The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors 55 TF door alignment

just got finished welding lower hinge panel, step and rocker combo, cab corner, painted, not looking to bad for first time but, time to put door back on not good. i put new hinge pin and bushings upper and lower. problem is door hanging low at back, i know that if i slide door out on bottom hinge it will raise door at back but i'm adjusted out as far as it will go on bottom hinge now, and i'm about where i need to be on top adjustment i think, this is very frustrating, any ideals would be much appreciated

I have never aligned the doors on my TFs but I know they can be really difficult to get aligned properly. Get a helper and take your time.

In the Body and Paint shop section of this forum there is an area just dealing with doors. Look for a link at the top of the forum posts. There may be some helpful hints in some of the posts there.

Welcome to the Wondefull World of Task Force Body Panel Alignment! The doors on the '55-'59s are a real pita to get straight, and it doesn't help that the factory doesn't really give decent alignemnt adjustments to get it right. As noted, get a helper to assist you. One thing that I found to be a real problem with adjusting them is that the door has to be open to access the bolts, so you really can't tell where you are really at. I actually gave up on the factory adjustments, and used shims behind the door hings to get it close. I know it isn't right, but it did work.
BTW, if you ever see a TF truck with perfectly aligned doors, you can bet that someone spent alot of time fitting them, in both hinge adjustments and also reshaping the door to fit the opening better.

not always, sometimes the factory did get the right combination of parts and the doors fit perfectly .... like on my 58 the door fit was why I first got it

Bill

i will work some more on it today, i think i will try some shims behind the bottom hinge to see how much that gives me. if i can just get a solid door shut, i can live with gap

i hear you on door alignment.
when i bought my 57, this is how it came, with the upper part of the door being fine, but the lower rear of the door an middle is out too far.

http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/...00/?action=view&current=DSCF4852.jpg

i have not tried to adjust it yet, but really need to, since it looks bad the way it is.

anyone have any idea how i can get the lower rear of my door to go inward ? the front of the doors are perfect, lining up with the fender.

good luck with your alignment attempt

thanks..leonard

Len - the only way you'll fix that will be to bend the door - not easy, but possible ... I did it with a door on daBus where I had to scratch build the bottom foot or so and didn't get it quite right .... didn't have the finish paint on yet tho'

when these trucks were built they could pick and choose doors that suited the variations in shape of the cab and fenders, and the original fit wasn't always great [especially around the dogleg], they weren't building show trucks

Bill

thanks a bunch bill... i guess i am stuck with it the way it is for a while. in a few years when the pain is goen, i might tackle it then...thanks much.

leonard

I think you need to get the top of the door to come out some, then adjust the latch in...

I thought I've seen old B&W films of the guys at the end of the assembly line adjusting doors this way.

[/quote]
I think you need to get the top of the door to come out some, then adjust the latch in...

I thought I've seen old B&W films of the guys at the end of the assembly line adjusting doors this way. [/quote]

thanks 54tow.
i am pretty sure i have my latches as far as they can go inward, because it is pretty hard to close the doors now...

a friend told me that i should take a piece of 2x4 and insert it at the top of the door, then push inward at the middle and bottom of the door, basically bending the top out and the bottom in, which will suck the bottom inward.
not too sure about doing it that way, especially since it is painted now.
any thoughts on that way guy ?

leonard

Your friend is correct. They did that trick for years and years.(and may still do it) They used a big rubber mallet, and a 2x4 on a painted door. I wish I could find the video.

thanks 54tow.. amazing that they can do it on a painted door. if you find the video, please shoe it here.

thanks.
leonard

I found this article on door adjustment. Paragraphs 5 and 6 say to use a block wrapped in a rag.

It seems like you could do the same thing by opening the door, hold the door against your leg, and pull at the top of the door.

Placing the block inside the door frame and bumping your hip/leg in on the middle/bottom will probably work better, though.

i'm back, worked on door some more, shimmed behind lower hinge and went in a little bit at top. door is closing good now, is protruding a little bit out from new door rubbers i put on but i think will take care of itself in time, this truck has really been a learning experiance, thanks eveyone for your imput on my problem, it is nice to know you are not the only one strugling with these old hunks of iron, but i sure like it

thanks a ton 54tow.. i will read the entire article when i get a chance.. leonard

wad55, glad to hear you made progress. one day i have to attempt to do something, since it always looks like my door needs to be fully shut, when it already is.
do you have any before and after pics ?

leonard

sorry no pictures, have to get wife to set me up to where i can post pictures, i'm about as good on this computor as i am doing body work on my truck