2004 2500HD door hinge problems

[jblack]

I'm new to this forum, but I would love some help and advice.

 

I have a 2004 silverado 2500hd. I opened my door with my truck at a slight tilt and the door swung wide open past the stops. There are little stops on the door hinge that extensions off the door catch when the door opens wide. Now, the door catches will move right over the little stops on the door hinge.

 

If fact, the first time this problem happened, the door swung so far that the front edge of the door panal got pinched and did a little body damage.

 

I took my truck to the dealership because I assumed it was a warranty issue. There was very little force applied to the door, so it should not have swung open and over the stops.

 

The service manager and body shop manager looked all over the door trying to make sure I wasn't in an accident or anything. They even took the inside panal off! In the end, the dealer said he needed the regional service manager to check it out because he had never seen this before. I met with the SM and this regional rep today, and he quickly decided that it was not a defect and I must have pushed the door over the stops somehow. BS!

 

Instead of fixing it, they gave me a really expensive quote to fix it.

 

ANy ideas of what to do? My truck is still under warranty, but apparently chevy isn't too excited to fix things.

[By-Tor]

Did you let the door swing open without holding it? That's a sure fire way to bend the door frame, hinges, or in extreme cases the door jamb of the cab.

[MemphisDoug]

jblack - Both top and bottom hinges on your doors should each have 2 stops on them. That is 4 stops in total for each door. Is your entire door rising up which allows the stops to miss and prevent the door from going too far open? When the truck is built, 2 hinge halves are welded to each door and 2 are welded to the body. The door is assembled to the body by sliding the hinge half on the door over pins on the hinge half on the body. The 2 hinge halves are then bolted together with one bolt which keeps the door from lifting up and falling off. I am wondering if you are missing the bolt on both hinges? This would allow the door to rise up enough and miss the stops. Go look at your hinges and see if you see a silver bolt going horizontally through each hinge to bolt the 2 halves together. If they are missing, then you have found your problem! If they are there, look closely at what the door is doing when it misses the stops and report back. Good luck.

[jblack]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I did not let the door swing in a unusual manner. No different then any other time. Just opened the door, let it swing out, but for some reason it rode up over the stops. I would understand if the wind caught the door or someone ran into the open door, but this was not violent. It doesn't look like any of the hinges are bent.

 

MemphisDoug: As of now, the silver bolts are there that you talked about. You have the idea right on. The door rises above all four stops. Actually, the bottom stop is barely touched at all by the catch (I'd say 1/8 inch). The rest of the door catches just touch the stops, but as soon as any pressure is added to the door, the door rises over them. This is really annoying because if I am on angle, I have to hold the door to keep if from swinging to far out.

 

What I have been calling "catches" are the finger-like extensions from the door that actually catch on the door stops rising from the hinges on the truck body. It seems weird to me that only 1/2 (height) of the catch is making contact with the stop. There is plenty of room...it seems like the catches are bent too far upwards.

 

Does any of this make sense? It really is a strange problem. Its almost like the catches need to be hammered down, so they make full contact with the stops.

 

Thanks for the help.

[corey145]

I had the same thing happen to me in a strong wind. It sucks. What happens is the center of the hinge where it bolts together gets bent. I was able to take a sled and rod and knock the door down an 1/8 of and inch and then adjust the door strike. Then I took the four stops and bent them down so they all make contact very well.

 

 

 

Thanks for the replies. 

 

I did not let the door swing in a unusual manner.  No different then any other time.  Just opened the door, let it swing out, but for some reason it rode up over the stops.  I would understand if the wind caught the door or someone ran into the open door, but this was not violent.  It doesn't look like any of the hinges are bent.

 

MemphisDoug: As of now, the silver bolts are there that you talked about.  You have the idea right on.  The door rises above all four stops.  Actually, the bottom stop is barely touched at all by the catch (I'd say 1/8 inch).  The rest of the door catches just touch the stops, but as soon as any pressure is added to the door, the door rises over them.  This is really annoying because if I am on angle, I have to hold the door to keep if from swinging to far out. 

 

What I have been calling "catches" are the finger-like extensions from the door that actually catch on the door stops rising from the hinges on the truck body.  It seems weird to me that only 1/2 (height) of the catch is making contact with the stop.  There is plenty of room...it seems like the catches are bent too far upwards. 

 

Does any of this make sense?  It really is a strange problem.  Its almost like the catches need to be hammered down, so they make full contact with the stops.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

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