Doors don't shut tight anymore on '91 Sub.

[Martino]

Hey everyone.

Me and my brother have '89 and '91 Subs, respectively. We both have the same problem with the two front doors not shutting tightly anymore, his is WAY worse though. It seems like the doors don't hang at the same angle, but we are just going with our hunch about that.
I did a search, but didn't find much at all. Seems like this is a typical issue with that era of burbs, but again, I'm guessing about that.

Anyone got any advice on how to fix it?

Thanks!

-martino

 

[Brocky]

Replace the bushings and pins and go from there. Is your floors weak? Body mounts?

 

[gone huntin]

Have you looked to see if the door hinge pin bushings are worn out? That'd be my first guess. I've got a '90 'burb with 195K on it and my doors still shut like new.

 

[Martino]

thanks guys!

Just needed to be pointed in a direction...
I'm assuming we'll have to take the door panel off and disconnect all the wiring for the power stuff, take the door off etc.

Cool, thanks again guys.

 

[Brocky]

Just open your door and lift up on it. It it moves up and door then you need to replace bushings, pins.

 

[WhiteBurb]

I had a similar problem, where no matter how hard I slammed the door it wouldn't shut all the way. It was the striker on the door jamb. The plastic shroud had fallen off, so it was closing the door right. Take a look at yours.

 

[Martino]

The plastic shroud had fallen off, so it was closing the door right.

Did you mean to say "...so it WASN'T closing the door right." ???

I had trouble making sense of that phrase, but I think I know what you mean. I noticed that the plastic part was history on the '91...

Thanks a lot!

EDIT: So where would one go looking for the door striker parts...?

 

[WhiteBurb]

Yah, it wasn't closing the door right. Go to any parts store and look for the Help! parts, they always have GM door strikers. About $9.

 

[thfonz98]

gm has them too. the whole striker and wrap thingie is like 30 bucks...ouch

i made the mistake of going to the stealership....i had my old wrap still and have been told that just wrapping the old wrap thingie with elect tape works nicely but if you've totally lost the wrap a new one is needed.

 

[Martino]

Bringing this thread back to report that it was the door striker after all.
Replaced the striker on the worst door of all - my bro's front passenger door, which wouldn't latch at all no matter how hard it was slammed.

Worked like a charm! Shuts tight now, with a normal amount of effort.
Awesome! Such a cheap and easy fix for something that drove me nuts and made the truck seem haggard...

So thank you very much, thfonz98 and whiteburb!!!! And everyone else who replied.

Word of caution, though... We got the original striker loose, and just started unscrewing it, and then... CLINK the retaining bolt fell down into the door frame! AAAHHH! We had to make a tool to fish the thing out, once we realized that you have to take the moulding off on the inside behind the seat to access the right spot. So if you're going to do this, don't be a dork like me... take the moulding off first... HA!

 

[thfonz98]

mine only required the striker taken out and no fishing...91 k5

2 minute job for me. retaining nut never fell down..

 

[Martino]

mine only required the striker taken out and no fishing...91 k5

2 minute job for me. retaining nut never fell down..

Ahh... it all makes sense, now. There was an adhesive on the back of the retaining bolt (which was a large flat plate) that had separated from the frame. I saw the pattern of the adhesive on the plate and the inside of the frame, but didn't really think about it at the time. I'm sure it came off from the years of trying to slam the door at full speed into the door jamb...