Passenger side door kind of hard to open

badlieutenant

TJ Addict
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
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News Braunsfels, Texas
You really have to pull the latch pretty hard and all the way to get it to open.

I've looked at the mechanism from the side and it seems to function properly and the latch bar on the door sill looks fine.

Any ideas?
 
agreed ^^

My bet is just some worn parts inside the door.. or just something loose.. or dry
since it is the passenger side I'd check for something loose/dry first.

My YJ did that and after a week of trouble shooting I shot some WD40 on it which solved the problem.
 
Remove the door panel and You'll see a threaded rod that snaps into to the outer handle. Adjust that rod up to make it easier to open the door from the outside handle.

image.jpeg
 
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You really have to pull the latch pretty hard and all the way to get it to open.

I've looked at the mechanism from the side and it seems to function properly and the latch bar on the door sill looks fine.

Any ideas?

My first post so I hope I sound smart... I just noticed the same with my half hard doors and come to find out the sealing along the bottom of the door does not fit so well anymore, I press it back in and all is good. I was afraid I was going to rip the handle off from the outside, from the inside opened fine with a bump.
 
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My first post so I hope I sound smart... I just noticed the same with my half hard doors and come to find out the sealing along the bottom of the door does not fit so well anymore, I press it back in and all is good. I was afraid I was going to rip the handle off from the outside, from the inside opened fine with a bump.

Your first post was epic!
 
Note, I think it's a little difficult to open from the inside as well.
That adjustment will not help the inside handle. The two handles operate on different mechanisms. But, try it out and see what happens. With the door panel off you can spray some WD40 in there also.
 
On that website, that Rod is behind the plastic sheeting in the large opening near the latch side. You'll have to pull the plastic back a bit to see the rod.
 
Could the door just no longer be positioned properly in the opening, so it might be binding on the rubber door seal? After buying new full steel doors for my previous TJ, it took a while to get them properly positioned on the door-half of the hinge so they opened and shut ok. If you try adjusting it, only loosen the hinge bolts on the door side of the hinge, leave the hinge bolts on the tub alone. I used a wooden clothes-pin as a wedge to move the door around in the opening until it was centered and then tightened the bolts.
 
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