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After reinstall driver's side door won't close without a lot of force.

cosmokenney

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Looking for advice on adjusting the driver's side door. On my 2 door, I put the top and doors back on at the same time. Now the driver's door will not close correctly. I have to really pull it shut with some force. And the auto park is kicking in when i for get to slam it closed. Something is getting in the way, but I cannot tell if it is the rubber trim, or the latch, or something else. I didn't do anything weird when taking them off so I cannot imagine the hinges have moved.

I'm also pretty sure this cannot be related to the cabin air pressure because the passenger door works like it did when I first got the jeep. It is clearly a misalignment of something.

I'm open to any suggestions on tracking down the issue. And I won't give my dealer the time of day. I've heard the "it's a jeep thing" one too many times.
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JeepJLBase

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First thing I would do is check the door and body where it seals for wear or crimping if its rubber. If it's not obvious a would get some material that n adheres to the door and check that to validate fitment. The opposite door can be used as a reference too. This assumes it went back together with out fiddling with it.
 

Abend

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cosmokenney

cosmokenney

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The hinges look fine. The bolts go right in. The strap/wiring bows out like it should. I suspect it has something to do with the hard top. I will probably be pulling the top back off today so I'll check after that.
hinge1.jpg
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Rahneld

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It's probably not it, but rule out having tightened the door nuts (they're actually nuts, not bolts) too tightly with the torx wrench when putting them back on.
 

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cosmokenney

cosmokenney

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It's probably not it, but rule out having tightened the door nuts (they're actually nuts, not bolts) too tightly with the torx wrench when putting them back on.
That's a good point. I used a t-handle torx and got them pretty tight since I didn't want them backing themselves out.
Also with the panels and hardtop off the problem seems a lot less likely to happen. In fact I don't think I had it happen at all yesterday in my trip to the dog park then to get gas, though I may have just adjusted to pulling the door closed with a vengeance.
 

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@cosmokenney; I understand not wanting them to fall out...but factory spec on the door nuts is 7.5 ft-lbs (same for the hard top bolts)...which is not a lot at all...tightening them more than that can cause the pins to stretch and eventually break. So just be careful when tightening and hopefully you can figure this out...just by chance...have you blocked the vents in the tailgate? That could cause the air pressure in the cabin to not properly equalize while closing the door, which would make the door hard to close with the top on, but wouldn’t affect it with no top or a door open. Just trying to think outside the box here...
 
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OldGuyNewJeep

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I understand not wanting them to fall out...but factory spec on the door nuts is 7.5 ft-lbs (same for the hard top bolts)...which is not a lot at all...tightening them more than that can cause the pins to stretch and eventually break. So just be careful when tightening and hopefully you can figure this out...
“Tight is tight. Too tight is broken.”

I say that to my sons all the time...
 

OldJupiter

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Yep. Too tight will make them sit out of alignment. Also check the inside latch. If that one is too tight it will offset the door before the door nuts.

Side note. I think it just sounds better saying door "bolts" than door "nuts" haha
 

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TA1ton

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“Tight is tight. Too tight is broken.”

I say that to my sons all the time...
I had to learn that lesson the hard way...worst part of it all is that it took me more than once to finally learn that lesson. :facepalm:
 

Rahneld

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Yep. Too tight will make them sit out of alignment. Also check the inside latch. If that one is too tight it will offset the door before the door nuts.

Side note. I think it just sounds better saying door "bolts" than door "nuts" haha
Agreed, but the bolt is welded to the hinge, and the nut in this case just looks like a bolt because it's hollowed out and taped with threads, with a torx head at the end.

It's a nut that "identifies" as a bolt; nothing political incorrect intended.:)
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