47-55.1 Does the driver door swing open more than the passenger by design?

[Gregski]

On my '54 I noticed the driver side door appears to swing open further than the one on the passenger side. On the driver side it opens to be perpendicular to the car so ie 90° whilst on the passenger side it only swings open about 60°

[mongocanfly]

Mine are the same...could your hinge be bent?...or maybe the stop bent?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Mine are the same...could your hinge be bent?...or maybe the stop bent?

Thanks Greg you always come through for me, if it wasn't for the virus I would be sending you a one way ticket to sunny California right now with a note... "Bring yer toolz" ha ha so that you can just finish Busty for me, I know you have time, ha ha

anywho armed with this new information went and snapped a few pics, here's what's interesting

assuming this round ring is the stopper, it is loose like a goose on the driver side, the side that swings way more open (so that would make sense if the stopper is broken)

however on the passenger side it is completely missing, I know so cause i found it in the bottom of the front of the cab when I was welding in a rust patch, I had no idea what it was so I think I tossed it, but needless to say it was snapped / broken

what has me perplexed is, if the stopper be missing from the passenger side, what's stopping that door from swinging as far open as the one on the driver side

scratching my head on this one

[joedoh]

my drivers door opened that far and did a great job of smashing the cowl with the door edge.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by joedoh

my drivers door opened that far and did a great job of smashing the cowl with the door edge.

Oh no, I was hoping it would have at least dinged your wife's Prius! and I totally thought that was George Carlin - greatest comedian of all time, his The Honeymoon Is Over Downs (Adult Language) bit is hillarious!

[mr48chev]

It swings open further because part of the hinge body that bolts to the truck has been beat out from years of the door being pushed too far when people got in and out. That is real common though and one reason besides backing into something with the door open that so many AD trucks have the dent in the side of the cowl where the door hit it.

[joedoh]

let me rephrase:

I have no idea how your door opens 90 degrees, my door was windblown and hit the door edge on the cowl at a little more than 45 degrees. in fact the "stop" gets the door edge really close to the cowl. so its gotta be a case of the hinge wallered out enough to give that much swing? I have no idea, but I have 4 cabs that have the "door opened too far" crease on the cowl

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by Gregski

On my '54 I noticed the driver side door appears to swing open further than the one on the passenger side. On the driver side it opens to be perpendicular to the car so ie 90° whilst on the passenger side it only swings open about 60°

My '63 C20 does the same thing.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by joedoh

let me rephrase:

I have no idea how your door opens 90 degrees, my door was windblown and hit the door edge on the cowl at a little more than 45 degrees. in fact the "stop" gets the door edge really close to the cowl. so its gotta be a case of the hinge wallered out enough to give that much swing? I have no idea, but I have 4 cabs that have the "door opened too far" crease on the cowl

sure enuff my driver side has a crease on the cowl, never noticed it before, thanks

[mr48chev]

I'm going to say that one issue with these trucks an trucks in general is that a lot of drivers push the door all the way open and then use it to help get in the truck pushing on the door against the jamb. That and wind blowing them open and backing up into things with the door open.

[LOW A D]

assuming this round ring is the stopper, it is loose like a goose on the driver side, the side that swings way more open (so that would make sense if the stopper is broken)



The round ring is the spring that holds your door in the open position. The top hinge on both doors each have 2 of these springs. They are often broken or missing. Most restoration parts stores sell them, they are easy to replace once you have taken your hinge out. I just replaced my hinge springs