SOLVED! Drivers door rubbing on front edge

LikeEnvoy

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
128
Winnipeg, MB
All of a sudden I opened the drivers door yesterday and it groaned. I thought it was the stay bar but it sounded different. After a trip to the shops I looked closer and realised it was the front edge rubbing against the front quarter body panel in two places! It has never done this before. Its rubbing the paint off, blast it.
Comparing it with the passenger door, I see the passenger door has enough gap to almost fit the ignition key plastic in, whereas the driver door front gap is so thin I can't quite fit a quarter in there.

The back of the driver door seems the correct gap, compared with the passenger door, and the door lines up with the striker, plus the top and bottom edges seem aligned perfectly. The gap at the back is parallel all the way down. The gap at the front seem parallel too- just too thin.
The front quarter body panel seems perfectly flush with the door front edge, so neither is pushed in or out. The bolts on the top edge of the front quarter panel (under the hood) don't have any tell-tale rings that might indicate it has moved and the door hinges don't have any marks that might indicate the hinges have moved.
SO what the heck has moved?? Does anyone know this one?
I don't see exactly this issue anywhere on the internet. I saw only a mention of possible door blow-back, in strong wind, and it described blocking wood inside the hinges and pushing hard a few times to bend the body back again. I don't remember my door swinging in the wind in the last few days so it doesn't seem likely although I will try this method if that really is what happened.
If nobody has experienced exactly this issue then I will try loosening the front quarter panel bolts and try to move the panel forward slightly. Strange though, I can't see how it could have moved back that much short of a collision, and then there would be some damage to the front area.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,039
Brighton, CO
Someone may have bumped you in a parking lot, and moved the fender back. Had this happen on my Aztek, and Envoy. I just loosened the top fender bolts, and the one on the bottom, and pulled the fender forward. Worked great.

The only other possibility is that your door hinge pins are getting wore out.
 
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fletch09

Member
Nov 20, 2011
1,982
had that problem w/ my 03 EXT. passenger door would get out of alignment, because the wife or kids would let or swing the door open hard(caught by wind sometimes) took it to local body shop and they would bend it back into place so it wouldn't rub. :twocents:
 

Drec

Lifetime VIP Donor
Supporting Donor
Member
Jan 29, 2018
216
Yakima, Washington
Does the door hinge have any play in it? With the door open a couple of inches, can you lift the back of the door and feel any play in the hinges?
 

LikeEnvoy

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
128
Winnipeg, MB
Just to finish this thread properly: Sorry for not replying after your inputs. I appreciate them and I thought I had responded but maybe I put an entry into the wrong thread (eek).
Anyway, there was no play in the hinges; couldn't lift it or anything. So, in the end, I decided it must have been forced due to some wind blow-back. So, as I had read about, I put a piece of wood (2x3 I think) into the front hinges, one at a time, and pushed the door towards closed-position a few times. I sort of bounced the door against the wood. Very softly at first, then increasing in force gradually until I could actually see the gap increase. I obtained a decent clearance then left it alone.
So far no more rubbing but I hold onto that door whenever there's a wind!

That's it- thread solved.
 

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