Drivers door has dropped

[Chriscooke]

I noticed my door had started squeaking and being more difficult to shut than normal. On inspection it appears that the door has dropped by about 1/4 of an inch.

Is their any adjustment on the hinges? I expect something may of broken to make it drop so much though

 

[jgttdi]

My passenger door dropped around the same on my TQS, i removed the inside kick panel trims and checked the tightness of the bottom door latch bolts and they were fine, i then decided to use a jack to lift the bottom of the door as we used to do this at audi alot, i used a small piece of wood on the bottom of the door first then jacked it up.

This worked great and now the door shuts perfectly.

Please note the door was only opened around 8-10 inches and jacked it up at the widest part of the door.

Hope this helps J.

 

[Dimokslis]

Check if the hinges are wobbling, as it common failure on PFL ones, did not see that on FL yet maybe because of the mileage or age, don't know.
Me and my friend did the same as ''jgttdi'' said but just lifted doors by hand several times and it came back where it has to be and shuts easily now.

 

[Chriscooke]

Cheers guys. Will investigate tomorrow weather dependant.

 

[aragorn]

I did the same with the jacking, bit pikey, but it works.

 

[ScottD3]

I'm not getting in to the whole Jack VS 13mm socket VS doing it correctly.
But my 2 pence, adjust the door correctly via the bolts on the A pillar.

 

[jcb]

how?
shims?

 

[ScottD3]

how?
shims?

Undo the bolts, move door, tighten bolts back up.
That's how i did mine...........after I replaced the hinges.
I would not recommend replacing the hinges though. lol

 

[aragorn]

Problem is, the hinges themselves havent moved, the door drops because the metal around the a-pillar and the door frame itself gets slightly bent from people leaning on the door.

 

[spats]

Seems vag cars in general suffer from this. Three door golf mk 4 seems the worst for it!

ive been told by a Vw tech that the pikey jack method is how they normally sort it out. He said after quoting for new hinges or labour for doing it properly most opted for the pikey method.

i tried it on our golf but chickened out for fear of the door suddenly copying a Lamborghini door!

 

[Chriscooke]

Tried the jack method earlier and it helped but not much. Didn't want to force it any more to be safe. Seems like the hinge is nackered though as the door has quite a bit of up and down play when it's just open a few inches

 

[aragorn]

ah if its got play then try some new hinges.

 

[ScottD3]

ah if its got play then try some new hinges.

Don't forget there is that screw thing at the top of the top hinge that might have worked lose.
That causes them to move.

 

[Chriscooke]

Will have a look, cheers. Gut feeling tells me it's the bottom hinge that's gone but not 100% on that.

 

[jgttdi]

Its hard to say without seeing your car but my door moved up and down around an inch but only when the door was open around 8-10 inches but i had to be quite rough with the jack (the front wheel was off the ground!) but it worked and did not cause any damage.

It may drop again but i have changed loads of lower hinges and they are a pita to get the door sitting right again.

J

 

[Final 3Green Land]

I had the same fault a couple of months ago and like a conscientious owner purchased a very good bottom hings for the drivers side.

When I went to fit the hinge, I noticed that both bolts in the lower hinge on the A pillar had somehow worked loose. A quick tighten with the appropriate socket and the door is perfect again! (and I have a spare hinge as well!)

I have no idea how these would have worked loose, but I have done several thousand miles and loads of in and out of the car trips and they are still as tight as a ..... tight thing!!


I would definitely try this first; forget the pikey fix as it is a bodge and will only damage your car. Do it properly and it will last for ever!

 

[tonydata]

Undo the bolts, move door, tighten bolts back up.
That's how i did mine...........after I replaced the hinges.
I would not recommend replacing the hinges though. lol

Don't suppose you know of any pics that show the bolts/position of them?