Door/Hinge Alignment Help

[airbur]

I've been futzing with the alignment of both doors for a while now with no luck. Both of them are tilted down somewhat which makes it necessary to either lift them as they close or slam them hard. There is a little play in each hinge due to rust over the years. I've already replaced the striker plates on both sides. Is it worth it to keep f'ing with the hinge alignment and bolts or should I just start with new hinges? They are pricey from what I've seen and I don't have a press to use with the rebuild kits that are out there. Thanks.

 

[75brnco]

Doors

I tried to rebuild mine a couple weeks ago, getting the old pins out was a pain and I have a 20 ton press. I would say buy new ones.

 

[Explorer]

At around $40 a hinge, I just bought the lift off set from Duff's at $200 for all four. Half inch pin w/bronze bearing. Got pile of old ones laying around if I ever get bored enough to rebuild them. Still can't understand why they are so expensive.

 

[red hot71]

In picture 1 it shows that you need to raise the door a bit which will improve the the sag in picture 4, the one picture you didnt show was the bottom of the door in relation to the top of the rocker panel, sometimes the body mount at the hinge needs to be shimed up. Stand back and look at the door as it sits in the opening, hinges can be shimed to square the door to the opening also

 

[johnnybgood74]

open the door just enuf to get your hands on the back and under the door and pull up in a jerking motion until it lines up again. just a thought. thats what charlie did on american hotrod to a sweet 56 chevy. he jerked, pushed and used wooden 2x4's as wedges. im sure that some might be offended but hell, he paints 100,000 plus dollar cars and persuades the metal damn good!

 

[airbur]

I have a new set of hinges on order. Any advice on the install or is it pretty straight forward? Thanks.

 

[deltarat]

open the door just enuf to get your hands on the back and under the door and pull up in a jerking motion until it lines up again. just a thought. thats what charlie did on american hotrod to a sweet 56 chevy. he jerked, pushed and used wooden 2x4's as wedges. im sure that some might be offended but hell, he paints 100,000 plus dollar cars and persuades the metal damn good!

I have a friend that works at the Nissan plant and he said you would not believe how they adjust new car doors. They use 2x4s and rubber hammers wrapped in towels.

 

[BCH BRCO]

Let me offer a short lesson on how doors were "hung" on the vehicle in the plants during the 60's and 70's. The doors were installed into "door hanging" fixtures that were then positioned to the vehicle while an operator secured the hinges to the door and body pillar. A pneumatic clamp held the hinge tight to the body and pillar while the bolts were run in with an air tool. Generally the door would be pre-set with it slightly higher to the quarter panel to compensate for the ultimate sag that would occur after all the glass and hardware were installed. The preset on a Bronco door and the doors on a four door sedan or station wagon model would have less preset than a two-door vehicle because of the longer, heavier weight of the bigger door. If you are experiencing door drop off relative to the quarter panel try "pre-setting" the door slightly higher to the quarter panel. Sorry for the wordy post but perhaps this will help someone with their door fit problems!

 

[airbur]

That's good information, thanks. I guess I'll bolt up the new hinges into the current location and then adjust as needed from there.

 

[Steve83]

I put a few washers between the hinge & body to align Frank's. You can work the top hinge forward by putting washers on the inboard bolts & not outboard.

 

[67 ox]

i went through very similar issue. it was not really the hinge at all, but the body mount as noted earlier by someone else. i had to cut the bolt holding the body to frame and jack up body from the floor. i added a couple of large washers to the body mount. As i put pressure on the jack you could see the door slowly lift.

 

[airbur]

i went through very similar issue. it was not really the hinge at all, but the body mount as noted earlier by someone else. i had to cut the bolt holding the body to frame and jack up body from the floor. i added a couple of large washers to the body mount. As i put pressure on the jack you could see the door slowly lift.

Hmmmm....sorta like these?

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160713