Front Door inside hinge adjustment? (1 Viewer)

[JDNs78FJ40]

Both my driver and passenger front doors have lower patches from Real Steel that were welded in by my body guy, new pins and brass bushings and new weatherstrip from CityRacer, and I made and installed a 1/16" inch gasket between the door and outer hinge.

I got the driver and passenger doors attached to the body yesterday and was wondering if adjusting the 8 inside hinge bolts will fix my issues. On the drivers side when I close the door I start to get some resistance/flex when I'm about 2"-3" away from it hitting the latch. I can push it shut but its tight and when I open it, it almost pops open... I've got okay spacing around the entire door but it seems to be sticking out about 1/8 - 1/4 inch where it meets the tub and hardtop. First Picture shows where I start to get resistance, pic 2 and 3 show the gap at the tub and hardtop. Roughly the same issues with the passenger door but a little less resistance when I go to close the door but the bigger problem on the passenger side is that it is grinding at the bottom front and at one point there was enough flex on the lower hinge I cracked the damn paint. I can't adjust the outside hinges any further to push the door back or it won't clear the latch. See picture 4...

 

[Judger]

This is what I did, which my no means is the correct way, but it worked.

I loosened all 8 inside hinge bolts, then slightly tightened one inside bolt on each hinge, tight enough to grab, but if you put pressure on the door it will still move it. Then I played with different angles when the door is full opened up. Pull up all the way on the door, tighten one bolt to hold it, try to close, rinse and repeat until it closes how you're comfortable.

You can repeat this process with the exterior bolts on the hinges as well, as that offers different adjustment.

Also, I have early doors, so my latch is different, but for the early setup there's adjustment with the striker as well.

Be patient, deep breaths.

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

This is what I did, which my no means is the correct way, but it worked.

I loosened all 8 inside hinge bolts, then slightly tightened one inside bolt on each hinge, tight enough to grab, but if you put pressure on the door it will still move it. Then I played with different angles when the door is full opened up. Pull up all the way on the door, tighten one bolt to hold it, try to close, rinse and repeat until it closes how you're comfortable.

You can repeat this process with the exterior bolts on the hinges as well, as that offers different adjustment.

Also, I have early doors, so my latch is different, but for the early setup there's adjustment with the striker as well.

Be patient, deep breaths.

Thanks. Was hoping I didn't have to do anything with the bolts in the pillars but sounds like that is the only way. Do you have any resistance when closing the doors aside from a little resistance when the weatherstrip is compressing?

 

[Judger]

My driver side opening is a mess, not my fault, it's how my replacement tub came and I don't want to do any major surgery.

The passenger closes nicely.

I ended up buying this wrench to help, I couldn't get my hands in there without it. Well worth the money.

 

[brian]

The problem is they are an epdm rubber, which makes great weather stripping, however the doors and weather strip need designed with the EPDM characteristics in mind, these doors and weather strip were not. They will not squish like a foam rubber seal will.
I could never get the doors on my 75 to close right with those weather strips. Fought with them for over a year before I removed and replaced them with OEM stuff..that ended the fight.
The doors close tight, everything lines up and I dont have to slam the s*** out of them to get them fully closed.

 

[duncanrm]

Its possible your A-Pillar has been bent outwards at the point the Door Check Strap is attached especially if the door has repeatedly been blown open by the wind etc.. What you're getting there is exactly what I had.

To confirm if this is your issue get inside the vehicle and have someone close the door and watch the A Pillar closely, you may see it flex a little near the Check Strap attachment point as the door closes.

To fix mine I put a block of wood between the door and the A Pillar, close to the Door Check Strap, and then forced the door towards closed a little. This bent the A-Pillar back in and the door now shuts nicely.

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

This is what I did, which my no means is the correct way, but it worked.

I loosened all 8 inside hinge bolts, then slightly tightened one inside bolt on each hinge, tight enough to grab, but if you put pressure on the door it will still move it. Then I played with different angles when the door is full opened up. Pull up all the way on the door, tighten one bolt to hold it, try to close, rinse and repeat until it closes how you're comfortable.

You can repeat this process with the exterior bolts on the hinges as well, as that offers different adjustment.

Also, I have early doors, so my latch is different, but for the early setup there's adjustment with the striker as well.

