Driver's door suddenly hard to close right

Greenie

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There's no noticeable play in the hinge pins when I checked and the striker pin looks OK - there's a very thin plastic covering over the pin that is torn but I can't imagine that would be the cause. I've lubed the mechanism and nothing looks broken. Getting the door closed properly requires a pretty hard slam - even with the window down. That slamming is going to cause other problems in the door.
Any ideas???
 

ROCK HARVEY

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It’s that plastic bushing, unless the bolts holding the door hinge got loose and shifted somehow. You can make your own bushings out of PEX tubing for a couple of bucks.
 

ROCK HARVEY

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Old Goat

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I had the same problem a few years back and read about using the Pex pipe.
Worked better than no bushing.

Some time later I was at PNP, and started to remove the good one`s I came across.
You can remove the striker bolt with a T-50 Torx and your Impact gun.
Some times you can find on the Passenger side that doesn`t get as much use, they are in better condition.

My 86 just had the Striker bolt, then later Ford added a bent piece of steel around them, I guess peop;e were catching their clothing on the Bolt? IDK.
I pulled some of these an installed on the 86.

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Some of these you can unscrew the Bolt and get just the Bushing off and some will not unscrew.

Here is a Google search.



One thing that will mess up these Bushings is, if the Door Hing Bushings are worn out and makes the door sag. Door latch and Striker will be out of alignment.
Grab the lower corner of the door and lift, you will feel the slop.


Goat
 

captain720

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Sometimes the door will have major slop but only at one point of the rotation so you have to wiggle up and down and throughout its swing to find the slop.
 

Austin86250

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I had the same problem a few years back and read about using the Pex pipe.
Worked better than no bushing.
i also had some issues with pex maybe i did something wr\ong but it just wore out ****** and was just like the old one within a couple months
 

ROCK HARVEY

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I think goat is right about the sagging door messing up the bushings. I have a set of new pins/hinge bushings that I’ll get around to replacing, they were cheap on Amazon. My door doesn’t sag too bad though, which is probably why my PEX bushings are still holding up after a year.
 

Old Goat

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The replacement door Pins and Bushings are usually from Dorman. Slide the Bushing on the Pin, and feel the slop. Seems to me they should fit tighter on the shaft.

I watched several YT`s on how to replace them. OH that`s easy... one guy has a floor jack under the door, and uses a drill to drill off the riveted head off the pin. Then drive it out.
I could not get the drill and bit to line up because of door, windshield post etc... of bit too short...

I finally, removed the 2 bolts top/bottom off the hinge and lifted the door off and sat on ground resting against the fender.

The top hinge has that little white roller thingy that hold the door open. I had new one`s as mine was flat on one side.
new one comes with a new shaft/pin it rides on. Drove it out with a punch, and the new one used my 20 ton HF Hyd press to slowly push it in.

With a punch drive out of the old Bushings, and tap the new one`s in.
Drop in the new Door Pin and drive it in solid.
Under the head of the pin are some splines that are to bite into the steel part of the Hinge. I could not get it in very far, maybe if the Hinge was removed from the body, and using a HYD Press it would go in all the way?

I still have the slop with the door as I lift it up and down. also the Door pin came up and later the Bushing broke. OH Great!!!

O`Really`s sells just the Bushings, 8 come in the package. Only 2 fit the Ford. others are for a Chevy, Dodge and Toyota, and think they are 10 Bucks.

On one thread the guy said just buy new hinges and be done with it....but also said after market ones are not all that great, and to find good tight OEM one`s in the JY and be better off.

Once in a while PNP will have a $25 sale on Hoods, Fenders, Bumpers and Doors. I have some good tight hinges especially the Pass side from all the Doors I have dragged home.
But how do you access the bolts on the body to adjust the door with the new Hinge? remove the fender?

I did have a crazy thought, to but some bolts, maybe grade 8 1/4" or what ever size it is. Have them turned down to a snug fit into the Bushings.
Either thread the lower end for a Ny-Lock Nut or drill for a Cotter Pin.

OK Iam done babbling....

Here it a thread I saved I forgot about till now,


A good YT Vid.
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Vid on door handle fix plate
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Bronco Grave yard has the plates.

Goat
 

franklin2

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I never worried about how much slop is in the door hinge. Once it gets slop, the door drops down that is true. But I just loosen the adjustment bolts and lift the door back up and re-tighten it using the worn bushings. Seems to work fine for me. After all, when the door is shut the striker pin has it trapped anyway. You can't expect the door hinges to support the door when you are bouncing down the road, that is the striker and latch's job.

I use the pex as a bushing with much success. I found when the original bushing is gone, I could slam the door but it would tend to bounce back and not shut all the way. When the pex is installed, it latches the door the first time with no bounce back.
 

Greenie

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It was the hinges - as suggested, with the door almost closed I checked for play and there was a small amount - not like my '83 GMC that had obvious slop but just enough. Not only is the door hard to shut correctly but it rattles on bumpy roads - which Maine has a few of, but wind noise at highway speed. Thanks for the helpful comments!
 

Old Goat

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Greenie, when you close the door to where the latch touches the Striker, how do the body line`s line up?
My Drivers door was lower by about 1/2" or so.
When the door closes, the Latch hits the Striker and has to jump up onto the Striker Bolt to latch close. Then I had to slam the door to get it to close tight.

Also if your Window Channeling and Window wipes ( or Belt Wipes) are long gone, replacing them with new ones really makes a world of difference in the wind noise.

If your need replacing, here is a great video on changing them. Wish this one was posted when replaced mine last year.

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Be sure to order parts for your year truck.
I know the Window Wipe is shorter on your 93 compared to my 86, because they cut off the point on the Wind Wing, and the window post is moved back some.
I discovered this as I had ordered parts for the 86 couple years before, including Door panels.

Later I dragged home some good 94 doors I was going to paint and use them. So ordered all the parts for these doors.
When I was doing the 86 doors, I opened up the 94 box and....whats up with these shorter Wipes?
Finally figure it out.

Once you swap in all the new parts, you will need to crack a window when closing the door to let out the pressure.



Goat
 

IDIBRONCO

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not like my '83 GMC that had obvious slop
GMs from the 70s, 80s, and at least for trucks, into the 90s were BAD about wearing out door hinges. I you catch them early enough (for GMs anyway) you can replace the hinge pins and bushings, but most people don't seem to worry about them soon enough from what I've seen.
 

Greenie

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The felts, channels and seals are in pretty good shape - the truck has been in a heated garage since 1999. Thanks for the videos, though. I'll try pins and bushings first and see how that works out.
 
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