I made my door close easier, but messed up elsewhere... | Ford Explorer Forums

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I made my door close easier, but messed up elsewhere...

Whitese

16 Explorer Interc. Eboost
Joined
March 31, 2021
Messages
41
Reaction score
8
City, State
North Bergen, NJ
Year, Model & Trim Level
2016 Explorer E-Boost PPV
I used the jack and did the bolts. but look at the general alignment now...I must have bowed the door off shape. I need to keep my hands off sometimes!!..

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Most likely it moved because of the weight of the door. The bottom moved inward from where it(the hinge) was, but it's possible the top hinge has moved too. You're going to need to readjust the hinges, maybe both of them.

Look closely at the surfaces around the hinges, there may be evidence of where the hinge was located before. Look for a line showing where the hinges edges were. If there is something to see, that will help a bunch to place the door hinge back where it was. Otherwise, you have to move the hinges very little at a time, tightening a bolt to hold it well enough in place, while you test fit it(shut the door gently).

Start with the bottom hinge, it looks like that part of the door is quite a bit inboard. You might have to only go part way before the top of the door won't shut if the upper hinge is in at all.

Loosen all the bolts of one hinge, the part attached to the door. Make them all barely finger tight, and then snug one a little with a socket or the tool you are using. That one bolt snug, will hold it well enough to gently close the door to see how much you moved it. Then open the door and carefully loosen and move the hinge again, until you think it's close. Then as needed, do the other hinge carefully, loosen all the bolts from the door part of the hinge, and snug one after moving the door in the direction it needs to go. Go at it slowly and carefully, it's not really hard but be careful and hold onto the door when each group of bolts are loose at the same time.
 






The driver side door on my 2017 was slightly misaligned on my 2017 Platinum but it closed and opened without any issues. No wind noise either. When I pointed it out to the service department manager he said that if I wanted, they could take it to the body shop to have it aligned correctly. I never did take him up on it and it was returned and sold in the same condition when I leased the Aviator.
As for yours, I doubt anything happened to the actual door. As Don mentioned, all it likely needs is an alignment.

Peter
 






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