[DML] Re: Doors..and doing it my way.....

["jtrealtywebspannet" <jtrealty@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was the one who developed the "hang test". I used several cars and then consulted with Rob Grady before settling on the amount the door should hang open with no strut. This test is relative. It can also be affected by how strong the struts you use are. It is NOT temperature dependent. I wanted to have a definitive test anyone could do without tools to tell if they needed struts or a torsion bar adjustment. There is no way to know exactly how strong the original struts were when new so this hang test is designed to use struts currently available. One problem is that different venders source their struts differently and the strength can vary. If your doors barely hang open you need very strong struts to hold the door all the way open. Most venders do not sell struts that strong. I try to adjust the torsion bar so that at around 70 degrees F the doors will open just about all the way. You have to push them to full open and they will stay there and not droop. This puts the least amount of stress on the roof and avoids "bouncing" when opening. For those with door launchers it is not enough and they will always want the doors to bounce to full open.
David Teitelbaum

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Farrar Hudkins <fhudkins@...> wrote:
>
> All other stuff aside...
> 
> On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 9:30 AM, cbl302@...
> <cbl302@...>wrote:
> 
> > **
> > if you take the strut off you will notice that the door will swing down
> > and almost go to the closed position.
> >
> 
> This is true, and it is how I determined that it was time to inspect my
> roof cage and see if a torsion bar adjustment was necessary. My doors would
> close all the way with no struts attached. Brand new struts would barely
> hold the doors open in chilly weather (circa 60 degrees Fahrenheit). So I
> removed the necessary bits and made sure the roof cage was OK, and then
> gave the torsion bars one more notch each of tension. After this was done
> and everything tightened down, the doors would just hold open a little bit
> -- about an inch from closed on the driver's side and about half an inch
> from closed on the passenger side. Some people would have torqued the bars
> one more notch, but this was enough for me. I just decided to replace the
> struts every autumn.
> 
> For years I was told that the struts should hold the doors open six to
> eight inches without a strut installed. In my opinion this is too much
> tension -- my doors open just fine, and will stay open for hours while I
> work on the car, even at forty degrees or so, without sagging, as long as
> the struts are fresh (less than a year old).
> 
> Sorry to make this point in such a roundabout way. The point, though, is
> that it should be an inch or so from closing as Claude says, if you let the
> door down gently (and why wouldn't you?), not "several inches" as was
> floating around for some time (I forget who said it first).
> 
> And a belated Happy St Patrick's Day to all who celebrated yesterday!
> 
> Farrar Hudkins
> #2613
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>




------------------------------------

To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address:
moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx

For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com

To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnewsYahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/