That makes much more sense that the door bent instead of the pillar Miles
and that is very good news. I don't know if you could fix it by closing the
door on a piece of wood, but you know what? I would likely try it, what the
heck, its already goofed up anyway. Just try it a little at a time IF you
do try it and please don't get mad at me if you pop a hinge or something.
Rascal
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of Miles D.
Oliver
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 9:31 AM
To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
Subject: Re: DML: Door alignment on a GEN III
I took some time this morning to look at the wind blown door and the
large gap.
I believe I know what seems to have happened, and how to fix it. But to do
the fix It will require either removing the door or blocking the hinge and
forcing the door closed.
My first thought was that the door pillar itself had somehow twisted and
caused the gap. I opened the truck door and pushed the door out to the
stop and then tried to push it farther to duplicate the same force that
the wind took and noticed that it moves at the weaker point, not the
pillar but the door itself. The hinge mounting area on the door itself and
the area around it is supposed to be flat.
After the wind caught the door the metal around the hinges aren't flat but
raised and 'pulled out' because of the force exerted by the wind. The door
itself gave, not the pillar, and there isn't any way to adjust the hinge
itself.
So, either the door has to come off, The area around the hinge pushed
back flat with a hammer and block of wood and the door remounted. Lot of
work, measuring . and hope to get it back aligned properly.
OR
I can try bracing/binding the inside of the hinge with a block of wood
and pushing the door shut to force the raised area of the door back flat.
Taking off the door will probably yeild a more successful attempt as I
don't know if I can force the door plate back totally flat by just binding
the hinge with a block of wood.
Any thoughts or flaws that I may have missed in my logic to try and get
the door to once again seal properly?
-- Miles D. Oliver www.mmoliver.org
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