The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors 57 chevy pickup door problem

im having trouble with my doors closing an latching they seem to sag an have a hard time closing them with out slaming them an that still dont work some times also have to lift up on the door to get it to close any advice how to fix this prob ?

my truck has the same problem.... one of the hinges are broken more than likely

With the door in the open position lift up and down on the back edge of the door. If there is any up and down movement look and see where it is. It could be a rust problem on the door or cab. It could also be a loose/bad hinge. If there is no movement then a simple hinge adjustment will fix the problem.

the hinges have a sloppy give to them any way to fix with out having to replace hinges ?

if you're sure it's the hinges themselves that are sloppy and not the attaching points inside the door, you could try replacing the hinge pins - with oversize ones if it's the holes that are wallowed out and not just the pins corroded/worn away .... replacement pins should be available from a NAPA if you have one nearby

Bill

Take off striker plate on door jamb and see if door fits OK. If not, adjust pillar and door hinges accordingly (if pins/hinges are good). Then adjust striker so that door is slightly lifted by striker when closed and rubber is squeezed enough to seal and door is flush..... These doors will need to be "slammed" as compared to todays doors. If rubber is new it will take awhile to be a gentle SLAM!

My passenger side door has a BIG problem,too. It sags when I open it,and on further inspection,the lower hinge is "flopping in the breeze",(technical term.) To make matters worse,the bolts are carriage style,with only one having a slot for an impact screwdriver. the other is just a round head carriage bolt. I'm thinking about welding a nut on the carriage bolt,and trying to remove it,before drilling out the bolt,and damaging the retainer nut. Has anyone done this on a T.F.??

Willy, sounds like a farmer fix on those hinge bolts, should be cage nuts the hinges are attached to with hex head or clutch head bolts, there'd be no way to tighten a carriage bolt from the outside, but you may be able to get a wrench on the nuts by looking in the slot behind the kick panel - the holes in the hinges are [were] squarish slots for adjustment and that may catch the shoulder on a carriage bolt so you couldn't turn it anyway

Bill

Thanks,Bill! i thought I posted this question,but couldn't find it. I'll remove the kick panel again,and see if I can gain access. I did notice the 3rd mounting bolt,accessible behind the tire. THANKS!!

just saw this post, and I too have the big carriage bolts, one on the bottom having a cut in it for a very large screwdriver or impact wrench, i have seen it on multiple 55-7 trucks of various sizes but my Apache doesn't have the carriage bolts, just normal hex head bolts, also I read somewhere that this was something that they did for a short time on the early TF trucks but discontinued due to trouble removing the hinges later on, something I can attest to, LOL


Indy

X2 on the carriage-bolt-through-the-door fix. Looks like this was a common thing. Must have worked...the doors were still attached. The heads were buried under about 1/2 inch of body filler.

-Jim

I just rebuilt on of my doors. I had another old Chevy and I took off the doors. The lower hinges were really shot. I took a top hinge off and put in in the bottom of my good door. Closes pretty good now.