust doors accordingly. You adjust them by loosening the bolts until they're just snug, usually one decently snug, it's a pain in the sense you'll have to remove the doors a few times. Adjust until you reach the desired fit, you'll understand after you adjust a couple times. The door bolts adjust height and depth. The cab bolts adjust angle and side to side.

You DO NOT ALIGN WITH THE STRIKER. During the alignment of the doors, the striker needs to be removed completely. Then after the door is properly hung, you install the striker where the door says it needs to be. All the strikers do is latch the doors closed, it has nothing to do with door alignment. The striker also dictates the edge of the rear of the door depth as well.

You don't need to pull the front clip, it would be helpful in every way but you don't have that line for alignment after that. But if you get the door fitting in the door pocket correctly you should be able to adjust a little on the front clip and not have an issue.

All you need is hinge pins, bushings, and proper alignment. Make sure the return springs are good to go(you'll want to square them away now) can't be done safely with the doors on imo. As long as the bushing holes aren't slopped out. I recommend using the factory hinges instead of new ones, rebuild if you can.

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