Bodywork question: How do you hang a door?

I'm installing new doors on my MJ now after a recent rollover and cannot get the passenger side straight for the life of me. Are there any tricks? What point do I start at?

I rolled over on the passenger side and onto my top, so the hinges on the body may be bent, but not by much if at all. I straightened out my pillar and the new windshield fits the space well now. I modified my hinges before the roll so I could go doorless (cut the lower ear off) and am using them again, they appear to be in good shape, never had any problems before.

What puzzles me is that the front of the door needs to go down 3/8" or so but the rear of the door on the latch needs to come up 3/8" or so. If I can achieve this, the door will fit perfectly.

Any insight??

Thanks,

Usually, what you need to do would be accomplished with shims at the hinges. But before trying this, you need to check the overall fit of the door in its space. Is it possible to position the door (loosely, not really hung yet) in the space and have more-or-less even gaps between door and fender, rear edge and roof? If not, your body is distorted and you'll never get it right. You might be able to make it function but it won't ever look right.

Try to position the front height correctly first. There's a good deal of play in the mounting of hinge to door. You may need a jack or a second person to help here. If you can't get the height correct at the front there's not much you can do without enlarging holes. Then add shims at the bottom and subtract at top as needed to get the rear up. The default is one shim per hinge. The shims are slotted so that you can add and remove them without completely unbolting the hinge. Exactly what combination of shims you need will depend on what preserves a reasonable gap between the door and the fender,and that may depend on the degree of damage. Appearance aside, for function it's more important to maintain a gap in the front and avoid catching on the fender than it is to have an even gap at the back or top.

Remember too that the latch mechanism can handle some door sag. You can adjust the latch post up, down, in and out, to fine-tune the final fit within a certain range. You can also tweak the top of the door in and out if the panel fits but the window frame does not. A judiciously placed two-by-four lever, or even hands on top and a knee on the door frame can bend it in or out as needed.

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. Time to get crackin' on it again..

It's possible you still have some damage and it almost impossible to tell without measuring.Find a few points to measure on the other side or a MJ without damage,then compare to the damaged side. Find a place near the latch on the cab ,then measure to the center of the hinge pins,The measurements between sides should be extremely close.A roll over will usually lean the top hinge back and sometimes lean the lower forward , this matches the symtoms you've mentioned, let us know how it turns out.Good look!

Well, I have it done. I just used a 2x6 and lifted a little. I set the front horizontal body line first, took the striker off, used the 2x6 to pick the rear of the door up, then re-installed the striker. everything's cool, except the rear of the cab is crushed in about 1/2". Time for some more body work.

Thanks for all the help, more questions to come I'm sure. :doh:

Scott