Door striker post replacement/bolts

[kat]

As you can see in the photos my drivers door will not shut all the way. The door seal is original so that is not holding it back. I was going to loosen up bolts in the striker post to adjust but as you know they dont move. Tried heat, blaster hand held driver with a phillips head but nothing. So I was going to drill them out. Ive read on here that I need to drill up to a 1/4 (is this correct). But my issue is what size bolt can I put replace them with?? They have a sholder on them so dont know what direction to go. Im down to my Bronco being my primary transportation right now and dont want to bite off more than I can chew. With the door open there is a little sag. I can move MAYBE a 1/4'.
Do I need to replace the hinge first? To be honest I dont think it will help that much. But the rattling of the door when I hit a bump is driving me crazy.....

 

[kat]

Forgot to add pics

 

[NicksTrix]

striker is held on with 5/16 x18 countersunk bolts a 3/4 should be long enough.
i replace them often with a socket head instead of the phillips

try heating it from the backside. another approach is to weld a short 5/16 or 3/8 bolt to it. the heat and the improved grip usually get them right out.

looks like you hinges need to come in some as well.

 

[kat]

striker is held on with 5/16 x18 countersunk bolts a 3/4 should be long enough.
i replace them often with a socket head instead of the phillips

try heating it from the backside. another approach is to weld a short 5/16 or 3/8 bolt to it. the heat and the improved grip usually get them right out.

looks like you hinges need to come in some as well.

So a regular bolt will work?? It wont hit anything??

And about the hinges....All I need to do is loosen the bolts and they will adjust in/out/up/down?? I also have one bolt broke off in both hinges where they connect to the body. Just a little heat should get these out correct?? Thanks again

 

[kat]

Never mind I loosed up the two bolts on the hinges that wherent broke and moved rather easy I hope the striker post is as easy

 

[MR-CYN]

He meant using a hex socket flat head instead of Philips. Those strip as well but they're 10x better than Philips.

I had to drill mine out and wound up using nuts on the back. The nuts did the tightening with lock washers and the screw head just held lightly to stop it from spinning.

Good luck.

 

[JAFO]

Use anti-seize when you put bolts back. Also, just curious, is the rubber bumper still in the door latch assembly? I guess if would rattle if that is gone as well.

 

[KBUCK1]

adjust the doors first. you can get most of that out without moving the strikers

 

[Hopstr]

The vendors also sell shim kits for the door hinges that help a lot getting the doors aligned. X2 on getting your doors aligned well and you most likely won't have to move the strikers.

 

[kat]

Ok, dragging this thread out again.

I have replaced both DS hinges, and the striker post is not letting the door close all the way. I was able to get one of the striker bolts out and replaced it with a hex head like was recommended. But the Phillips head on the other one is stripped. I have tried drilling but brand new drill bits dont seem to work. Barely making a dent. Are these things hardened?? Do I need to get a different style of drill bit? Im using Dewalt bits and cutting oil. Im making a little progress but it shouldn't be this hard. Thanks

 

[Teal68]

Should not be hard to drill out. I had to drill about half of those out when I did Kerri's Bronco, and used one bit to do them all.

 

[rmk57]

I don't think you can access it from the backside without cutting out a piece of the cage the adjustment plate sits in.

Fortunately mine was rusted out as I had one that was stripped also so it was easy to get at. I had to make a new plate up which is easy enough. I think I used 1/4 instead of the original 3/16 plate.

 

[kat]

Should not be hard to drill out. I had to drill about half of those out when I did Kerri's Bronco, and used one bit to do them all.

Ill bring my drill, 3 new titanium bits and 50 bucks if you can drill this thing out.
Im assuming its the striker post holding it back. Ill get some pics of it closed and get some opinions.

 

[Teal68]

Ill bring my drill, 3 new titanium bits and 50 bucks if you can drill this thing out.
Im assuming its the striker post holding it back. Ill get some pics of it closed and get some opinions.

You know I can't resist helping a Bronco brother! I hate for you to drive over here to drill out a bolt but I'm game, and you certainly would not have to pay. It really should not be hard to drill that out. I'm surprised.....but sounds par for the course for me when I'm doing stuff!

 

[cdj7k]

Dont rule out your body mount

 

[Galt72]

Dont rule out your body mount

ditto that, check your body mounts arn't worn out. there is a u tube video where a guy jacks up the body mount slightly right where your feet sit, installs a shim and the door falls back into place

 

[kat]

ditto that, check your body mounts arn't worn out. there is a u tube video where a guy jacks up the body mount slightly right where your feet sit, installs a shim and the door falls back into place

Maybe....I put a spacer under the body mount under the drivers seat because of the top of the door hitting the body. I took the pics and sent them to work but didn't receive them. Ill post up pics in the morning.

 

[kat]

Just to recap.. New door hinges with no shims behind them. Body mount under drivers seat has spacers. Door striker looks to me like it needs to go down but cant because of the bolt that is made of Thor's Hammer. Door has to be slammed to close. If you look at the pics it seems to me the door is pretty close of being square. But Ill take suggestions

 

[Teal68]

Dude, you got that looking great aside from the strike. Those hinges and your shim made a world of difference.

When I did all the adjusting on Kerri's I did it with no weather stripping installed. That way there was no pressure from anything to mis-align it or push back. I'm not saying to tear off the ws'g yet, but once you get the strike adjusted if it's still hard to shut you may want to remove it...and then replace it with the best ones you can find. If you get to that point the do some searching because because there's a lot of debate on this site about who has the best weather stripping.

 

[kat]

Dude, you got that looking great aside from the strike. Those hinges and your shim made a world of difference.

When I did all the adjusting on Kerri's I did it with no weather stripping installed. That way there was no pressure from anything to mis-align it or push back. I'm not saying to tear off the ws'g yet, but once you get the strike adjusted if it's still hard to shut you may want to remove it...and then replace it with the best ones you can find. If you get to that point the do some searching because because there's a lot of debate on this site about who has the best weather stripping.

The door does push against the weather stripping (front of cab) about and inch before the door shuts. I can hear the rubber squeak. Maybe that is my problem. I guees I can pull it off or start to trim it and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip Tyler