The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors 1950 Door Striker

Hoping someone can provide guidance here...I installed the door latches and strikers on my 50. Door alignment is good. On the driver side after I hear the latch engage the striker, I can still pull the door outward a good amount. The pass door is pretty tight fit once latched. Since then I installed the weatherstrip on the driver door and now the door is pushed outward @ 1/4" from the cab after its latched. Obviously the new rubber is forcing it out.

I noticed there isnt really any in/out adjustment on the striker. Are there different strikers for these or what am I doing wrong?

I just went through this same door latch problem on my ’53. If the door is still ¼ inch open, it is not fully latched. One would logically think, the striker plate needs to be moved inward in the jamb to tighten the gap, however I found the opposite to be the remedy. By moving the latch horizontally outward toward the door as far as it would go, it permitted the door mechanism to fully engage and the door fastened properly with no gap.

The striker plates for the 47-51 trucks are slightly different than 52 and later but the principle is the same. Looking at pictures online, it appears 47-51 trucks may only have horizontal adjustment (horizontal slots in the doorjambs), whereas 52 and later have slots for vertical adjustment (Striker Plates) as well as horizontal slots in the doorjamb?

First, try the horizontal adjustment as I did. Also If you have any vertical adjustment, try moving it down a bit. Over time, doors tend to move down not up. If all else fails, a small round file can give you another ¼ inch of adjustment to the striker plates.

Like many, we had my doors closing and fitting near perfection at the paint shop until we installed the new weatherstrip.


http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b542/RdLessTaken/IMG_85261_zps90bf2b98.jpg

This detail is enlightening. I dont believe my strikers have horizontal adjustment. The screws center in the striker holes. I have plenty of vertical adjustment. It looks like I need to review where the latch is engaging the striker.

So if I want to get horizontal alignment, I need 52-54 strikers?

It is my understanding that the striker plates must match the door lock mechanism, which means that 52-54 strikers will not work on 47-51. On the 52-54 trucks the slots in the doorjambs with the nut assembly for fastening the striker plates have horizontal slots, which give about ½ inch of side-to-side movement. If you have horizontal slots under your striker plates, that is where you get that adjustment.

If your truck has the horizontal shaped slots, perhaps the nut assembly behind the doorjamb is set up/rusted and not sliding?