Slamming Doors?

[timkustom]

New guy here. 

One of my pet peeves with Chuck is you have to slam the doors to make them fully latch.

It appears there was some "body work" done in and around the latch mechanism at some point it his life. I'd like to make them close a bit more easily.

Seems like every one of these trucks I've been in, the doors didn't close real nice (like my '68 Impala or '82 G30 van).

I'll try to get some pics of the latches posted soon. In the meantime, anybody got some pics of their latch door jamb area?

BTW, the doors don't rock on the hinges, the spring that holds it open could be worn out/missing though. Gonna check on that tonight.

[eventhorizon66]

My doors require a good slam too, but my hinges are pristine.  The problem is I have such a good cab seal and that little flap in the door that vents pressure doesn't work too well.  When any of the windows are open they close real nicely.  Do you get similar results when you roll the window down?

[BigHemi353]

dont slam too hard with the window down.....found out the hard way they glass likes to break sometimes....

Andy

[zieg85]

Every 73-87 I have ever had you had to shut it hard.  I think the weight of the door being light along with a good set of seals.  When I had my 86 and 96 F-150's before I got back into GM they required a little extra push as well.  My 72 C20 shut nice and easy.

[choptop]

If the door is aligned properly, the hinges are good, and the latch is lubed right, it should close nicely. After 20 plus years, these things need to be addressed. Most of mine close real good. The others, I havent messed with yet.

[oldwhity]

dont slam too hard with the window down.....found out the hard way they glass likes to break sometimes....

Andy

I could imagine you sitting there slamming the door shut and be like...WHAT THE! lol


Both of mine do the same thing.

[BigHemi353]

I could imagine you sitting there slamming the door shut and be like...WHAT THE! lol

Trust me.... it was a surprise.... lol 

[busman]

dont slam too hard with the window down.....found out the hard way they glass likes to break sometimes....

Andy

just did this 3 weeks ago forgot about it,  :ojust one of those things you learn with owning these trucks , I'm on my 3rd square!

[timkustom]

Thanks for the comments.

After looking at it real close last night, came to the conclusion that the striker bolts were out of alignment.

Luckily, I had a T50 torx bit in my toolbox and 3 minutes later they close 100% better.

Here's the bit if y'all need to know what I used:

http://tinyurl.com/dndcv2

Also, the rubber that is supposed to be on the striker bolt is long gone. Guess I'm putting them on my wish list. For the time being, a "work around" is simply wrapping that area of the striker bolt tightly with electrical tape. Don't put too much on or the latch will tear it up real fast. I think about a 16" length was all I used.

Doors don't rattle like they used to now. 

I noticed that I'm missing the "S" spring on the driver's side. How hard are those to install? Not real crazy about taking the door off if needed.


BTW, when I replaced the window regulator I pretty much had to remove the entire inner door assembly including the window. I found that the "door window seal" (attaches to the door along the lower edge of the window opening) is very important. If those are loose, the window can rattle leading to breakage. They are reproductions available, mine are in pretty good shape so I chose not to replace them.


Thanks for the help.

[78 Chevyrado]

Like eventhorizon66  I think my seals are good is what my problem is, since i know the door is right.  What I've figured out is that When I close my door, I can't just sling it and let it shut without me touching it, I have to hold the door handle the whole way, and just keep a a small amount of pressure on it while it latches.  It's not much pressure, basically I just have to have my hand on it, but when I do that I don't have to slam it.  But when the windows are down, it shuts easily by itself without any help.

[Captkaos]

If your doors are having to be slammed to be shut, there is something wrong.  None should require this:
First place to check is the stricker bolt and make sure it is in good condition AND that it has the nylon/plastic bushing on it.  (you can get these from the HELP! section and any autoparts store. 
Second you want to actually check the latch mechanism itself, make sure the striker hasn't eaten into the latch slide.  You may also want to check the operation of the latch and possibly remove it and clean it up and lube it. 
Third check the hinge pins and alignment.

[timkustom]

They sell just the bushings for the striker pins in the HELP! section? I'll have to try to find some. Much better than the electrical tape! 

My doors don't have any sag or play at the hinges, just the striker pins were out of alignment. Did eat into the door a touch, looked like more wear was done on the pin itself. 

The weatherstrip isn't in the way either since it's pretty old. When I restored my Impala (and replaced the weatherstrip), the doors were a bit tough to close and "popped" open when you unlatched them. A few months later after the weatherstrip "broke in" they were fine.

[choptop]

The only thing  have seen in the help section is the entire striker. They arent very much though.

[Russ130]

Those help sections vary from store to store so if you can't find what you want in one store go to another even if it's the same franchise.