Adjust YJ door striker
 

OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?

--
Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
'98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
O|||||||O
'92 Explorer '65 Mustang

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

Carlo wrote:
> OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
> to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
> merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
> door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
> he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
> to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
>

Pair of channel locks, unscrew the striker and the round plate is mates
up with and put a washer in there (if you need to go that direction) or
take one off (if there's already one). And yeah you may need the fine
alignment tool AKA BFH... the doors may be sagging a little on the
hinges. Should be visible from the gap between the body the lower door.
If so; a hunk of pressure treated wood and the fine alignment tool
against the hinge loops in the relevant direction should help. If it's
really bad you may want to loosen the hinges but getting to the
winshield/upper door hinge nuts is a whole 'nother post.

--
Simon
"I may be wrong, but I'm not uncertain." -- Robert A. Heinlein

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

Carlo wrote:
> OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
> to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
> merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
> door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
> he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
> to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
>

Pair of channel locks, unscrew the striker and the round plate is mates
up with and put a washer in there (if you need to go that direction) or
take one off (if there's already one). And yeah you may need the fine
alignment tool AKA BFH... the doors may be sagging a little on the
hinges. Should be visible from the gap between the body the lower door.
If so; a hunk of pressure treated wood and the fine alignment tool
against the hinge loops in the relevant direction should help. If it's
really bad you may want to loosen the hinges but getting to the
winshield/upper door hinge nuts is a whole 'nother post.

--
Simon
"I may be wrong, but I'm not uncertain." -- Robert A. Heinlein

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

Carlo wrote:
> OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
> to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
> merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
> door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
> he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
> to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
>

Pair of channel locks, unscrew the striker and the round plate is mates
up with and put a washer in there (if you need to go that direction) or
take one off (if there's already one). And yeah you may need the fine
alignment tool AKA BFH... the doors may be sagging a little on the
hinges. Should be visible from the gap between the body the lower door.
If so; a hunk of pressure treated wood and the fine alignment tool
against the hinge loops in the relevant direction should help. If it's
really bad you may want to loosen the hinges but getting to the
winshield/upper door hinge nuts is a whole 'nother post.

--
Simon
"I may be wrong, but I'm not uncertain." -- Robert A. Heinlein

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

LOL! Yup, it's a Jeep. Seriously the striker itself turns to loosen it
with a torx bit in the center of it and usually some vise grips on the
outside to help the torx bit. Once loose, they do slide around some.
You just want them 'just' cracked loose which is wear the hammer and
punch comes in. Too loose and they won't say put to tighten back up.

Check the bottom hinge first. They have a tendency to open up and this
allows the door to drop down. I have used large vise grips along with
some hammer taps to close the gap back up in the hinge. This usually
holds for a year or so but once the hinge has bent, the temper is gone
and it will open back up again. I have seen a few that were tack welded
closed once bent back in shape.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Carlo wrote:
>
> OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
> to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
> merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
> door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
> he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
> to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
>
> --
> Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
> carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
> '98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
> O|||||||O
> '92 Explorer '65 Mustang

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

LOL! Yup, it's a Jeep. Seriously the striker itself turns to loosen it
with a torx bit in the center of it and usually some vise grips on the
outside to help the torx bit. Once loose, they do slide around some.
You just want them 'just' cracked loose which is wear the hammer and
punch comes in. Too loose and they won't say put to tighten back up.

Check the bottom hinge first. They have a tendency to open up and this
allows the door to drop down. I have used large vise grips along with
some hammer taps to close the gap back up in the hinge. This usually
holds for a year or so but once the hinge has bent, the temper is gone
and it will open back up again. I have seen a few that were tack welded
closed once bent back in shape.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Carlo wrote:
>
> OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
> to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
> merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
> door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
> he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
> to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
>
> --
> Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
> carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
> '98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
> O|||||||O
> '92 Explorer '65 Mustang

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

LOL! Yup, it's a Jeep. Seriously the striker itself turns to loosen it
with a torx bit in the center of it and usually some vise grips on the
outside to help the torx bit. Once loose, they do slide around some.
You just want them 'just' cracked loose which is wear the hammer and
punch comes in. Too loose and they won't say put to tighten back up.

Check the bottom hinge first. They have a tendency to open up and this
allows the door to drop down. I have used large vise grips along with
some hammer taps to close the gap back up in the hinge. This usually
holds for a year or so but once the hinge has bent, the temper is gone
and it will open back up again. I have seen a few that were tack welded
closed once bent back in shape.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Carlo wrote:
>
> OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty pull
> to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has been
> merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on the
> door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure that
> he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was going
> to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
>
> --
> Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
> carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
> '98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
> O|||||||O
> '92 Explorer '65 Mustang

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

Thanks
I'll give that a try today. I don't think it's an up & down thing - striker
appears to line up with the latch. I think it's an in & out thing......but
it sounds to me as if the procedure should be about the same............I'll
be back.

