Door Hinge Shim

outoftheoffice · **Posted:** Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:14 am

My passenger door doesn't seem to want to get in line. The back end of the door seems to be a bit low and even after multiple attempts to align the door it still won't come up.

I am thinking I might need a shim on my bottom door hinge? And if so, what to use? Initially I have been thinking I could find an old matching door hinge and cut it down to just the flat part that bolts in to the pillar, then stack it behind my door hinge and pop 4 longer screws in and call it a day? Hopefully someone can let me know if this will work or not and if so, where to find this old hinge...

Chris P · **Posted:** Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:26 am

outoftheoffice wrote:

My passenger door doesn't seem to want to get in line. The back end of the door seems to be a bit low and even after multiple attempts to align the door it still won't come up.

I am thinking I might need a shim on my bottom door hinge? And if so, what to use? Initially I have been thinking I could find an old matching door hinge and cut it down to just the flat part that bolts in to the pillar, then stack it behind my door hinge and pop 4 longer screws in and call it a day? Hopefully someone can let me know if this will work or not and if so, where to find this old hinge...

Do they need to be rebuilt (i.e. re-bushing)? You will be amazed at how much a re-bushing will "pick-up" a door!!!

outoftheoffice · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:49 am

Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. What's all involved in that?

Boom · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:51 am

it should be easy to tell if you need a bushing. when you open the door can you move the door up and down ?

Chris P · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:22 am

Boom wrote:

it should be easy to tell if you need a bushing. when you open the door can you move the door up and down ?

Yeah what Boom said. Grab the door at the bottom corner of the door, furthest away from the hinges and see if you can lift the door up and feel slop. If you do, then the hinges need a rebuild.

outoftheoffice · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:29 am

No, the door isn't real sloppy in that sense

Chris P · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:40 am

outoftheoffice wrote:

No, the door isn't real sloppy in that sense

Shouldn't be sloppy at all, but may not be the culprit....

outoftheoffice · **Posted:** Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:14 am

When I would pull up all I would do is roll the car a bit...back to thinking about the shim...

EAnderson · **Posted:** Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:47 am

Try A floor jack under the back rear corner of the door. On a sagging door this is a common fix. I have a door alignment tool to do this, but by jacking up on the bottom of the door it will do the same thing. Find a flat area on the door's bottom inner frame... So that you don't bend the outer edge. Use a 2x4 with a towel so the paint won't be hurt, and for access to the frame of the door. Jack the door up just past how far it will need to go. It won't take much to bend it back where it goes. Loosen the door striker so you can check out the progress. You'll need to adjust the striker plate when you're done. Good luck, this should work for you. 8-)

This is one of the alignment tools....
http://www.eastwood.com/e-z-store-door- ... -tool.html

outoftheoffice · **Posted:** Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:39 am

Already ahead of ya, Eric. Tried that, felt pretty wierd with the jack under the door. I was pushing it up about as high as I could go before I felt like I was going to bend the door - still not great.

But great ideas, any more?

Door Hinge Shim

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