M715 Door Sags

Hi all...

My driver's side door sags about 1/2" or maybe a bit more. Parts on the door near the latch are becoming worn. I am not sure how to approach this repair/replace.

This is what I have done so far to address it:

1. I loosened the 2 outside bolts on the cab side, while supporting the door with a floor jack and a 2bee-four. Adjustment of those bolts had no effect whatsoever.

There's a bolt way back inside the hinge on the cab side that holds the hinge to the cab or to the left front quarter panel, but I didn't want to go loosening bolts willy-nilly without first asking the experts on this site. The parts diagram in the manuals offer little help.

I think the hinge is likely worn.

Yes, I searched the forum, but I only found Brute4c's Dodge hinge pin thread from 2011. :)

How can I address this? Any insight or assistance would certainly be helpful.

With gratitude...
Brian

Sounds like the hinges might be worn out.
Can you lift up on the door and feel slop in the hinges?

If not, to adjust (tilt) the door upward at the rear, remove the inner door panel (cover) to access the hinge to door bolts.

I'll give that a try this weekend Dan. I hope that does the trick. Thanks!

Problem is, I don't know what "slop" in an M715 door hinge feels like! :) It's probably just the bottom hinge that has become "unhinged"...so to speak.

Has anyone looked at using Wagoneer hinges or J truck hinges? There are a few on eBay right now.

Yes...they look very similar, except for the type of bolts. I don't need all four of them though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-1981-J...gAAOSwy1pbJwuV

Thanks Jeremy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jhartings

Has anyone looked at using Wagoneer hinges or J truck hinges? There are a few on eBay right now.

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They are the same hinges as what's on the M715. The big difference is somewhere in 79' or 80' they changed the hinge so it doesn't open the full 90 degrees. They will still work, the door just will not open as far. The older ones from 78' and back are the same and open the full 90 degrees.

Hi Dan,
I lifted the door and wiggled the door up and down. There's no more slop in the upper hinge than the lower one. That means both hinges are broken, or neither hinge is broken.

I opted to believe the latter and tried your suggested method. I loosened and retightened the hinge to door bolts and it worked! Thanks Dan! I know.... to you folks who work in automotive repair or in mechanically related professions, it seems like a no-brainer, but this is all new to me. I am a 2D animator and a full-time motion graphics teacher...so...anyway....


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A screw on the door has been chafing against the door catch mounted on the cab for the door latch: It's been a lower priority repair, so I let it go until now.



https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/9524/FJtLCd.jpg



Then I noticed that the catch has two shims (made from exhaust gasket material it appears), under the catch on the cab. I removed the two shims and now it looks like the photo you provided in 2017 on a previous thread about door weatherstripping/door rubber seals.



https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/331/QhyOEe.jpg



I'll send photos of my door latch tomorrow, below this reply. (Later Note: I decided just to edit the photos into this post).



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As a side note, the bottom of my door doesn't have any rubber seal left, but the little clips that held the door rubber attached to the bottom of the door are still
there. They are rusty, but there nonetheless. I'd be willing to wager that those clips are rare these days.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4158/PPkIDj.jpg



Once again, thanks for the info on adjusting my door!



h

Those clips are rare because they were molded into the rubber weatherstripping. And the weatherstripping is made from unobtainium.

Just get regular weatherstripping and 3m cement to replace it.

Unobtainium!!... ha ha ha

I suppose Unobtanium is in the same family as "Leverite". (Pronouced Lee-verite).

Leverite is a worthless mineral found in gold country and if you come across it, you "leverite" there.

Unobtanium is impossible to find...kind of like...I want a material that is harder than anything, easy to drill and machine, flexible and lighter than hydrogen...

Impossagen?