03 Outback needs door adjustment

[1 Lucky Texan]

I think in the 'old days', folks would put a penny behind the lower
hinge plate to 'adjust' a door that was sagging.

I can feel the driver's door drop slightly on my wife's OBW. Not other
problems closing or opening it yet.

Is there 'correct' way to adjust this?

thanx

 

[bugalugs]

I think in the 'old days', folks would put a penny behind the lower
hinge plate to 'adjust' a door that was sagging.

I can feel the driver's door drop slightly on my wife's OBW. Not other
problems closing or opening it yet.

Is there 'correct' way to adjust this?

thanx

Wow things are so tough you can't afford the penny :>)

 

[Asbjørn]

I think in the 'old days', folks would put a penny behind the lower
hinge plate to 'adjust' a door that was sagging.

I can feel the driver's door drop slightly on my wife's OBW. Not other
problems closing or opening it yet.

Is there 'correct' way to adjust this?

thanx

Change the hinges.

Asbjjørn

 

[weelliott]

I think in the 'old days', folks would put a penny behind the lower
hinge plate to 'adjust' a door that was sagging.

I can feel the driver's door drop slightly on my wife's OBW. Not other
problems closing or opening it yet.

Is there 'correct' way to adjust this?

thanx

I don't know if the hinges on the 03s are the same as the 95s, but
when I put on a new door for my 95(first one rusted out at the
bottom.) I adjusted it by checking the gap at the back of the door,
then going for vertical alignment at the strike plate by keeping
either the top bolt tight and loosening the other three, then jacking
the back of the door up or down, then tightening, or by leaving the
bottom bolt tight and rotating around that one.

In your case, I'd suggest just leaving the top bolt tight, loosening
the other three, jacking the back of the door up a little, then
tighten the extreme bottom bolt, then checking for alignment and
tweaking from there. Hopefully the hinges do slide around on the body.
My Miata had pins that prevented that. I assume the pins are for crash
safety, and thus the 03 might have them whereas the 95 did not. Worth
checking into though.

Really not a bad procedure if you think through it as you go.

Bill

 

[Nobody > (Revisited)]

I don't know if the hinges on the 03s are the same as the 95s, but
when I put on a new door for my 95(first one rusted out at the
bottom.) I adjusted it by checking the gap at the back of the door,
then going for vertical alignment at the strike plate by keeping
either the top bolt tight and loosening the other three, then jacking
the back of the door up or down, then tightening, or by leaving the
bottom bolt tight and rotating around that one.

In your case, I'd suggest just leaving the top bolt tight, loosening
the other three, jacking the back of the door up a little, then
tighten the extreme bottom bolt, then checking for alignment and
tweaking from there. Hopefully the hinges do slide around on the body.
My Miata had pins that prevented that. I assume the pins are for crash
safety, and thus the 03 might have them whereas the 95 did not. Worth
checking into though.

Really not a bad procedure if you think through it as you go.

Bill

Not all door-latch designs will give enough "play" in the strike
adjusters to fix the problem. Sometimes you actually have to "force the
door (bend the frame of the door)".

Anyone with a mid-70's Ford pickup will probably know this....

This is pretty much the same way a body shop deals with the same
problem. The only difference is in "how much they force the door", and
that only comes with experience.


--
"Shit this is it, all the pieces do fit.
We're like that crazy old man jumping
out of the alleyway with a baseball bat,
saying, "Remember me motherfucker?"
Jim “Dandy” Mangrum

 

[weelliott]

Not all door-latch designs will give enough "play" in the strike
adjusters to fix the problem. Sometimes you actually have to "force the
door (bend the frame of the door)".

Anyone with a mid-70's Ford pickup will probably know this....

This is pretty much the same way a body shop deals with the same
problem. The only difference is in "how much they force the door", and
that only comes with experience.

--
"Shit this is it, all the pieces do fit.
  We're like that crazy old man jumping
out of the alleyway with a baseball bat,
saying, "Remember me motherfucker?"
Jim Dandy Mangrum- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I wasn't talking about adjusting the strike adjusters. I was talking
about adjusting the hinges.

The unfortunate thing about the Frod pickups is that the sagging door
issue persisted for decades.

 

[AuDa]

Change the hinges.

Asbjørn

My sons Forester is too far away at the moment, so I do not know the details
for that,
but om my Mazdas and Toyotas I have replaced the hinges when the pin and
bushing got so worn that the door dropped too much.
I also on one occation long ago replaced a hinge pin by pressing in a home
made oversized one.
You will need to hang the door (by the window frame) from some sort of
adjustable suspension point when you remove the hinges.

Asbjørn

 

[John Varela]

I think in the 'old days', folks would put a penny behind the lower
hinge plate to 'adjust' a door that was sagging.

I can feel the driver's door drop slightly on my wife's OBW. Not other
problems closing or opening it yet.

Is there 'correct' way to adjust this?

I once fixed a similar problem on a 1966 Plymouth by opening the
door wide, putting a jack under the door, and *gently* lifting the
door, not enough to raise the car, just enough to bend the hinges a
little.

 

[Nobody > (Revisited)]

The unfortunate thing about the Frod pickups is that the sagging door
issue persisted for decades.

How well we know... (and it wasn't just Frod pickups, about every
American car/truck manufacturer had the same issue)

Want a worse one? Chrysler's "K" cars.


--
"Shit this is it, all the pieces do fit.
We're like that crazy old man jumping
out of the alleyway with a baseball bat,
saying, "Remember me motherfucker?"
Jim “Dandy” Mangrum