Hard to Close Doors on 75 K5

[buildin64]

Hi All,
Just joined the forum and have a question concerning my K5.
Is it typical that the doors close hard with the full convertible trucks?
Seems like mine is binding at the top of the door window frame rubber where it meets the rubber on the fiberglass top.
Was thinking of adjusting and then I looked at the body mounts and they are looking pretty worn out. Is that where I should start or is this something inherit to these trucks when you are running the fiberglass topper?

 

[rampage]

Usually the door hinge bushings get worn out. Wit the. Door open, grab the lower corner and lift up. You may notice it wiggle if they're worn.

 

[diesel4me]

I'd correct any missing or sagging body mount bushings and the cab supports where they meet first,and the door hinge bushings,then go about adjusting the door with shims if needed after everything else is in good condition...otherwise you'll be adjusting them a lot ,if the body is loose on the chassis or sagging due to rotted cab mounts..

When I had my 72 K5 I was adjusting the drivers door about every weekend,or after I had taken it over some rough trails and roads where I lived..until I repaired all the rot in the floors and cab supports,the adjustments didn't "hold" --once I did that and put new door hinge bushing in,I adjusted the door one final time and didn't have to mess with it again as long as I owned it (over 8 years)..

 

[blazer74]

I'd correct any missing or sagging body mount bushings and the cab supports where they meet first,and the door hinge bushings,then go about adjusting the door with shims if needed after everything else is in good condition...otherwise you'll be adjusting them a lot ,if the body is loose on the chassis or sagging due to rotted cab mounts..

When I had my 72 K5 I was adjusting the drivers door about every weekend,or after I had taken it over some rough trails and roads where I lived..until I repaired all the rot in the floors and cab supports,the adjustments didn't "hold" --once I did that and put new door hinge bushing in,I adjusted the door one final time and didn't have to mess with it again as long as I owned it (over 8 years)..

Yes, cab support and rocker box and cab mount condion on a full vert. Door hinges as well .

With my 74 years ago I was ok with the top on. With the top off the cab would sag and doors would not close properly.

Look at your front fender gap at the bottom and if gap is larger at the bottom your sagging for sure. Look at the front cab support and rocker box under neath that runs from the fwd cab support to aft cab support structure for rot.
Check your door hinges by lifting up on the back side of the door for excessive up and down movement.

 

[diesel4me]

Before I patched up the floor and cab supports in my '72 K5,you could watch the firewall and dash rise up when you pushed the clutch pedal in,(especially if the door was open)--and the floor wasn't all that bad either!..had a few small holes,but also had rusted "thin" in places ,and lost a lot of its strength...
I put 16 gauge galvanized steel across the entire front section from where the rear "bed" began all the way to the firewall,used nuts & bolts,welds,pop rivets..felt like a new truck the first ride I took in it after I fixed that!.

 

[buildin64]

Wow...thanks for replies. I have had the truck for about 3 months now and have climbed all over it and given it a good inspection and I cannot find any rot. That was my main concern that it had a good body. The truck has been repainted but I cannot find any signs of patches anywhere. It was an Az truck (I know that doesn't always mean rust free) but this truck is pretty much rust free other than the front of the hood in which I guess this was a problem for most of these trucks. I did notice that the pass door does have some slop in the hinge pin/bushings so I will keep that in mind when I replace the bushings. I have had the bushing ordered for about a month now and still on backorder.
Very interesting the comment about removing the top and the doors fit differently...the top apparently was adding some stability in that situation. I have not had the top off yet and hoping I wouldn't see that situation since my rocker boxes look really good and original.

Anyone have experience replacing the bushings? Can I do one at a time slightly lifting the body off the frame or would it be best to lift the entire body off the frame at the same time?

 

[ZooMad75]

My old 75 was similar to yours as far as the doors being hard to shut. First thing we attacked, was the loose hinge pin bushings. Both doors had significant slop to them. We just pulled them off, chopped the pin and drove them out. Once we put it back on we went through the laborious procedure to adjust the doors. Part of this was the adjustment of the striker pins on each side. We found where the striker pins bolt through the door jamb the sheetmetal was cracking. The pins were not straight either. We tweaked the pins back into position and used a mig welder to deal with all the cracks coming from the pin Once we did the pins/bushings and adjustments the door shut a whole lot better. Before you had to slam the crap out of it which is what bent the crap out of the pins.

 

[Billyworld]

Park your truck one a level surface and take measurements of your door openings. Doors should be open during all of these steps. Measure across the top of the doors and diagonally. Write down the results. Mark the doors from where you measure, with a sharpie. Take white spray paint and spray it under the truck at all of the rocker panel contact points. Then park your truck in a flexed position. Measure again on both sides and record results. Look under the truck to get a visual of the rocker panels. What kind of movement has taken place? The white paint will tell you. A camera can be helpful with all of these steps. Then flex the opposite side in the exact manner. Record the results. All this should be done with the top off. Body alignment on a K5 begins by first aligning the doors to the bed, followed by aligning the fenders to the doors so ignore the fenders for now. Just use your best judgement as to where the doors match best including the windshield frame. Dont forget you have the option of adjusting the hinges to help. This should all be done after replacing the hinge pins. When you find the sweet spot, weld it. Use 2K weld thru primer. Very important!
When you get it right, install some poly body mounts. They will help with body flex too. In fact, they may be all you need.
I hope this helps you and good luck

 

[buildin64]

Park your truck one a level surface and take measurements of your door openings. Doors should be open during all of these steps. Measure across the top of the doors and diagonally. Write down the results. Mark the doors from where you measure, with a sharpie. Take white spray paint and spray it under the truck at all of the rocker panel contact points. Then park your truck in a flexed position. Measure again on both sides and record results. Look under the truck to get a visual of the rocker panels. What kind of movement has taken place? The white paint will tell you. A camera can be helpful with all of these steps. Then flex the opposite side in the exact manner. Record the results. All this should be done with the top off. Body alignment on a K5 begins by first aligning the doors to the bed, followed by aligning the fenders to the doors so ignore the fenders for now. Just use your best judgement as to where the doors match best including the windshield frame. Dont forget you have the option of adjusting the hinges to help. This should all be done after replacing the hinge pins. When you find the sweet spot, weld it. Use 2K weld thru primer. Very important!
When you get it right, install some poly body mounts. They will help with body flex too. In fact, they may be all you need.
I hope this helps you and good luck[/
Thanks for that reply something I hadn't thought of.