G30 van doors out of adjustment

[doonboggle]

The side doors on my G30 are out of adjustment and I can't see how to adjust. One (left) is tilted inward at the top ... towards the front; and the other one is also tilted inward at the top but toward the rear.

I see on each door sill, adjacent to the hinges, two (2) holes where I see a 9/16th bolt. Thinking tightening or loosening would move the hinge, ,,,, no way ...at least so far.

The van has a RV 'house' mounted on it ... and the door panels are wood paneling that I have not yet attempted to remove ... thinking that perhaps I should post here first ... before I break something.

Can anyone give guidance to how to adjust please. The gap at the bottom, when closed, is about 1/3-1/2 inch ... whereas at the top, there is no gap ... so to speak ... in fact, almost an overlap.
Thanks
doon

[Jim Adams]

it sounds as if both doors need to come down a 1/4 inch there should be 3 bolts to loosen the hinge on the door side of the hinge,,and I believe one is under your wood cover,,so I think they need to come off,,when you take them off it is wide open and you should get a birds eye view of the inside of the hinge and that will help you tremendously,,,but I think you need to also loosen the hinges on the pillar side and let the doors drop down a little. Good luck!!

[doonboggle]

Originally Posted by Jim Adams

it sounds as if both doors need to come down a 1/4 inch there should be 3 bolts to loosen the hinge on the door side of the hinge,,and I believe one is under your wood cover,,so I think they need to come off,,when you take them off it is wide open and you should get a birds eye view of the inside of the hinge and that will help you tremendously,,,but I think you need to also loosen the hinges on the pillar side and let the doors drop down a little. Good luck!!

Thanks Jim for the input.

I just finished taking one of the door panels off. Unfortunately there is no way to get to any of the mounting with this method. The door under the wood paneling is about 95% enclosed by original door metal; with only a couple of cut-outs to get to other non-related hinge parts.

As originally stated, in the main body door jamb areas, adjacent to each hinge, is two holes (with plugs at the present time) that provide access to the 9/16th bolts holding he door ... and hinge ... to the main body.

Then, on the door itself, adjacent to the above, where the hinge 'arm' enters the door, are another 2 bolts ... not hidden but in plain sight.

These are the side double cargo doors. There is no center post ... and they swing outwards opposite of each other. I don't see the need for lowering them. My earlier descriptive term of overlapping was intended to designate for the upper right (left door) and upper left (right door) ... on the vertical plain. ... with the opposite (spread apart) at the bottom corners.

Not being able to see what is 'on the other side' of these bolts, I am still somewhat reluctant to loosen without knowing a little bit more about what is hidden. It seems logical, to put it into Mr. Spock's words, that loosening would allow one to adjust one way or another. But suppose logic don't always apply to General Motors.

Still open for suggestions..........Chuck

[Jim Adams]

there is a plate behind the hinge that has threaded holes in it for the 9/16 bolts so as long as you dont take then out and just loosen then you should be ok ,,there should be a flange that holds the plate in place so it doesnt fall into the door,,sorry there wasnt access it seems odd I had one that was all open behind the panel but it wasnt a G30 it was a 1500 series,,but loosening the bolts should enable you to adjust.

[doonboggle]

Originally Posted by Jim Adams

there is a plate behind the hinge that has threaded holes in it for the 9/16 bolts so as long as you dont take then out and just loosen then you should be ok ,,there should be a flange that holds the plate in place so it doesnt fall into the door,,sorry there wasnt access it seems odd I had one that was all open behind the panel but it wasnt a G30 it was a 1500 series,,but loosening the bolts should enable you to adjust.

Again.......... THANKS!!!

Not trying to be a 'pest', but hope you won't mind one more clarification.

I hope I can explain this in simple terms. It's kind of hard to describe on paper.

Envision if you will two (2) 2x4 boards with nails driven in ... at a 90 degree angle. The nail representing the bolts ... and the board representing the door opening jamb of the van body and/or the side of the door itself. Now, with those boards and nails, hold then together so that the nail heads touch each other. In this position, this would be the door and jamb areas ... with the bolts.... in a closed position where the resulting adjustment is needed.

The bolts I referred to are mounted at a horizontal position to the needed 'travel'. In other words, I envision, in order to move the door one way or another to correct the 'tilt', the bolts should have a slot for the bolt itself to slide in.

Neither of these bolts seem to have this perceived slot; especially since they are being screwed directly into the holding plate you refer to. All 4 bolts (2 into the body door opening side jamb (per hinge) ... and the 2 going into the innards of the door itself ... on the side .. not on the face ... are like this.

Thus, with the doors closed, it appears that with the bolts loosened, one is doing nothing but causing the loosened door half it to 'flop' around; rather than being tilted inward toward the other half of the doors ... or outward to increase the clearance between the 2 door halves..

In other words, if the bolts were mounted to the underlying plate, from the face side of the door and/or face side of the main body, and there were adjustment slots there, then it would seem OK to loosen those bolts.

Gosh....... I hope that makes sense.......

Again Jim, I'm not arguing ... just not seeing the perceived reaction I anticipate. I did slightly loosen one door's 4 bolts for the top hinge ... about 1-2 turns ... and could not see the reaction I needed ... other than the door being loose and floppy.

I even stuck one of my arms up inside the door cavity as far as I could to see if I could feel anything to 'hang my hat on' ... manner of speaking..... but could not reach that far with such a small clearance space of about 3-4 inches in width.

Chuck

[Jim Adams]

Ok I understand what you are saying ,,here is the deal the hinge is supposed to be slotted and the bolt head and the nutplate sandwich the slotted hinge thus the bolt doesnt move the hinge does,,the door should slide on the hinge.So there is no obviuos slots that you would see they are on the hidden hinge.sometimes the factory puts a tack weld on the hinge plate during assy and the hinge is in a predertimed spot,thus giving you no apparent adjustment. I know this may leave you in a position you dont want to be in but you may have to take the hinge off to break the tack weld loose then reinstall and adjust.

[doonboggle]

Originally Posted by Jim Adams

Ok I understand what you are saying ,,here is the deal the hinge is supposed to be slotted and the bolt head and the nutplate sandwich the slotted hinge thus the bolt doesnt move the hinge does,,the door should slide on the hinge.So there is no obviuos slots that you would see they are on the hidden hinge.sometimes the factory puts a tack weld on the hinge plate during assy and the hinge is in a predertimed spot,thus giving you no apparent adjustment. I know this may leave you in a position you dont want to be in but you may have to take the hinge off to break the tack weld loose then reinstall and adjust.

You're 'on the money' this time. BUMMER!!!!!!!! Was afraid of that conclusion; but that's the conclusion I had almost come to.

Good ol'e General Motors.....putting doors that can't be adjusted.


THANKS for your patience ... and help ... Chuck