Driver's door hinge bent?

[fixer34]

My daughter's 2002 LTZ. On a particularly windy day, she opened the door and the wind slammed it open against the stop. Since then, she noticed the door wasn't sealing properly along the top edge.
I looked at the upper door hinge and it appears to be partially pulled away from the body a little, maybe 1/8".
First, should it be flush with the body, or is a gap normal?
If it is pulled away, is there any way to fix it? I was thinking about taking the door off and giving it a few 'taps' with an 8-pounder, or drilling a couple holes thru the hinge bracket and putting screws/bolts in to try to pull it back into position.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree and there is some other adjustment I can make?

 

[mrrsm]

At the very least... this video of a "Sprung Door" Problem on a GM Truck may give some insight into how to use something like a Ratchet Tool Head by wedging it into the Upper Door Hinge to act as a "Fulcrum". Then you could try to apply VERY SLIGHT AND GRADUAL PRESSURE at the outer edge of the door while SLOWLY CLOSING IT A FRACTION AT A TIME... and see if just enough pressure gets applied to the Inner Hinge to coax it back into shape well enough to re-align the Door Jamb in between. You will have to be VERY CAREFUL when doing this as the Mechanical Advantage will be ENORMOUS as you begin to press your hand on the Outer Edge of the Door and closing it in Very Tiny Increments while focusing your vision on the interior Door Hinge Areas:

...and for the Step By Steps for the Door Hinge Replacement if necessary:

This Linked Page shows the various available GM Door Hinge Pin Kits AND the Hinge Pin Removal Tool:

Amazon.com : trailblazer door hinge pin kit

 

[fixer34]

Tried this and at first it made things much WORSE. The door now sagged so much at the latch that the striker didn't line up. Carefully forced the door wide open to 'undo' it, and tried this procedure on the bottom hinge. THAT seemed to help not only with realigning the door at the latch, but also the top door seal. Appreciate the tip because it did help things; just a little counterintuitive.

I am a little concerned about the hinge bracket and the apparent weld to the body. Is there any way to get behind the body frame to put a bolt or two thru it?

In looking at the hinge assemblies further, is there no adjustment at all for the doors?? GM figured they have their tooling so precise that they could weld everything in place and the doors would fit perfectly?

 

[mrrsm]

Probably 90 % of ALL Modern Vehicles Manufactured by "The Big Three" Car and Truck Makers rely upon CAD Designs and extremely fine tuned Robotic Welding via precise and tight Jig Assemblies and 7 Degrees of Axis Electric Arc and Spot Welding for their Frame and Under-Construction assemblies. The means that practically EVERYTHING ELSE gets either Bolted on or Screwed into all of these Vehicles as similarly designed sub-structures.

So considering that even the smallest damage to either the Bodies or the Doors and Panels that get Bolted and attached to them that suffer any Stretching or Flexing of those underlying Thin, Galvanized and Painted Mild Steel Super-Structures would cause a "Ray Trace Effect" of throwing off the Geometry of the Door-To-Body Mating and Contact Surfaces WAY the Hell out of Whack, with even minimal damage involved.

This all translates to mean that only a responsible Paint and Body Shop would have The Tools, The Jigs and the Working Skill Set to finalize a satisfactory Auto Body Repair. Sorry about this... But given this reality... its a bit much to ask for our Average Members (like me...) to concoct an arcane or off-the-cuff solution that only Professionals know how to work with their Special Bag of Magic Auto Body Repair Tricks. You might find it easier and perhaps less expensive to visit one and get an estimate for a better, permanent solution. You might be pleasantly surprised if they can do something less extravagant and expensive than anything a Non-Pro would suggest that you try out next.

 

[fixer34]

Appreciate the response. Guess I'm still 'old-school'; of course I have a 50yr old sports car sitting in the garage where the most complicated electronics is a CD ignition.
This is a 2002 LTZ with 200k+ miles and getting some serious body rust/rot. But my daughter likes it and wants to keep it going as long as financially feasible.
My question about the bolts thru the hinge brackets was not so much trying to get things back in line as much as wanting to prevent the welds to the 'mild steel super-structures' from failing completely one day and the door falling off when she opens it.

