Driver's door doesn't line up. Can it be adjusted?

GPGuy · May 6, 2019

I saw this truck at the dealer that I'm interested in but I noticed that the drivers side front door is off of alignment just slightly, perhaps 1/8th of an inch? Is this something that can be easily adjusted? Would this be something that even if adjusted might come back down the road?

cr250Silverado · May 6, 2019

Both of my rear doors (crew) are misaligned at the bottom rear portion. I didn’t notice until after driving it off lot (new veg). My dealer adjusted them to the best of their ability. They are better but they are still misaligned. I can tell you from my research on these trucks that many have this issue. Some say the door panel itself is warped and therefore it can’t ever be perfectly matched, while some say the wrong door “pins” were installed and that is the reason... IDK what causes it but I went back to the dealer and 80% of the trucks on the lot had misalignment to some visibly noticeable degree. Tell them to fix it AND YOU inspect it BEFORE signing, or accept you may have to live with it...

*I just saw you are talking about front door, regardless the same advice applies...

GPGuy · May 6, 2019

Ya I doubt that it would really matter whether it's front or back.. With my dad being involved in quality control I guess I have picked up some of his traits for noticing this kinda stuff.

I know that it would drive me nuts.. Do you know what they adjusted?

It really bugs me because this truck has exactly what I want to have which isn't a common occurrence.

HondaHawkGT · May 6, 2019

They can be adjusted by the dealer. This seems to be a common occurrence with aluminum doors. It seems like nearly every aluminum F-150 has had door fitment issues too. Supposedly GM had an idea on how to avoid the problems Ford had but that doesn't seem to be the case.

GPGuy · May 6, 2019

3 minutes ago, HondaHawkGT said:

They can be adjusted by the dealer. This seems to be a common occurrence with aluminum doors. It seems like nearly every aluminum F-150 has had door fitment issues too. Supposedly GM had an idea on how to avoid the problems Ford had but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Well that's good to know that it can be adjusted.. So it's an aluminum door issue? Is it just a matter of adjusting the hinges?

HondaHawkGT · May 6, 2019

They didn't go into detail on the problem but it appears to be an issue inherent in working with aluminum. The dealer's body shop can adjust the fit. The hinges have room for adjustment or they have different bolts that can change how the door fits.

Farmer_2 · May 6, 2019

2 hours ago, GPGuy said:

I saw this truck at the dealer that I'm interested in but I noticed that the drivers side front door is off of alignment just slightly, perhaps 1/8th of an inch? Is this something that can be easily adjusted? Would this be something that even if adjusted might come back down the road?

I'm dealing with a very similar issue on a 2018 Silverado Crew Cab LT, but I've already purchased the truck back in December 2018 when they had the end of year sales. I kind of noticed the front door fitment/alignment issue when I was looking at it before I bought it, but it really didn't jump out at me at the moment; there were lots of things I did like about the truck. After looking at the gaps/alignment between the driver's side door and fender I'm thinking I will see about getting it adjusted by a GM dealer with a GM certified collision/body shop. I mentioned the alignment issues to the service manager at the dealer where I purchased the truck and he said they did not have a GM certified body shop and suggested I take it to one that did. I was a little surprised that he would recommend a competing GM dealer for such warranty service. But I do understand if they don't have anyone there qualified to do the adjustment.

The gap between the front door and the fender on the driver's side is about a 16th of an inch or more wider than the same gap on the passenger side. The alignment on the passenger side looks very good. I wish the driver's side looked the same.

I started a thread here about the body panel alignment issues a few days ago; here is the link with pictures if you want to take a look. https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/223362-irregular-fitgaps-between-door-and-fender/

I too want to know more about what they would do to realign and what else it might affect.

Glen

GPGuy · May 8, 2019

Thanks for the input guys.

Hopefully you can get that issue resolved Glen..

Tempted to go back and take a second look at this truck..

Farmer_2 · May 8, 2019

10 hours ago, GPGuy said:

Thanks for the input guys.

Hopefully you can get that issue resolved Glen..

Tempted to go back and take a second look at this truck..

It'd be nice if you could get them to make the adjustment(s) before you bought the truck, but I doubt they'd do that. You could ask, I suppose.

I talked to the manager of the GM certified body shop at another dealer (one the largest in the area) about the gaps/alignment on my 2018 Silverado yesterday. I showed him what I was talking about and we compared the passenger side fits (excellent) to the driver's side, particularly the gap between the front door and fender. His assistant manager was there also. I asked about the pros and cons/rewards and risks of making the adjustments and asked for his honest, professional opinion on adjusting the door. He said they could try to adjust the door for me but it could possibly cause problems elsewhere while chasing a 1/16th of an inch. He said most people would not notice it and that most every new truck on their lot likely had minor flaws in it somewhere. You don't usually hear that when talking to a salesperson at the dealer when looking to buy. They also said they rarely ever make these kinds of adjustments on new trucks at their shop; he said most of what they do on new vehicles is repair minor dings in body panels or minor paint issues.

Needless to say I could tell they didn't want to mess with it unless I absolutely insisted and there may have been some truth in what he was saying. He suggested I take it to another GM dealer certified body shop and get another opinion. At the moment I'm inclined to try and live with it a bit longer. To be honest, it is something I could try to adjust myself, but I'll wait a bit longer. It does diminish my level of satisfaction with the truck, (which I noted on the new vehicle survey I received and completed) but there is still a lot about the truck I like.

Good luck, GPGuy, and let us know what they say about making the adjustments on the door(s).

Glen