Hey everyone I sold my 57 Chev and my 63 Dodge and now have a 48 Ford 5 window coupe.While driving say 10 or 15 miles the driver opens at least 5 times.It's a good thing I'm fat or I would have already fell out. I heard that they make a slide latch or something to keep it closed. Have you heard of this gadget ? Do you know where to get one ? I've tried to keep the handle in the locked position but you hit a little bump or just a rough road and it still opens. The adjustment seems OK and when the door is closed it looks closed. Any help would be great.
My dad tells a story of when he was a kid and had a 51 Pontiac that had a p***enger door that would frequently come open while driving. One day he got fed up with it and after the door came open he edged up over the curb and hit a phone pole with the door. Dad said it fixed it, it never came open again......ever Bobby
Yep check the latch and springs. Also check the body mounts etc that something is not worn out there causing the body to tweak and spring the door. This is not normal behaviour obviously for anything as solid as a 48. Are the door hinges good? Are the latch slides worn on the wedge end? Is the striker worn on the pillar? All combined could cause a door to pop. You dont need gadgets or gizmos to hold the door shut.
I know of a guy with a AD Chevy truck and his door stays shut....you two might need to compare notes. Like Hotrodprimer said....try the springs.
Or perhaps the striker plate. It has a spring-loaded safety catch that may have failed or been painted over and stuck. Also an easy fix.
Slide bolt is a hack fix. You haven't fixed anything , you have masked a problem. Find out why and fix it right. Not hard to do.
My old big block, tunnel rammed, Anglia used to pop the p***enger door about mid way thru first gear. I put a slide pin type safety lock on the door and a grab handle on the dash for the p***enger,,Cured. Never did cure the front tires from leaving the pavement tho.
If the door handle doesn't have a click sound and stays in place most likely the lock spring is broken. HRP
At first I thought adjust the latch, the door or replace the spring, does your outside door handle sag? But you know, it's probably a ghost that lives in your car and once you get it up to speed they want nothing to do with you and get out! As a little test of sorts have you tried locking your door and seeing if it pops open then? You shut the door, make sure it's actually latched and the gently push the inside door handle up and you'll feel it go over the bump/detente and lock. Figure that'll help narrow down the issue. I'd start with adjusting the part of the latch that's on the B pillar first if it were me.
I have fixed many latches by taking them out and really cleaning them and them lubricating them. You might even spray WD 40 in there and loosen it all up Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Does your car have the original latches? I installed a set of bearclaw style (likely off shore copies) latches and ended up with same issue. Had to replace them to cure the issue.