1998 CHEVY 1500 DOOR ADJUSTMENT

JC Daniel

Promoted Users
I painted my friends 1998 chevy truck and we need to move the door to close gaps on the fenders and the back of the doors, the problem is that the hinges on the body and doors are welded in place with no adjustments to move the doors. I hope someone can give us some guidance with this as we are both stuck.
 
He put new pins and bushings in today , the doors are off a yukon and the fenders are off another 1500 chevy. One door is tight at the rear of the door top and the other is too tight at the bottom rear, He said the truck has never been wrecked.
 
Crashtech is correct. You need to rule out "causes" first before doing anything. First thing I would do is check to see if there is excessive play at the door hinge pin/bushing. This can be accomplished by opening the door, then on the lock/door handle side, grab the bottom of the door and lift up. If there is more than an 1/8" of play lifting, your hinge pins and bushings need to be replaced
If the hinge pin/bushing test passes, you can adjust the welded hinges using the tool Texasking posted.

Some will use a jack and wood to lift the door which bends the welded hinge into position. Seeing as the door is freshly painted, Texasking tool recommendation is the ticket to minimize paint damage.

Here's a video of how that tool works. The tool in the video is home made but, the principle is the same.

 
I have found that many novice-installed pin-and-bushing jobs are simply botched. But if not, there's usually some minor tweaking that can be done to correct the situation. I can't think of too much in the way of easy Internet advice, though.
Be aware that just because his truck was never wrecked does not mean the donor vehicles for the parts have never been.
 
The best pin and bushing kits I have used for the price are Disco #9905. The ones guys buy from NAPA are absolute junk, the bushings crack apart rapidly. If the bushing is not an interference fit into the hinge, you have problems. I used to try to weld and re-drill the hinges, this is a fools errand.
 
The best pin and bushing kits I have used for the price are Disco #9905. The ones guys buy from NAPA are absolute junk, the bushings crack apart rapidly. If the bushing is not an interference fit into the hinge, you have problems. I used to try to weld and re-drill the hinges, this is a fools errand.

Most of the time by the time someone tries to do something with them they are toast and the hinge holes are wallowed. I've done more than I can remember and most of the time when they get brought to me the damn door wont even shut!
For the holes that have wallowed I use JB Weld or other epoxy and coat the hole and the outside of the bushing. Works well enough to get the vehicle out of the Shop. Not much else you can do. Like Crash said welding the holes and re-drilling is a fools errand. If yo could locate the original center point you could do that but without some sort of jig you can't.
 
If you are having trouble, after adjusting with the tool, taking the striker bolt out allows you to see what actual plane the door is in when you close it. Shouldn't have to do that but it does help if you are having trouble. Once the body lines line up with the bolt out, then adjust the striker to that point.
 
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