--
Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
'98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
O|||||||O
'92 Explorer '65 Mustang


"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4003FFE5.9652A64A@sympatico.ca...
> LOL! Yup, it's a Jeep. Seriously the striker itself turns to loosen it
> with a torx bit in the center of it and usually some vise grips on the
> outside to help the torx bit. Once loose, they do slide around some.
> You just want them 'just' cracked loose which is wear the hammer and
> punch comes in. Too loose and they won't say put to tighten back up.
>
> Check the bottom hinge first. They have a tendency to open up and this
> allows the door to drop down. I have used large vise grips along with
> some hammer taps to close the gap back up in the hinge. This usually
> holds for a year or so but once the hinge has bent, the temper is gone
> and it will open back up again. I have seen a few that were tack welded
> closed once bent back in shape.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Carlo wrote:
> >
> > OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty
pull
> > to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has
been
> > merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on
the
> > door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure
that
> > he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> > could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was
going
> > to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> > checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> > hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
> >
> > --
> > Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
> > carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
> > '98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
> > O|||||||O
> > '92 Explorer '65 Mustang

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

Thanks
I'll give that a try today. I don't think it's an up & down thing - striker
appears to line up with the latch. I think it's an in & out thing......but
it sounds to me as if the procedure should be about the same............I'll
be back.

--
Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
'98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
O|||||||O
'92 Explorer '65 Mustang


"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4003FFE5.9652A64A@sympatico.ca...
> LOL! Yup, it's a Jeep. Seriously the striker itself turns to loosen it
> with a torx bit in the center of it and usually some vise grips on the
> outside to help the torx bit. Once loose, they do slide around some.
> You just want them 'just' cracked loose which is wear the hammer and
> punch comes in. Too loose and they won't say put to tighten back up.
>
> Check the bottom hinge first. They have a tendency to open up and this
> allows the door to drop down. I have used large vise grips along with
> some hammer taps to close the gap back up in the hinge. This usually
> holds for a year or so but once the hinge has bent, the temper is gone
> and it will open back up again. I have seen a few that were tack welded
> closed once bent back in shape.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Carlo wrote:
> >
> > OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty
pull
> > to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has
been
> > merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on
the
> > door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure
that
> > he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> > could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was
going
> > to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> > checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> > hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
> >
> > --
> > Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
> > carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
> > '98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
> > O|||||||O
> > '92 Explorer '65 Mustang

Re: Adjust YJ door striker
 

Thanks
I'll give that a try today. I don't think it's an up & down thing - striker
appears to line up with the latch. I think it's an in & out thing......but
it sounds to me as if the procedure should be about the same............I'll
be back.

--
Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
'98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
O|||||||O
'92 Explorer '65 Mustang


"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4003FFE5.9652A64A@sympatico.ca...
> LOL! Yup, it's a Jeep. Seriously the striker itself turns to loosen it
> with a torx bit in the center of it and usually some vise grips on the
> outside to help the torx bit. Once loose, they do slide around some.
> You just want them 'just' cracked loose which is wear the hammer and
> punch comes in. Too loose and they won't say put to tighten back up.
>
> Check the bottom hinge first. They have a tendency to open up and this
> allows the door to drop down. I have used large vise grips along with
> some hammer taps to close the gap back up in the hinge. This usually
> holds for a year or so but once the hinge has bent, the temper is gone
> and it will open back up again. I have seen a few that were tack welded
> closed once bent back in shape.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Carlo wrote:
> >
> > OK - It seems that the drivers door on my son's '89 YJ requires a hefty
pull
> > to slam it shut. So instead of adjusting it (or asking me to) he has
been
> > merely pulling a little harder every day to shut it. The pull strap on
the
> > door is now broken & the door panel is beginning to pull away. I figure
that
> > he must be hard of hearing, so I asked him in a rather loud voice (so he
> > could hear) why this was not fixed or brought to my attention. I was
going
> > to adjust the striker but couldn't find a way of making an adjustment. I
> > checked the FSM & it said to use a brass drift & a large
> > hammer.............(the key to precision? - a BFH?). Can this be true?
> >
> > --
> > Carlo F. Serusa, Jr. RPh
> > carlo.jr at comcast DOTnet
> > '98 Sahara TJ - '89 YJ - '79 Scout II
> > O|||||||O
> > '92 Explorer '65 Mustang