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HELP HELP - Door alignment

DeepC73

Jr. Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
215
I'm back at the door alignment again. I bought a set of new hinges, which helped quite a bit. As you can see from the pics, I'm very close. The front fender is loose, so don't mind the front line. I can line that up when I'm done. My issue is the 1/2” gap at the rear bottom corner. I have tried almost everything for days. Tonight I realized that the door is all the way against the door weather stripping. I even removed the weather stripping, but it didn't make any difference. As much as I hate to say it, I think the passenger door is too wide. Is this common? Am I missing something? Any help is appreciated.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0lh6ICowZjIT-H_aTtowPKDFg
 

reamer

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,249
looks like you need to move top hinge out, or move top of door further out on the top hinge..
 
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DeepC73

DeepC73

Jr. Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
215
That is exactly what I thought. I have already slotted the bolt holes on the top hinge to get it where it is now. I'm at a point to where the inside of the door is all the way against the rubber stripping. There is no way for it to go in any further on the bottom.
 

Rustytruck

Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
looks to me the door is too far into the jambs and too low on both the front and back. I find that the door fits best when it is just proud of the body just enought to feel with your finger when rubbed accross. the door needs to be flush at the top with the tub and the fender top. once you raise the rear post and move it out a little then you can deal with the front hinges. as you are finding a little movement goes along way. You may need to use shims at the body mounts to square up the door openings.
 

jamesroney

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
1,667
Loc.
Fremont, CA
Hello, I have a couple of questions:

1st, What is the measurement from the pinch weld to pinch weld? Needs to be measured from at the sill, and again at the top. The door opening needs to be square.

2nd, is the front kick panel square to the floor?

Compare these numbers to the Driver's side. Post up your measurements.

I'm assuming that your Bronco came from the factory with a door, and the original door fit properly. If the body isn't square, you can't fix it with a door.

Hopefully everything is straight and square.
 
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DeepC73

DeepC73

Jr. Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
215
Jamesroney,
The door opening measures 39 1/4” across the top, from the tub to the front fender edge.
It also measures 39 1/4” at the bottom just above the top of the rocker panel from the tub to front fender. It looks square from floor to kick panel. However, I have carpet and pad installed. I have tried everything. The top of the A pillar might be bent a bit, but I'm not sure. The door is not fitting inside any further. I'm going to try to remove the striker and see if it allows it to go any further in. The bolts won't budge. I might have to drill them out. An6 other suggestions? Anyone please? I posted another couple of pics of looking at the A pillar to show my reference.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0Vtywpii0wnoboQh8VrvrDGFw
 

jamesroney

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
1,667
Loc.
Fremont, CA
DeepC73,

I can see from your pics that you still have the weatherstrip in the Bronco. I've never tried to set door gaps when the weatherstrip is there...because it hides all of the important gaps.

If the weatherstrip is in it...you can't get the pinch weld dimension. Any measurement that includes the fender is not much use...since the fender has a lot of adjustment in it.

If the screws for the Door Latch (not the strike post) are free...You can remove those and push the latch into the door. Then you can see if the door is parallel to the rear B-post. But if the top is on, and the weatherstrip is in...I'm not sure that you can tell.

It's impossible for me to tell in the pics if the door is twisted, or if the A pillar is out, or what's going on. But if the door to b-post is not even...something has to move.

At some point, you will want to fix the door strike post. Drilling it out has worked for me.

Best of luck,
James.
 
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DeepC73

DeepC73

Jr. Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
215
Jamesroney,
I'm not sure I understand what the pinch welds are. Can you explain please?
 

jamesroney

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
1,667
Loc.
Fremont, CA
I'm talking about the a-pillar pinch weld that runs vertically from the rocker versus the B-pillar pinch weld.

Here's a couple of pics.

As you can see, my project is a little more wiggly than yours...but believe it or not, it's time to fit the doors. So I'll hang my doors, and then make sure that my new quarters get the gaps right.
 

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skymast

Newbie
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
33
I need to replace my original body mounts but decided not to because my doors shut perfectly and didn't want to take a chance.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,353
If new mounts are needed, they're needed. My opinion is to go for it, but keep any body shims in the same location/orientation as they came from the factory. Then torque the body mounts down to spec, or until they are all the same 3/4" height (same as original) and verify that your door openings are still the same measurement.

I'm glad you brought that up, since I've done several body mount replacements on various Broncos and have literally never run into any issues. Even on those I was not being careful on!
By that I mean I'm always careful, but didn't take door alignment into account until after the jobs were done. Still never had an issue with door alignment after one of the jobs.
Don't work on them every day, and I've probably only done maybe five or six maybe? But that's enough to get an initial impression of the potential results. Maybe we were just lucky that each one cooperated without drama. The most trouble is always getting the old ones off, and I've always left the doors installed and fully latched when lifting just one side at a time.

So anyway, that's not to say nothing bad will ever happen. Just that if you really need new mounts you might as well bite the bullet next time the opportunity arises and give it a shot.
Have there been reports of this causing trouble with doors in other projects? I don't remember this ever being a big issue unless it was a body/frame off, or from-scratch full project.

Good luck!

Paul
 
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DeepC73

DeepC73

Jr. Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
215
UPDATE ON DOOR ALIGNMENT! I have managed to get the doors on, aligned and VERY CLOSE. The bottom rear corner of the passenger door is proud by about 1/4-1/8”. It's barely noticeable. I put new body mounts on last March. The body mount below the B pillar is shimmed about 1/4” - 1/2”. I had to shim the front fenders on both sides to line the front fenders and the doors because the doors are out so far. It created bigger gaps in the hood lines. I will post pics shortly.
 
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