How to fix a sprung M715 door

[Kaiserjeeps]

I have seen several doors on M715's and wagoneers that have been opened to hard and sprung the door. You have to push the door closed and it no longer shuts with a gentle nudge.

It is a pretty easy repair. I have been cleaning up Mikes truck and both passenger doors were sprung. I have successfully repaired both of them where they will shut like they should.

First make sure all the rubber bumpers and gaskets are in place. Verify the door alignment by examining the gaps and the reveal of all the panels. They should be flush or close to it. Check the latch function. Does the door enter the latch and not collide with the latch frame on it's way in.
Most importantly, do the body lines line up? Now is the time to address that.
Start there...

Make 2 square metal plates. 1/4 thick 2x2 inches.
Look inside the cab hinge pocket. There is a bolt way in back to support the door hinge. Place one plate on edge back against the bolt head. Place the second plate on the other hinge. Don't drop them!!! A magnet on a string works. You are making an interference fit for the hinge.
Close the door till it hits both plates. Make sure they did not move.
With both hands spread wide top to bottom over the door start pushing with your body weight pressing evenly on both hands. Remove the plates and test close the door. Continue till the door closes like it should.
You have to push hard to return the bend. The curved mounting surface inside the door is what bends. It is curved for strength, but it is single layer.
Final check the body lines and door alignment and look closely at the latch. No dragging or movement of the door in any direction. The latch should home the door inward on the second safety catch to the rubber bumpers and be flush with the tub with no rattle back and forth.
Doors get worn out, so sometime a compromise has to be done.
Have fun

[Kaiserjeeps]

Let me add that getting both passenger doors on his truck was a trick.

[MarknessMonster]

Both passenger doors?

[SAC715]

You may want to post some pics for guys who may not understand where the plates go. In the body shop we use knurled metal cylinders with a heavy wire threaded through the center to hold on to.(It looks about the size of a large spool of thread size wise.)

[brute4c]

Great info Al!!

[Kaiserjeeps]

I don't have time to snap some pics right now.

Open the door all the way. Look at the cab side of the hinge. The hinge goes back into the pocket in the cab. Use a flashlight to see the bolt in the back of the hole the hinge is in. There are three bolts. Two on the outside you can see right off. And the one i am talking about back inside. You feed the 2x2 plate back there with your fingers and lay it up on edge so you are hiding the bolt head.
Just use a flashlight. You will see it.

I heard about the roller idea. That sounds cool.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Both passenger doors?

Mark, I was just kidding. I reread my post and the mention of both passenger doors and the way it read sounded funnay....

Thats all.

[MarknessMonster]

Oh okay, I thought you were covertly building a crew cab M715, and was kind of ticked that you were keeping it a secret.

[503m715]

Uh Al, the drivers door is what needed to be fixed. Two passenger doors. The truck only has one, er uh had only one. I thought you were just going to fix the inside door handle. Are you having a spell of old timers? Just kidding, the picture of the door repair looks great. Thanks Al, now get off the computer and get my truck green.

[Kaiserjeeps]

What, you want me to make the drivers door lock cylinder go away?