Y2K5SRT
Enthusiast
Well, yesterday we had a GREAT tech session here in Kansas City. How great was it? We had the honor of hosting Rick Maxwell and Nancy Shanno from Woodhouse, as they came all the way down from Nebraska to meet with our club. It was AWESOME and we were all amazed just how little we knew about our cars after we spoke with Rick. We spent time under the Gen II (talk about the recall) and the SRT (just to see what it looked like). We were also there as Woodhouse delivered Ray's brand new red SRT (first red one in KC). What a STUNNING car!
Anyway, one of the first things we noticed was how easily his doors shut. REALLY easily. Knowing that many of us have experienced less-than-easy door closings on one or both doors, we checked it out. We found that the harder-to-close door (driver's side) was in just a little more than the passenger side. You could run your finger down the side and feel where the door was in further than the adjoining rear fender. Not that way on the passenger side (which is fine). So we figured out what it could be and I played with the driver's door a little today.
<font color="red"> WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
The following is for informational purposes ONLY and is not necessarily recommended for readers. Any adjustments described herein may:
1. Void your warranty
2. Break your window
3. Scratch your paint
4. Frustrate you for a while</font>
Okay, that said, here is the likely culprit for your door closing hard and possibly your window hitting at the top(if the door is too high):
This is the door latch at the back of the door jamb on the car. Want to try this? LOWER YOUR WINDOWS COMPLETELY FIRST. The latch takes a large Torx driver to loosen the two screws. Before you even THINK about trying this (see warnings above), realize that you should both mark where it sits currently and only loosen the screws a 1/4 turn or so to start with. Why? Because if you loosen it too much more that darn latch will move a LOT in any direction. See how it has the "space" around it in the picture above? You can move it anywhere inside there if you are not careful. I recommend you loosen it slightly and very carefully "nudge" the latch where you want it to go. There are several shims under the latch as you can see, so try to keep them all lined up and not have them "lean" one way or another. If you want your door to sit just slightly more "out", nudge that latch accordingly. If your door is too high or too low, again very carefully nudge that latch into the position you want it.
Once you nudged it, tighten it up again and shut the door. MAKE SURE YOUR WINDOW IS DOWN FIRST. If it is not, you could easily break the glass if it is out of position. On both of my doors, the lower part of the door sticks out a little past the quarter panel, while the upper part of the driver's door was more inside. After working with it for a half hour or so I got it to where the door lined up well (still sticks out a little on the bottom, but no idea how to fix that or if it even needs fixing). I also found that it closes MUCH more easily, as it is not in quite so far. Once sure that everything lined up well on the door/body lines, I put the window up and shut it that way. MUCH easier. I think I could make it out just a hair more and make it even easier, but I don't really want to mess with it and also have a good seal I don't want to lose either.
Hope this helps! If you aren't 100% comfortable trying this, take it to your friendly Dodge dealer and see if they can adjust this. It seems very simple when you look at it, but a wrong move can spell disaster. Good luck!
Chris
Anyway, one of the first things we noticed was how easily his doors shut. REALLY easily. Knowing that many of us have experienced less-than-easy door closings on one or both doors, we checked it out. We found that the harder-to-close door (driver's side) was in just a little more than the passenger side. You could run your finger down the side and feel where the door was in further than the adjoining rear fender. Not that way on the passenger side (which is fine). So we figured out what it could be and I played with the driver's door a little today.
<font color="red"> WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
The following is for informational purposes ONLY and is not necessarily recommended for readers. Any adjustments described herein may:
1. Void your warranty
2. Break your window
3. Scratch your paint
4. Frustrate you for a while</font>
Okay, that said, here is the likely culprit for your door closing hard and possibly your window hitting at the top(if the door is too high):
You must be registered for see images
This is the door latch at the back of the door jamb on the car. Want to try this? LOWER YOUR WINDOWS COMPLETELY FIRST. The latch takes a large Torx driver to loosen the two screws. Before you even THINK about trying this (see warnings above), realize that you should both mark where it sits currently and only loosen the screws a 1/4 turn or so to start with. Why? Because if you loosen it too much more that darn latch will move a LOT in any direction. See how it has the "space" around it in the picture above? You can move it anywhere inside there if you are not careful. I recommend you loosen it slightly and very carefully "nudge" the latch where you want it to go. There are several shims under the latch as you can see, so try to keep them all lined up and not have them "lean" one way or another. If you want your door to sit just slightly more "out", nudge that latch accordingly. If your door is too high or too low, again very carefully nudge that latch into the position you want it.
Once you nudged it, tighten it up again and shut the door. MAKE SURE YOUR WINDOW IS DOWN FIRST. If it is not, you could easily break the glass if it is out of position. On both of my doors, the lower part of the door sticks out a little past the quarter panel, while the upper part of the driver's door was more inside. After working with it for a half hour or so I got it to where the door lined up well (still sticks out a little on the bottom, but no idea how to fix that or if it even needs fixing). I also found that it closes MUCH more easily, as it is not in quite so far. Once sure that everything lined up well on the door/body lines, I put the window up and shut it that way. MUCH easier. I think I could make it out just a hair more and make it even easier, but I don't really want to mess with it and also have a good seal I don't want to lose either.
Hope this helps! If you aren't 100% comfortable trying this, take it to your friendly Dodge dealer and see if they can adjust this. It seems very simple when you look at it, but a wrong move can spell disaster. Good luck!
Chris
