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Posted by Keith in Washington on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 17:07:30 :
In Reply to: Put another handle on the outside.... posted by Eric B. on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 15:54:49 :
My drivers door often stuck on my 52 ffPW. The door had sagged too much. With excessive door sag the handles cannot move the latch mechanism far enough to clear the door strike. This is because the latch mechanism drops further down into the striker as the door sags.
I found it quite easy to knock out the door pins and I got in very quickly. You need a hammer and a small punch just tap the pin out just like you would do to remove one of the doors in your house.
You can also lift upward on the back part of the door as you work the door handle. This may lift the door enough to allow the latch to clear the striker.
It is not a bad idea to remove the pins anyway. There is most likely a lot of rust and debris build up. Often the pins are frozen in the part of the door hinge that attaches to the truck body. Clean the pin and the hole that it goes into. Then give it a good lube.
The pin is suppose to rotate in the hole that is in the hinge part that is attached to the body. Most often the pin is frozen in this hole. The top of the pin is serrated and is designed to be spiked into to the part of the hinge that is attached to the door. When the pin is frozen as indicated above, the top of the pin rips out the hinge part that is attached to the door. The result is that the pin now is not rotating like it should and the holes in the hinge part that is attached to the door are enlarged and often wear to an oval shape and the door sags.
Once the pin has been removed and all parts cleaned it is often necessary to replace the hinge pin (VPW has them). I also welded up the two holes in the hinge part that is attached to the door then redrilled them. Make sure you center them back to the original hole center. Just doing this and replacing the pin solved all door opening problems as it fixed the door sag.
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