door troubles


The old and reliable.

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Post Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:43 pm

door troubles

My passenger side door closes just fine but my driver side door has to slammed and doesnt always close. Is there a common fix for this? I was thinkin just replace the left door catch with a right one of another pickup. Thanks

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Post Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:25 pm

Re: door troubles

Lubrication on the "bolt" part might help, I have an L150 that is the same way. The bolt does not always come all the way out of the mechanism. If the Catch is worn, they are a left and right.
Pictures, I or someone else may have some.
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Rusty Driver
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Location: Grand Forks, N.D.

Post Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:41 pm

Re: door troubles

There is no simple answer. Remember that there are two things happening here. The door fitting the opening and the latch keeping it there.
First, open the door fully, grasp the rear edge of the door and pull up to check for movement in the hinges.If they are loose, it is going to be tough to get the door closed correctly. To try and adjust the door with loose hinges is frustrating. You may be able to make it better, but never perfect.
Next, the door has to be aligned with the frame. Slowly close the door and closely check that the door neither goes up or down as it engages the latch. I prefer to hold the latch in the released position so I can see what the door does without interference from the latch. One way to see this is to close the door, place a piece of masking tape from left to right across the seam, and then cut the tape along the seam. As you open the door, you will be able to see if the door rises (rarely) or falls ( most common) by if the tape remains aligned.
If the hinges are not loose but the door either rise or falls, the hinges are either misadjusted or bent. Loosen up the hinges and try to align the door to the opening. If the door will not center in the opening, the cure is beyond the scope of this message and you may need professional help with the door. Some hinges can be straightened on the vehicle, but this is work that is easy to goof up.
Once the door fits the opening, the latch pad, on the door frame, can be adjusted to put the proper tension on the door to keep it there. If the weather strip around the door is wore out (big suprise there!) the block may not be able to be moved in far enough to hold the door without rattling.
The type of latches used, unlike the bearclaw type used in modern cars, are not very tolerant of misalignment.Wear on that block, combined with some body flex, has resulted in more than a few unplanned door openings over the years. That is way they went to the bearclaw style latches. Once they are latched around the pin, the pin almost needs to be ripped out to have the door open.
Ibesq mentions a bolt. I am not sure, but from that description, I would say that by the time that model was built, they had switched to the bearclaw latches.
Sorry about the long- winded answer. Make sure the door fits the opening, that the weatherstrip provides cushioning and finally, that the latch holds it there.
"If this was easy, everyone would be doing it"

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Post Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:08 pm

re: door troubles

Pictures always help. "bolt" I was talking about is actually the Pall that latches onto the Latch pad on the door frame. If that is what is sticking inside it's mechanism, that is what needs cleaned/lubed, generally requires it to come out of the door for Full cleaning and lube.
The alignment is very important!
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Rusty Driver
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Post Mon Jan 21, 2013 5:38 pm

Re: door troubles

Now I understand. I was ignoring the obvious. My wife tells me that all the time.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:33 pm

Re: door troubles

oldbike99 is spot on, as you know these doors close in basically same style as a door in your house,

you may be able to adjust block on cab out slightly to get it to latch, a lot of the time the weatherstrip is so old and hard, it won't compress enough for door to catch.

and since it is basically one piece of metal scraping another till it gets past it, it gets worn though the years, I've had luck spraying lube into latch from outside and working handle, that is the lazy way to do what lbesq posted.

I've also "polished" the wear surfaces with fine sandpaper to smooth the metal.

one thing I've noticed with almost every IHC I've owned is passenger door is always in better shape and opens/closes better than driver's side.

I guess no one wants to ride with a guy who'd buy an International
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Rusty Driver
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Post Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:26 pm

Re: door troubles

it is kinda funny to see another person having the same trouble as i did with the drivers side door on there kb pickup.
yet i did not find/notice my problem until the truck was almost ready to paint.
reason being is the cab on my truck is from a rust free eastern or truck.
yet the doors are from an earlier k 1 are 2 pickup and they are cherry and i mean chery with no rust extra holes drilled for mirrors are any body damage.
reason being is i bought the doors prior to finding and buying the kb5 as well as the k doors i had were nicer than the kb5 door so i sold the kb5 doors and used the k doors.
how ever i did not check to see if the doors closed properly on the kb5 as i parted it out in the middle of a horse pasture and brought home every thing but the rolling chassis/wheels and tires.
yet i should have because as i said we found the drivers door would not close unless we slammed it.
well come to find out the upper door hing mounting point in the door post/jam was broken/cracked causing the door hinge not to be aglined and fuchtion as it should.
so to fix the problem buy body guy did some welding as well as something else which i do not recall at this point to fix the issuse and know both doors close easily.
further more i had spikedog completely rebuild my door hinges as well as i put all new hing pins which were also made buy spikedog so there would be no alginment issuses and there are non and since we fixed the door jam/post problem both door open and close as they should.
lastly you may want to check the door jam/post for stress cracks and such as this may be problem with your door as it was with mine.
robertkb48

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Post Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:54 pm

Re: door troubles

Removed old hardened door seal and she closes like a new one thanks alot guys

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Post Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:25 pm

Re: door troubles

Sometimes, just the simplest things.

Glad you back in business.

Lloyd
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:56 pm

Re: door troubles

snoop wrote:Removed old hardened door seal and she closes like a new one thanks alot guys


yep, usually that is the first culprit, if you don't put in a re-pop seal, door will rattle and wind will howl, but it will close nice!
Gentle Men! you can't fight in here! This is the war room!
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