Be patient, deep breaths.

Do the 8 inside hinge bolts allow for just up and down adjustment? Seems like it would allow me to adjust it up and down about 3/16”.

 

[JDNs78FJ40]

Its possible your A-Pillar has been bent outwards at the point the Door Check Strap is attached especially if the door has repeatedly been blown open by the wind etc.. What you're getting there is exactly what I had.

To confirm if this is your issue get inside the vehicle and have someone close the door and watch the A Pillar closely, you may see it flex a little near the Check Strap attachment point as the door closes.

To fix mine I put a block of wood between the door and the A Pillar, close to the Door Check Strap, and then forced the door towards closed a little. This bent the A-Pillar back in and the door now shuts nicely.

I’ll take a look at that.

 

[middlecalf]

I know you’ve got the weatherstrip already in place but I’ve wondered if it’s best to fit the doors first before putting the weatherstrip on?

 

[70 FJ40]

The problem is they are an epdm rubber, which makes great weather stripping, however the doors and weather strip need designed with the EPDM characteristics in mind, these doors and weather strip were not. They will not squish like a foam rubber seal will.
I could never get the doors on my 75 to close right with those weather strips. Fought with them for over a year before I removed and replaced them with OEM stuff..that ended the fight.
The doors close tight, everything lines up and I dont have to slam the s*** out of them to get them fully closed.

I'm having issues getting my doors to close after buying city racer weatherstripping. Sounds like maybe I wasted my money. And that's not the worst of it. The wasted time and effort just to put the doors on and then they don't work properly is extremely annoying. Where did you get your OEM weatherstripping?

 

[calen]

ahhhh, no one answered the question if in and out adjustments can be done on the Cab portion of the hinges? I have the same issue but dont want to mess with those hard to reach bolts to learn something soeone else already knows.

 

[FJROSS]

ahhhh, no one answered the question if in and out adjustments can be done on the Cab portion of the hinges? I have the same issue but dont want to mess with those hard to reach bolts to learn something soeone else already knows.

I have the same issue with my door on my passenger side and I am using the City Racer weather stripping. I feel a little resistance 2 -3" before the door closes and there is a gap once latched. And yes, I get a bit of a pop when opening the door latch. Yet my driver side door closes perfect. I also have the striker moved to its most inward position. I even removed the striker and still have the gap at the rear of the door when closed while holding pressure. At least in my situation, the passenger door bolts are a bit easier to get too compared to the driver side if anyone comes up with a remedy. I have to keep reminding myself, this is not a Bentley. I will be installing the rear ambulance doors this week to see what surprises they bring.

 

[dazerb]

I currently have this exact problem on DS door. Hard to close, heavy resistance the last 2-3". Seems well line up, just won't close without a LOT of force.

 

[calen]

Ok, but can someone confirm that loosening the impossible to reach inside hinge bolts will free up movement to pull the hinges outward from the body making the gap at the front of the door bigger? and flattening out the closed position of the door. or do the hinges bolt onto the body in a fixed position? most door hinge attachments have a bolt plate that has play for adjustment. I want to know if the hinges have that at the body. anyone able to confirm or deny this?

 

[vfrer]

There is definitely a nut plate that the bolts screw into and have some play. You can remove/loosen the lower hinge bolts which are much easier to get to and see how much play there is before getting all twisted and scraped up getting the top ones.

 

[vfrer]

I happen to have an A pillar that I cut out of a 76 i believe. This is the lower hinge mount. Upper is the same

 

[roadstr6]

The City Racer weatherstripping does not work well with later 40's. It is too thick and the material is not supple enough. I installed the City Racer strips on my '82 FJ40 and ran into the same issues. Had to slam the door a couple of times every time to close them, and the strain on the handles when opening did not seem to be good on the handles and latch mechanism. I made multiple adjustments on the hinges (inner and outer), and latch hoop to no avail. I even tried cutting down the weatherstripping with a razor blade to make them thinner. No dice. I ended up pulling the City Racer weatherstipping back off and throwing them in the garbage. I ordered actual Toyota weatherstripping for only a few dollars more, installed those and they worked perfectly. No issues whatsoever. Go genuine Toyota for these door gaskets if you have a late model 40 series. Lesson learned the hard way.