Door / Fender alignment pro tips

[1buckeyefan1]

So i'm preparing for paint here in another month or so.. and trying to get everything *perfect*. My fender to door alignment is still bugging me a little bit. Notably:

1.) I still have a slightly larger gap at the bottom front opening. I'm pretty sure this is due to the aftermarket (jeff's premium) rockers being slightly longer. I really like the tight fit though with the fender to the rocker.. It almost seems like I need to bend the stainless hinge forward about a 1/16".. but don't really want to go beating on it. I thought i read the factory used to stick the hinges in a press to take care of this? I also considered cutting a little more off of the indent where it goes into the hinge and putting a spacer on the door side of the hinge to push it a little forward? Any other ideas?

2.) I can get the top of the fender/door to 'sit flush' as well as the bottom. But my fenders bulge out a little further than the door in the middle. The fenders are bolted snug onto the a-pillar and the door is aligned pretty well in all 4 corners. I'm sorta debating drilling out a few spot welds on the vertical seams on the fenders and pushing them in a bit. I already did this for the hood.. but haven't read many people doing this on the sides? Any other options?

As with most everyting, the enemy of good is perfect. Or do i leave this to the body shop? I'm afraid they'll just fill it to match.

 

[73azbronco]

same issue here. All I can figure is when I installed the 2 inch BL, I did not save the shims used on the mount points that had them, some of them 1/4 inch of factory shims. I plan to losen all the body mount bolts, start jacking each mount area and shimming to see what happens.

 

[1buckeyefan1]

same issue here. All I can figure is when I installed the 2 inch BL, I did not save the shims used on the mount points that had them, some of them 1/4 inch of factory shims. I plan to losen all the body mount bolts, start jacking each mount area and shimming to see what happens.

Yep, that's precisely what i've been messsing with to this point. I've got a shim at the body mount under the floorboard and 2 in both of the rears to pull in the upper gap. I'm not 100% sure I can shim my way out of this from the body mounts (as the gaps in the rear aren't equivalent.. so when i change the front.. the rear gets out of whack)..

Not giving up just yet though.