Rattling doors?

[morganater]

Whenever I drive my truck over railroad tracks, any bumpy road, etc. It rattles the doors like crazy. My weatherstripping is shot, and I know i need to replace it, but the doors rattle so violently I think they are going to fall off Anyone know of a cure to this? They shut VERY flush, and seem to be tight on the hinges, etc.

[69F110]

wow, I don't know. I know mine did the same thing and it was very tight on the hinges too. My Dad's old 68 (the one I grew up with) started doing it over the years too...plus that hollow sound when you shut the doors. Brings back alot of memories...but unfortuneately I don't know how to fix it.

[FORDification]

Sounds to me like maybe your door striker needs to be adjusted a little. That's this thing:



This is what the door latches onto and is adjusted to keep the door shut snugly against the weatherstripping for a good seal. If the weatherstripping is bad (or missing), then adjusting this in a little to compensate will help with the door rattles, but it won't do much for sealing.

To see if this is what you need, make sure your door is closed and then grab the outside handle and try to shake the door in and out. If you can, then you need to adjust the striker.

Just take a pencil and mark where your striker is now by making a mark all the way around the washer. Then just grab it with a pair of Visegrips and loosen it up just a tiny bit, just enough to move it but not really loose. (It's basically nothing more than a bolt with a funny head on it.) Slide the striker in (towards the cab) a tiny bit and then tighten it back up and re-check by closing the door and trying to shake it again. Keep doing this until you can't shake the door.

The striker also has a little up/down adustment, but that will affect how your door lines up with the body panels. If your door lines up with the body panels just fine right now, make sure when you move the striker that it goes straight in, and not up or down at all (which is the reason for making that reference mark).

[morganater]

Wow, great Idea I will replace the weatherstripping and see how bad it is after I do that and if i will still have to adjust the bolt. My doors also have the hollow sound, but i just kinda let that go as an old truck thing ....

[lobuck76]

A 3/4" 12 point socket will fit the striker.