Ok, not surprisingly when I got my 89 pickup last year the drivers side door was loose. It was sagging so in went some new pins w/ bushings, sag gone. Next went to replace the striker bolt since it was notched pretty good. When I did so the one I got and what everyone seems to list is help 38420 which has 1/2" threads. My old one does not, it has
7/16" threads... So I had to go back and grab a different one(this time with the backing plate in hand). The 1/2" one came with the thermoplastic bushing on it. The 7/16" did not. Now the door really still does not close right, maybe a lil better than before w/o the sag. The new striker bolt does not seem to make a difference.So I got my caliper out and checked the min clearance for the striker bolt in the latch mechanism. On the passenger side(works perfectly) it was about half an inch(give or take). On the drivers side it's about .6(looks worn) I was told that this is the point of the bushings(plastic ones) I tried buying the only bushing I could find but it was for a 1/2" bolt and too big and the door won't shut with it. I even tried diff size hoses and even electrical tape. The main prob with the door now is that it's easy to get it to hit the first catch(open a crack) but very hard to get it to close all the way and stay. And sometimes even when I'm driving it will open back up to the other catch. So my questions....
Is there a bushing made for a 7/16 bolt? Is it even worth it? Does anyone else with a truck around the same year know which size bolt they have? Very curious that it's always listed wrong. Both sides of the truck are the same as well so i don't get that.
Should I just suck it up and buy a new latch? They're like 60 bucks from lmc.... If so I would imagine I have to tear the whole door apart? I've had it semi apart before to reconnect the lock rods and muck with the power windows to get it working.....
Thanks, Ed