Striker Bolt | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Striker Bolt

BP_93explorer

Well-Known Member
Joined
March 2, 2006
Messages
224
Reaction score
0
City, State
Bedford, Tx
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993 Sport 2wd (GONE)
My door rattles and makes a loud noise when opening or closing. Do I need to replace the whole striker or could I cheat and just replace the round plastic piece that isn't there anymore?

*side note - :D I'm glad I found this place, too bad it took so long.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Take the post out and slide a piece of rubber hose over it, put it back in. I've done this to most of my doors on both trucks and makes it like new.
 






Yea they do not sell pieces that just go over the striker. You will either have to buy one from autozone or make your own.
 






FYI, they sell just the plastic pieces. I bought some at Pepboys for a few bucks. Its one of those "Help!" items. They wanted $20 for the whole thing.

Anyways, that fixed that problem but one problem that is still there is the door doesn't shut all the way. Its not loose because I tried shaking it, it shook the whole X. I put the striker bolt farther back but it didn't help. Can I adjust something else that would help?
 






Does the door drop a little when you open it? If so check your hinge pins. There are little brass bushings that wear out very easily on the hinges. You can buy a replacement pin and bushings in the "help" section of most auto parts stores. They are not too hard to replace if you have a dremmel with a grinding stone.
 






Dumb question number 14...

How do you get the striker off? I look at this thing and I see no screws or bolts. The door lock hits this thing and it is worn out, especially the cover, but how do I remove it if needed and can I just pop a new cover over it??

Sorry I am so lame.

Joe.
 






The whole thing is a bolt. It has a torx head.
 






Yeah, a T-55 torx wrench will pull them. I saw this post and it reminded me to do mine in the '91, I redid the hinges and forgot to get new bushings. Unfortunatly all oriellys had was the ones for the tailgate, which I bought and it made a world of difference. As for the doors, I cheated for the time being till I find the right ones, and wrapped the striker with electric tape, works great, but dont know how long it will last.
 






Thanks fellas. A torx-55 wrench. I went out today and said to myself, self that looks like some sort of allen wrench or something.

I am thankful for you people on here.

Joseph.
 






A Vise Grips will remove the striker bolt if you don't have the torx bit.

Here is a very cheap solution for the doors striker bushing replacement:

Go buy a 5' length of 3/8" PEX tubing at HD/Lowes....about $2. The 3/8" PEX tubing is too small to just slide on. Get youself a glove, some Vise Grips, and a source of heat (torch, heat gun, gas cooktop flame, candle). Use a knive or deburring tool to create a chamfer on the inside lip of the PEX. Remove some of the shoulder on the striker bolt where the bushing ends and the threads begin. These 2 things will help the PEX slide on easier. Grab the head of the striker bolt with the Vise Grips. Use your gloved hand to hold the PEX and heat the last 1" of the PEX and also heat the striker bolt. With a twisting motion, shove the PEX onto the striker bolt. If it doesn't go on, continue to add heat until it does. The PEX will accept a large amount of heat. However, if you heat too far up the PEX tube, it will lose its rigidty and then folds/twists. Only heat the last 1" or so. Simple math tells me one could make 60 striker bushings for about $2.

Those Help/Doorman bushings are a SCAM! I can't believe they get away with advertising them as "Door Striker Bushings." As previously said, they only work on the rear tailgate strikers. $4 for 4 pieces of plastic that don't even work for what we are led to believe they will work for. Can you imagine how many of those have been sold......and ALL for nothing! What a rip-off!
 






Question. How do you remove the striker and what sort of plastic/rubber do you put over it to make it stop squeaking? It is driving me crazy. Please be specific. I am new to this whole DIY car repair thing. Thanks
 












I am trying to replace the striker tough, not the door hinge or pins. I didn't see anything in there about the striker.
 






Also, I am just trying to get the door to stop squeaking when I go over a small bump. Is this the likely fix?
 






I tried to remove the Striker bolts one time, had the correct torx bit, but it was on there so damn tight (its the original so its been in there for over 20 years) and didnt budge, almost stripped the torx notches. I'm guessin some penetrating oil was in need?
 






If you use an air gun, with and adapter for the Torx bit, it will hammer the bolt until it breaks free. Problem here is finding an air gun.

You can also heat the bolt with an acetylene torch. Heating large bolts is usually the last resort solution, but it works every time. Just be careful and don't burn or melt anything nearby. If you are removing the striker bolt, and the plastic striker is good, the torch will melt the striker, and you will have to replace it when you are done.
 






Penetrating oil might be best, if it can get in there. Otherwise just be sure to use a good quality torx bit, the cheaper ones will snap when you really get on them. You might also want to use a 3/8" flex handle/breaker bar if you have it, a ratchet might not give the needed torque. Don't be in too much of a rush, putting torque to it slowly a few times is better than just trying to bust it loose in one go no matter what.

There is very little adjustment to the striker, usually door issues are either the hingle pin or the hinge itself, causing the door to sag, though the door latch itself can be to blame for doors that don't close smoothly anymore.

Also, new striker bolts from the dealer come with the bushings, they are the same for lots of other Ford trucks as well.
 






Don't see how penetrating oil could reach the striker's "floating nut" behind the pillars.
As Anime said, use a high quality Torx bit using steady pressure. I used a cheater bar.
 






Yes adding the PEX tubing to the striker bolt should eliminate squeaking going over bumps. There is no need in heating the PEX just do whatever it takes to get the striker off, cut the PEX to length,slide it on the striker and re-attach to the door pillar. Also before you get started mark the striker bolt and washer with a sharpie as well as the door pillar so you can put them back exactly as you removed them which could help with the door not closing all the way.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





New complete bolts are $8. Give up lunch for a day..
 






Back
Top