 

[mrrsm]

When it comes to Metal Fatigue and the possibility of "WHEN will it Fail?" Probably the best example I can think of that might be comparable to and emphasize your situation happened when the inaugural design of The British de Havilland COMET Passenger Airliner suffered Stress Cracks in the corners of the First (and LAST) 'Square Windows-Viewing Ports'...and at the worst possible times. This created a mystery and raging public fear about Commercial Flying that was eventually solved by one of Great Britain's Smartest Scientific "Boffins" ...but NOT before quite a few of these Airplanes crashed ...and killed a lot of people:



At first, all of the Planes manufactured in 1949 and later had no problems... but the Scientists involved in Post-Mortem Metallurgy determined that from around 1,400 Hours to 1,600 Hours later...the constant Flexing of the Pressurized Fuselage when passing from Sea Level through to 30,000 Feet and back down again... over and over caused the Fuselage Structural Aluminum to bend, flex and work harden enough to eventually form a Catastrophic "Tear". The Metal Skin almost behaved like Explosively Ripping through the Airplanes ...like Shreading Cloth Fabric.

The damage started at the corners of the "Square Windows" and burst open the Planes with their own pressurized atmospheres in the near vacuum created at around 3-5 Miles above the Earth. The solution was to beef up the enclosures around the Windows... and by making them all Smaller...and either Round or Oval to avoid having any "Sharp Corners" to invite Cracking and Metal Fatigue.

Your SUV Door could similarly fail from its present damage being aggravated by Ordinary, Daily Use and from the sheer weight of the Door burdening and swinging wide on the damaged hinges...and possibly become aggravated by excessive vibration when traveling at Highway Speeds.

If the Door Hinge(s) should suddenly Fail and then catch the wind air mass near the upper hinge and let go ... Well... things might get a little hectic and bit too exciting for you or your passengers. If you ponder this problem a bit... you'll eventually land on the right idea of having an Expert cast the scrutinizing gaze of his 'Graduated Eye Balls' over those two Hinge Points and give you much better advice on what your options are for a solid repair.

PS...

If you want to see the Hollywood version of this True Story... AND Learn MORE about Metal Fatigue, note here that the "Reindeer Tail" empennage design of the suspect plane in the film was NOT a Real Aircraft Design... but a Necessary Evil Mechanical Ploy in the Movie Plot ... So just watch the linked movie "No Highway in the Sky" with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. As droll as British Aviation Dramas generally go... this 'Sleeper' of a Flick WILL keep you on the Edge of your Seat. ;>)

....and there is One More Bit of...Irony in this Story.. Watch what Mr. Honey does with Cracking his Lobster Claw inside the Outer Door Hinge... at around 1:18 into the Film... Now if THAT is not a bit of real Serendipity to your Door Hinge Issue... Then I just Don't Know What IS!

 

[Sparky]

Um, we are not talking near the forces on these doors as anything on those airplanes. Not at all close to comparable. No need to be such an alarmist.

The door is not going to suddenly tear off the vehicle at 65 mph because the metal was bent once and bent back. If it would, then you could never do any body repair work in those areas.

I'd make sure the pins are kept well lubed and just rock on, if nothing around the hinges is moving abnormally when the door is swung open and closed.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Seriously. What a far fetched turn in gibberish.

Guess the truck is totaled from this minor thing. Oh well.

 

[Sparky]

I am simply saying that I do not see cause for concern if the hinge isn't moving around when opening and closing the door. Metal fatigue won't set in and cause failure because of the bracket getting bent once or twice. If it did, you could NEVER get a repair done to anything.

Yes, I am saying you're being an alarmist and over reacting. And I would never use a scene from hollywood as "proof" of anything. Hollywood shows cars exploding in fireballs if you poke a hole in a gas tank, but that doesn't happen because liquid gasoline doesn't explode (source: multiple firefighters who have training on that sort of thing).