Hello

adjusting the door alignment on 89 k5 tommorrow. Only six bolts so should not be a problum but any tips or things to look out for would be helpful.

 

Yes, there should be no need to make adjustments using those bolts!

You probably need fresh hinge pins & bushings. They're super cheap from rockauto ($3.50/set ?), and like $8 for one at the parts stores.

The door strikers are supposed to have a plastic jacket. Mine were all missing when I got it, so I had no idea until I found a junkyard 88 suburban and noticed why the doors closed properly =). I have some 3/4" pex tube on my striker pins right now and it works well. Only had to replace the pex once on drivers side so far.

 

Thanks helo

wow! Great advise.
Ya i stopped short of doing the adjustment today for a couple of reasons. Noticed the paint was real clean around bolts. I think they have not shifted or been backed out in 22 years. Also the haynes manual i am using at the moment(which gave me a solution) is not always vehicle specific so figured i should wait till i get factory specific info. Found the factory manual. Still shopping for best price/options. Will check out your suggestions tommorrow.

Right on,
trunk

 

actually I think used 1/2" pex?? either size will probably work ok..

The factory plastic jacket/bushing is white from what I've seen. If the striker (on the door frame) is bare metal, yours are missing and your doors probably don't close all the way unless you slam them really hard, and even then they'll rattle a bit while driving.

Supposedly you can adjust the striker pin, but again there's no need unless a previous owner messed with them (the paint will show signs..). Mine are outright frozen if they are indeed adjustable. If the strikers do come off, you could probably replace the striker bushings with something harder than pex tube.

I carry a few pre-cut pieces of pex in my glovebox with a 6" section of 1/2" pex. The pex wears out, but I think that's because I still need to install my new hinge pins&bushings... It's easy, I just haven't done it yet. You might need a spring compressor tool for proper reassembly. I bought one for like $15 from NAPA when I did my 97 blazer.

 

Ok, found some plastic jackets of the doors. They did not have chevy version in store so I got a 4pack of ford jackets. They came in two different sizes. Trying out each size on R and L strickers. strickers are removable. Could have bought the entire stricker/jacket for chevy but is more work to arrive at same problem later down the road (Jackets). So far they are both working great. door closes easier and sounds much more solid. Had to press the jackets on to the stricker pin.

Update: One of the stricker pins has relocated itself from it's original position. When I put the pins back in (with ford jackets) and tightened them down (with out a torque wrench) they were both centered on their original paint line. I figure that slipping (relocating) of the striker bolt is a good thing. Is it? I could just torque it down more but I am guessing it would be better off to give it a little more time to settle in its most centered spot. Have not popped the seat belt off yet.