door latch mechanism

[Doc Dave]

On my '52 power wagon, I notice that the passenger door mechanism works very well. On the driver door, it opens and closes fine, but if you lock it by moving the inside handle backward, it will not "hold".
If you jiggle the outside handle, the inner handle starts to drop more verticle in its orientation until the door opens. This does not occur with the passenger door.
Is the cure a new mechanism? I would like to hear suggstions from those who have some experience with this problem.
Thanks

[BigSmoke]

I think that there could something wrong with all 52's. Mine has a similar issue and it seems like other people have problems with driver side door.

My door latches/opens poorly and it also bumps the rain gutter in the top, front corner. Other have this problem also.

Either the cab was jigged and welded wrong or all of our cabs were hit by something in the exact same spot.

[Charles Talbert]

Your door latch problem is simply a worn out latch mechanism; either rebuild or replace it.

The door not fitting the cab opening so it opens and closes correctly could be a couple of things; #1 it isn't adjusted correctly, or #2 the door or workings of it has gotten sprung over the years causing it not to fit perfect. This can also be repaired by seeking out the exact issue and taking necessary measures to get things back into shape. There was no door issue with new trucks of any year. I've seen them worn out or warped out of shape on all year models, damage and wear wasn't exclusive on '52 models.

[Doc Dave]

It is peculiar in that the belt line of the passenger door lines up pretty good with the cab beltline. On the driver door it is off a lot. Even with tweaking the door so it closes well and is aligned evenly in the opening does not correct this mismatch. So I am not sure if there was not a problem that year, but will never know.
I am going to take the door inner panel off and examine the door latch mechainsm. I heard from a guy on the 2WD forum that sometimes one of the two springs in the mechanism is broken with age causing this symptom. He also posted that Mac's auto parts for ford sells a spring that looks very close. If I find this is the problem I will post.
IT may also be that the mechanism is simply worn out. VPW has them for $75 a pop but I want to check on the spring first.

[Kevin in Ohio]

It is peculiar in that the belt line of the passenger door lines up pretty good with the cab beltline. On the driver door it is off a lot. Even with tweaking the door so it closes well and is aligned evenly in the opening does not correct this mismatch. So I am not sure if there was not a problem that year, but will never know.
I am going to take the door inner panel off and examine the door latch mechainsm. I heard from a guy on the 2WD forum that sometimes one of the two springs in the mechanism is broken with age causing this symptom. He also posted that Mac's auto parts for ford sells a spring that looks very close. If I find this is the problem I will post.
IT may also be that the mechanism is simply worn out. VPW has them for $75 a pop but I want to check on the spring first.

Dave,
I fought this on my '41 as well. My guess is you have the same thing wrong that I did. The cab may be tweaked. They are very weak and takes about 5 minutes to fix with a Porta Power on 45 degrees in the door opening. Mine fits perfect now. If your daeling with a paralellagram fit issue, this is what it is. Kevin

[Doc Dave]

Kevin,
So what you are saying is to take measurements top and bottom, and if they are off, then you have a parallelogram situation, and should use the PortaPower to get the door opening back to more square?
On the door latch issue do you think my idea is good to take it off for inspection to see about the spring? That would be easier to deal with than wear/laxity. I think it is logical like Charles said that the mechanism may be worn out, given that it is the driver door and got a lot more opening cycles, etc.

[BigSmoke]

Maybe this could help determine whether it's a worn out latch issue or out of square cab.

http://www.muscle-cars.ca/gallery/ma...?g2_itemId=412

[Kevin in Ohio]

Kevin,
So what you are saying is to take measurements top and bottom, and if they are off, then you have a parallelogram situation, and should use the PortaPower to get the door opening back to more square?
On the door latch issue do you think my idea is good to take it off for inspection to see about the spring? That would be easier to deal with than wear/laxity. I think it is logical like Charles said that the mechanism may be worn out, given that it is the driver door and got a lot more opening cycles, etc.

In your second post you stated, "the passenger door lines up pretty good with the cab beltline. On the driver door it is off a lot." That is what I was referring to. Your latch is probably wore as well but get the door fitting right first.

If you can get the hinge side(front door edge) to be straight and the top back of the door hits the rain gutter you probably have a tweaked cab. Trust me, I've been there. I spent the better part of a week adjusting and bending the cab side hinge's steel and finally thought to myself, "It's like the cab is out of square." SHAZAM!, In 5 minutes it was perfect.

No need to measure, look at the gap lines. Get those even. They weren't perfect from the factory but you can usually get it pretty good. If your cab is painted, use plenty of towels and the rubber attachment if you have it. Just go slow as you'll be amazed how easy it moves.

The latches normally wear out on the hook. If metal is gone you can reweld some on and file/grind off. On the springs, they do break but if it hard to push up the hook with your fingers, it's probably okay. You do know you can adjust the "double hook" that mounts to the cab don't you? Trace it with a pencil before loosening so you'll know where it was originally. Go slow with adjustment as if you go too much your door will get stuck, Don't ask me how I know ;) You have to lift REAL hard up to get it free again.

Get the gaps right and we'll go from there. Kevin

[Doc Dave]

Big smoke, thank you for posting the drawing. That is very interesting. I wonder how close they got at the factory with matching all those dimensions.

Kevin, I will try pushing on the hooks on the door's latch, and see how much resistance I get. The tips are definitely worn, so I will consider trying to weld on a little new metal and then file them down to original shape.
I can't get a normal gap along the front because there apparently was an impact of some type in the past, the door is a little tweaked/wrinkled along the edge in one area. But from what you are saying the cab could be too.