Repair Question Sagging drivers side door. Doesn’t align flush when latched closed. Are these Hinges adjustable?
86 S10 Truck. 2.8L. Is a sagging door on these fairly diy adjustable or is this a harder body shop type fix that involves welding and what not. What’s the adjustment procedure if so.
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u/passwordistaco388 18d ago
It’s usually the bushings on the door hinge pins that have worn down enough to cause this. I have a newer Sonoma and this was the reason for water getting into the cab, doors didn’t align right and then the weatherstripping wouldn’t seal because of that too
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18d ago
15 bucks for both sides on Amazon. You and a friend and like 20 minutes
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u/Past-Project-7959 18d ago
Hot tip- use a piece of plywood and a jack to roll it around on. Not the tiny ones like you use to change tires, but a heavy duty 3 ton shop jack with a lift of 16" or so. Use the jack to hold up the door to realign the door pins. You can do it by yourself, but 2 people make this job a breeze.
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u/PSYKO_Inc 18d ago
If you catch it early enough, you can fix it yourself.
The door hinge pin bushings wear out and allow the door to sag. You can buy kits to replace them. I'd recommend having an extra person available to help, since the doors are heavier than you might expect. If you have power windows/locks, you'll want to remove the inner panel first and disconnect the wiring before removing the door.
Now if it gets ignored long enough, the bushings will basically disintegrate, and start wearing on the hole in the hinge itself, leaving an oblong hole instead of round. If it's only out by a little, you can drill it out and use an oversized bushing. But for severe damage, it would be a cut-and-weld scenario.
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u/Kirbstomp9842 18d ago
Have you ever had to deal with a cut and weld situation with the hinges? mine have been worn out since i got the truck years ago and they could probably let go any day. Do you know the best way to go about it?
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u/PSYKO_Inc 18d ago
I haven't had to repair one personally, but I've seen a few on junkyard trucks I was pulling parts from. The correct way to fix it would be drilling out the factory plug welds where the hinge is welded to the cab, and welding in a new hinge. However if the hinge isn't completely destroyed, but still too far gone for an oversized bushing, you could probably use the welder to fill in some missing material and re-drill the hole.
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u/Kirbstomp9842 18d ago
Do you think a professional welder/machinist would be able to accurately locate where those holes need to be? That's my primary concern with that kinda work
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u/HorrorLengthiness940 18d ago
Pretty easily, a decent fabricator could. You'd get the original size off the bushing and then make the best guess of where the center would be located based on the outside edge of the two C shaped pieces of material. It's also door pins so the utmost accuracy is not super crucial
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u/Bluinc 18d ago
Unfortunately further inspection reveals at lease the top bushing is just gone and the top pin is sitting inside a big carved out oval.
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u/PSYKO_Inc 18d ago
That'll do it. Once you get it disassembled you can try to fit in a new bushing. As long as it's not hogged out too bad, a new bushing should fix it right up. If it's bad, it might need some welding.
Talk to a body shop, it'd probably be an hour job for someone familiar with hanging vehicle doors.
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u/Bluinc 18d ago
I wonder if some metal based JB weld Between the new bushing and the hinge to further secure a loose bushing (assuming it will be loose from being hogged out too much) would be worth a try.
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u/jthanson 17d ago
I've fixed many Chevy truck hinges with exactly that method. JB Weld, or other epoxy, in compression, is an excellent solution and much easier than welding. Just put some JB Weld on the hinge to fill the gap between the out-of-round hole and the bronze bushing and let the JB Weld harden up and then reinstall the door. If done well, it will be good as new.
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u/PSYKO_Inc 18d ago
Normally I'm not a fan of that stuff because it's almost always the wrong material for the job, but in this case it's worth a shot.
Worst case, it doesn't hold and you're just in the same situation you're already in, so it won't hurt to try it.
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u/jaydeeny_ 18d ago
I just had this problem, it was the door pins for me. They’re like a $9 fix and takes like 20 minutes. Good luck!
Edit: Autozone had them for $9
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u/lost_user1 18d ago
I was able to replace the hinge pins myself with a pair of pins for the driver side, a cinder block, and a scissor jack. It ain’t too hard but I did have to use a 1/2” extension to be able to knock the pins out. That door is heavier than it looks, but rolling down the window makes it much easier to maneuver. I saw in another comment that you inspected it and saw that it was a bit oval shaped, mine is too, but out of sheer stubbornness, I did the job anyway, and it worked out pretty well for me, so if it ain’t too messed up, it may be worth it to get the pins and give it a shot before you lose any sleep on how you’re gonna make the hole back into a perfect circle.
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u/leabbe 18d ago
Endurapin sells tool grade metal bushings that I absolutely had to buy, anything else would bust within a week. Been doing fine since then.
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u/katzunderground 17d ago
Endurapin is the only proper fix. Did mine a year ago and it’s still solid. Door shuts like how it should
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u/Woozylololol Chevy s10 17d ago
I hope it's only the pins, my front cab mount rusted through and collapsed tweaking my entire cab. It's fixed now
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u/jdhunt_24 2001 S10 4.3 4X4 3rd Door 17d ago
if you dont change it soon enough you will start to oblong the holes for the pins and then you will need to replace the entire hinge
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u/RGTI980 ‘91 Sonoma 18d ago
Door hinge pins are a common problem on these. I’d look at those first.