Loose Door Latch

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

Reply to
89GMC
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Here is what it sounds like to me. The striker is adjusted wrong, move it slightly to the outside , and the weather-stripping is worn.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Whitelightning,

Thanks again man, I had adjusted that thing every which way(i thought) but never moved it to the outside enough, always figured height was wrong. Part of the prob is I think my door is bent, compared to the other one, this one seems like the top hits too early and the bottom sticks out. So I was expecting it to line up perfectly flat. But when moving it out a little I found the happy medium where it shuts nice and only sticks out maybe 1/8" or so.

Anyway thanks again this thing was drivin me nuts, I can't stand slamming my doors...

Whitelightn> >> I even tried diff size hoses and even electrical tape. The main prob

Reply to
89GMC

Sounds like your is out of adjustment. You should be able to adjust at the hinge to correct it.

Roy

Reply to
Roy

Roy,

Thanks for the idea, but my hinges are welded, have to get the replacement hinge kit to do that. A lil more than I want to get into for now.

Roy wrote:

Reply to
89GMC

Welded to both the door and the body?

Roy

Reply to
Roy

Yep, one half welded to the door the other half welded to the body, only way to get the door off(without cutting/drilling welds) is to take the pins out.

Roy wrote:

Reply to
89GMC

If the door is sticking out at the bottom place a softwood block at the top of the door and push the bottom in. A fair bit of force may be needed. This is the only way to adjust top to bottom

Reply to
Battleax

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