The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Lower door hinge mount is flexing - why???

Hello!

Put some time into my '59 Apache Fleetside to fix the pass side door handle - wouldn't open from the outside, but it was an easy fix.

While adjusting the door mechanism to make the door latch correctly, I realized that the bottom hinge seemed loose where it bolted to the door. I removed the plate that covers the hinge mount, and saw that the bolts appeared to be loose. I removed them, cleaned them with a wire wheel, chased the threads with a tap, greased up the bolts and reinstalled them. They went in easily by hand, and I snugged them up with a socket wrench...and the hinge still seemed to flex in the door, as if there was a threaded plate that had come loose. The hinge appears to bolt directly into the sheet metal of the door, and there don't appear to be any cracks, so I'm not sure why the hinge is flexing/moving even with the bolts tightened.

Anyone have any insight on how the doors are constructed, and what might be loose?

Thanks...

Chris

could it be that the bottom hinge itself is binding?Causing the sheet metal of the door to flex when you push or pull

The hing slides through the hole and bolts into captured nuts on a welded in bracket that is structurally part of the door. Is that where the flexing is occurring? On my '59, the left side did that, because it was totally rusted out around the bracket. I had to cut off the bottom 8 inches or so of the door to replace all the rust. Is it possible yours is rusted out too?

Guumbah -

Possibly. It's a NV truck, and the doors seem pretty solid, but I can't see back there. Also, the truck was hit on that side at one point in time, so it may have broken the welds. It has hit hard enough to move the door frame, although I was able to cut all the old welds and straighten it out when I did the cab corners.

Any idea how I can see back there, aside from hacking the door apart?

Chris

Have you had the door off completely? The only way to completely see it is to remove the skin like I did, but once the door is off the cab, you can at least see the face that the hinge bolts to. With it off the cab, you should also be able to tell if that bracket is busted, because it will move around or flex. Mine had rusted through on the bottom seam, so I could actually bend it back by hand.