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The metal bracket that the door check arm connects to (where the pin fits to hold the end on the door jamb) went bye-bye at some point in my truck's history.

Would the same 16 gauge steel work to fabricate a new one? Or should it be a slightly thicker gauge? I'm going to have to weld the thing on as there is a hole there now. It would have to be made out of one long piece and folded over, drilled, and welded.

I'm going to pick up some steel today if I can get off from work early enough.

John -

Don't forget there is an upper and lower "L" bracket welded to the pillar that you door check arm slips between. My right lower one was missing and we fab'd one out of 16g. My pillar has been welded on a few times leading me to suspect the door has seen a lot of abuse.

If you're not looking for exacting accuracy you can get away with simply cutting a small piece of 1/8 in steel, drilling the appropraite sized hole, then welding it onto the door frame. Install a pin with a small cotter pin to keep it from pulling out, or heat the pin with a torch and peen the end over to hold in place.

Most of the internals to my passenger door check arm were missing and as was mentioned, my door too must've seen some hard use as well because it had been welded before. I simply cut some 1/8 flat steel and drilled and filed a slot to accept the door check arm , then welded this piece of steel in place. Its not perfect but it works, and keeps the door from flying open and hitting the fender.

Hmm...now I am thinking...

Both doors are missing the check arm.

The driver door has already smashed against the fender support, resulting in a nasty dent in the lower edge of the door.

The passenger door is thankfully not damaged but is missing the piece on the door jamb.

I'm not as worried about accuracy as I am ensuring that I don't get another door strike on the fender support. The PO must have allowed the drive door to get damaged.

It's all just another step in the challenge that is my truck.

I'm not sure if the stuff that's supposed to be inside the doors is there, I'll have to check on that. I'll report back after I get home.

Upper and lower side brackets on the pillar provide twice the strength of a single bracket. Based on the torque of the flying-open door, safer to double it up (or be prepared to redo the work on a regular basis).
Gary

I'm not sure if I understand the upper and lower bracket. There is one bracket for the check arm on the pillar (Missing on the passenger side), is there a second one I haven't seen?

Pics, anyone?

I've seen trucks with a canvas strap instead of the check arm, but that's not original, is it?

Sorry I have no pix, but some folks "sandwich" the end of the arm with an "L" shaped bracket on top and another one on the bottom of the arm, to provide additional strength. Let me try this crude diagram:

II
II
III III
(arm in middle here, with pin down in the middle of the III III)
III III
II
II


Does that make sense?
Gary

refit1701 wrote:Hmm...now I am thinking...

Both doors are missing the check arm.

The driver door has already smashed against the fender support, resulting in a nasty dent in the lower edge of the door.

The passenger door is thankfully not damaged but is missing the piece on the door jamb.

I'm not as worried about accuracy as I am ensuring that I don't get another door strike on the fender support. The PO must have allowed the drive door to get damaged.

It's all just another step in the challenge that is my truck.

I'm not sure if the stuff that's supposed to be inside the doors is there, I'll have to check on that. I'll report back after I get home.

My truck (So I thought) was also missing the passenger check arm. Then one day I had the access panel off in order to grease the window roll up mechanism, and I had shone a flashlight into the bottom of the door and noticed a weird piece of flat metal lying on the bottom of the door. I reached in and pulled it out and whattya know, the check arm was lying there, complete with the rubber piece on the end. The numbnut who had the truck before me, at some point just riveted a piece of canvas strap to the door and frame as a halfassed stop. This of course failed as the rivets tore right through the canvas. I was missing the pillar on the inside of the door but I had the most important piece. Then the little wheels started turning in my head " what can I do to make this at least functional?" The idea of the flat steel then came to mind, and the rest is history. The door will not lock open as it will on the driver's side but at least now I can let it go and not have to worry about the door hitting the fender.

HEre was my solution:

That's a nice solution to the door check arm and is reminiscent of those I had on my Jeep wrangler.....

[URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/pho ... .jpg[/img][/url][URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/pho ... .jpg[/img][/url][URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/pho ... .jpg[/img][/url]

I bought a bracket from VPW, worked perfect. Bill Lammer used to have the spring guide for the door interior. I will post that pic too.

[URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/pho ... .jpg[/img]

This is actually a picture that Bill took, Thanks Bill![/url]

I think I did finally shoot some paint on the hinge? I've done both doors & I'm satisfied with the way they turned out.

W A those straps look like my Bronco staps which have been working since 1975. I 've owned it for 20 of those years. If my check arms broke I would be mighty tempted to use similar straps

Wow! Thanks to everyone for all the pics. The pillar bracket is shaped differently than what I thought. The strap looks good too.

Thanks guys!!

I might even be able to make that this weekend and have some progress. If I can get the brakes done this weekend (minus the master cylinder when I gotta order from MW) plus start on some rust repair, I might be accused of actually working on the truck!! Wives don't notice small progress, ya'know.