Lining up two front doors on a ute

[David seagull 9]

I have a xh ute and the doors were knacked  (hinge mounts were broken) what the best way to line them up .is there a trick  or a easy method 

[gerg 10,871]

There is no easy method, just lots of trial and error. You need to line up the opening end with the striker and get it closing nicely, make sure your gaps are ok. Look at your window frame and make sure it's making good contact with the seal. If the seal is old, a bit of silicone spray helps the door shut more easily without force.
If you can't get it to latch nicely but your body lines are good, you will need to play around with the striker adjustment.

Once you have it shutting nicely and body lines matching, you might have to move the guard in or out to line it up again, and this then messes up your panel gap to the bonnet.

These cars weren't very accurate with panel gaps so you really need to just live with the compromise between the door lining up with the body and the bonnet shut line being too wide. The very last thing you want is for the door to not shut properly and have water come in the cabin.

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[hendrixhc 10,918]

Sometimes you even need to cut 3mm off the bottom of the door to get the gaps right.

[gerg 10,871]

Sometimes you even need to cut 3mm off the bottom of the door to get the gaps right.

When I put my panels back on my wagon, the doors took ages but when I finally got them right, the guards were way out and I had to slot a couple of bolt holes to get them right. And then, the scuttle and bonnet ended up with about 10mm of gap to the guards. It looked wrong but it was the best I could do without chopping something. I just got used to it.

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[hendrixhc 10,918]

Funnily enough i have had to slot the passenger side guard bolt holes to get some panel gaps as well.

[David seagull 9]

8 hours ago, gerg said:

When I put my panels back on my wagon, the doors took ages but when I finally got them right, the guards were way out and I had to slot a couple of bolt holes to get them right. And then, the scuttle and bonnet ended up with about 10mm of gap to the guards. It looked wrong but it was the best I could do without chopping something. I just got used to it.

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Ok as long as your happy with your efforts 

I'm still not got it right yet  but I will keep on trying  lol 

 

 

[David seagull 9]

14 hours ago, gerg said:

There is no easy method, just lots of trial and error. You need to line up the opening end with the striker and get it closing nicely, make sure your gaps are ok. Look at your window frame and make sure it's making good contact with the seal. If the seal is old, a bit of silicone spray helps the door shut more easily without force.
If you can't get it to latch nicely but your body lines are good, you will need to play around with the striker adjustment.

Once you have it shutting nicely and body lines matching, you might have to move the guard in or out to line it up again, and this then messes up your panel gap to the bonnet.

These cars weren't very accurate with panel gaps so you really need to just live with the compromise between the door lining up with the body and the bonnet shut line being too wide. The very last thing you want is for the door to not shut properly and have water come in the cabin.

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Cheers  thank you  

I will have it right soon I hope  

They just not latching properly  atm  

 

[gerg 10,871]

Cheers  thank you  
I will have it right soon I hope  
They just not latching properly  atm  
 

If the panel gaps are good, adjust the striker up/down/in/out to get it closing sweet.

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[David seagull 9]

4 hours ago, gerg said:

If the panel gaps are good, adjust the striker up/down/in/out to get it closing sweet.

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Cheers I will when I can

[David seagull 9]

Thanks everyone  

[gerg 10,871]

Thanks everyone  

Did you get there in the end?

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[David seagull 9]

Nearly there got the doors lined up closing ......but

If you shut hard the  doors don't latch but softer shut they do

[gerg 10,871]

Nearly there got the doors lined up closing ......but
If you shut hard the  doors don't latch but softer shut they do

Are they catching on the 1st latch or the 2nd? Door locks have 2 positions as a safety feature so if they're not shut all the way, there's a backup position to prevent the door from flying open. You might only be catching on the 1st latch.

If the catch sits too far in, the door can't quite latch in the fully closed position (2nd latch) and bounce back to the 1st one. Old door seals can add to this problem as the closing action relies on the resistance in the rubber to act as a buffer for the door to close against. With collapsed rubber, the door tends to bounce and rattle and gives the latch a hard time.

When working with worn components, it's much more of a tail-chasing exercise to get it all working right.

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[David seagull 9]

Thanks Greg thats what is happening  .I'll get new seals ordered  cheers