Re: [DML] I hate my doors

[Ryan Wright <ryanpwright@xxxxxxxxx>]

I wanted to post an update on this issue, as I solved the problem a
few minutes ago.

There were several times when I had the doors "almost" adjusted right
over the past few months. I'd get it "close enough", it would release
nicely for awhile and then start sticking again. I'd try to adjust it
just a tiny bit and it would stick hard. Hours and hours of screwing
with the thing never seemed to help.

I started thinking I might have to play with the main door hinges, but
was afraid to. Until today. I was again screwing with the striker pins
and got into a situation where there was no way to get a smooth close
even with the front pin removed. The back pin was adjusted as high up
as it could go and it needed to go higher. It was then that I noticed
a slight scraping sound at the top of the door when it was fully
opened. I'd noticed this before but it was always very slight, this
time it seemed worse. The skin of the door was rubbing the t-panel a
bit on full open.

It was obvious the door needed to come "forward" (up) a bit on the
back hinge. So I pulled the strut, propped the door up about halfway
with a bar stool and loosened the bottom bolt. When I went to loosen
the top bolt (that holds the door strut) I found it was already loose.
Barely finger tight! No wonder I could never get my doors to stay
adjusted. I brought the door forward ever so slightly, tightened the
bolts back down, and what do you know - the t-panel scraping went away
and, after a 5 minute striker pin adjustment, the door closes smoothly
again.

Unfortunately I broke my door strut trying to get it back on - head
just snapped right off. I figure that's a good excuse for a set of
Toby's temperature compensating struts, so they're on their way.

Anyway, just wanted to post this since others have had similar
problems with their doors. If you can't get the back striker pin
adjusted to save your life, check the hinges. Be careful doing so, as
the torsion bar could cause you to have a very bad day. I left mine
alone as I was only loosening the rear slightly, but if you plan to
take the bolts out completely or adjust the front at all, the torsion
bar should be removed first.

-Ryan

On 9/16/05, Ryan Wright <ryanpwright@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Thanks for the replies, again.
>
> On 9/16/05, Jake Kamphoefner <jakekamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > Other than that, it sounds like you're doing everything right.  Also, where did you
> > get the seals?
>
> Seals are Grady's. I'm quite happy with the quality, if only I could
> get this problem worked out.
>
> > suggestion would be that if going up another 1/8th inch appears it would work, maybe
> >  try moving the pin down and in so the striker enters the latch a little later in its travel.
>
> Yep, I've tried and tried to do this. Here's the problem: If I move it
> in at all, the pin is too far away. The door will then close so
> tightly I can only open it from the inside. It seems to be a losing
> battle.
>
> After reading Luke's post, it sounds like I need to play with the
> seals some more:
>
> > This includes grinding away a part of the rear captive nut area so I could get the
> > pin another 1-2mm up and away from the body
>
> Yes! See, that's exactly what I've been thinking about doing. Looks
> like we have the same darn problem. Thank you for letting me know this
> didn't work for you - that saves me from having to try it. I'll try
> aligning these one pin at a time, as well as playing with the seals
> for a better fit (if that's possible). Hopefully that will get me
> somewhere.
>
> Rob, if you're lurking here -- do you have any ideas on this?
>
> Thanks everyone.
>
> -Ryan
>


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