Rear door sagging

[pilgrim_traveller Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pilgrim_traveller]

I'm interested in this, too. I had a local smash-repairer quote $1,500 total for a brand new door, sprayed and fitted. Not TOO bad but if I can spend $100 welding it and have it last a few more years, I'd prefer that. Will probably take it to a welder I've used before to see what he thinks soon.

[pilgrim_traveller Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pilgrim_traveller]

BTW, Toyota dealer quoted $1k just for the door. They don't spray or fit at the local dealer but if they looked after it all I'd expect $2k would be the asking price, hence why $1,500 is not really that bad

[ithommo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ithommo]

Had a rear door sagging problem with my 120 Prado.
Myself and a mate loosened the hinges, then took the bottom bolts out and put in a flat washer (you may need more than one flat washer) to act as a spacer between the car body and the hinge. This fixed it. You will need someone to assist you as the door is pretty heavy.

[raydes Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close raydes]

rear door

Way 2 go ...is it not insured

[Way2go Member Find all posts View Profile Close Way2go]

Way 2 go ...is it not insured

Yes it is, I just don't see the point in extra $$ premiums for the next 3-4 years as a result of it being a 'my fault' (i.e. no other party to claim from) claim. Also, the design wasn't changed that much (slightly wider weld) that the issue cannot happen again (both Toyota's words and those of my neighbour - see below). I'm not prepared to pay an $800 excess plus increased premiums only to find I'm in the same boat next time my son opens the door in a strong wind.

I am seriously surprised at the above quotes of $1.5k for the complete door replacement - sounds like there's some part of the quote seriously not included. My quote for the door skin alone from Toyota was $1700, plus painting, plus labour (taking old door off, all trim off, pulling rear window out, replacing window on new door, handles, wipers, etc.). The overall quote was just under the $3k mark.

My neighbour owns one of the big repair companies up here - went to see him last week. He pointed to the corner of his premises and showed me 4 cracked Prado rear doors sitting in a pile. He took the car for an afternoon and realigned the door so it now opens and closes, and it's booked in next week for an overnight stay for him to take the door off, re-weld the join, straighten and respray the damaged panels, straighten the hinge and rehang the door.

Will let you know the full price and results once it's done.

[pilgrim_traveller Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pilgrim_traveller]

Looking forward to hearing how you go with the weld. Not sure where the local guy sources the doors from but he said he can get them new with a window already in them which cuts down on labour. Does seem incredibly cheap when you look at everything they have to do, but for that kind of money (from a very well reputed smash repairer who's been in the area forever) I'd be willing to risk it. He quoted getting a door from a wrecker but due to potentially other damage it's too risky. Just wish there was something we could do (other than trusting Toyota's NEW weld) to stop this from happening again after we spend the money repairing it. Way2go, Toyo quoted me $1k for the skin, far less than your $1700... Maybe the Grande door is more special than my GXL door?

[fourbyphil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fourbyphil]

Loosened the hinge bolts, gave the hinges a tap with a hammer and bingo! No more sagging door. The hinge moved about 3mm to the right at the top and now it lines up perfectly. A little bit of grease on the lock to stop squeaking as well.
Cheers
Phil

[wsp Member Find all posts View Profile Close wsp]

My rear door was replaced under warranty. The new door had extra spot welds at the bottom hinge area where the split was. So far all good.

[pilgrim_traveller Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pilgrim_traveller]

Way2go, how did you go with the repair job and bill?

[Way2go Member Find all posts View Profile Close Way2go]

Way2go, how did you go with the repair job and bill?

Repair is excellent, could not tell there'd ever been a problem. All straightened out, rewelded, painted, etc., and he ran the cables for the reversing camera through for me while he had the trim off.

As for the bill, I'll let you know once I receive it! He'd had a busy week and was understaffed so hadn't done the paperwork when I picked it up on Friday - should get the bill this week sometime.....

[peril Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close peril]

It seems to me another weak point in the Prado to have all that wheel weight on the rear doors, I had the same problems in my 90 series. I'm looking into a Kamar or AJ120 rear bar to which the spare wheel is mounted. This should alleviate the rear door sag problem as the weight is no longer on the door.

[Way2go Member Find all posts View Profile Close Way2go]

Invoice arrived the day before we left for Broken Hill. Including the initial afternoons work straightening everything so the door worked while waiting to get the repair done properly, the total bill for all labour, welding, painting, etc., came to $645, which I am very happy with.

More than happy to recommend him to anyone needing work done in the Bathurst area.

[pilgrim_traveller Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pilgrim_traveller]

Way2go, do you think the welds will hold better now? Any additional strengthening done? Would love pics of before and after if you have them

Also I don't know much about welding... but if I get the inside re-welded, will it affect the outside? i.e. will I *have* to get the outside re-painted due to discolouration? Or since the outside looks fine at the moment, should a re-weld on the inside be all I need?

Thanks!

PT

[foxdingo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close foxdingo]

Way2go, I too have a 2005 Grande and our story is the same as yours, who in Bathurst did you get to fix your rear door as I would love to go and see them and get our repaired.

[Black 120 GX Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Black 120 GX]

Hi Guy's

I have also had problems with the rear door due to being cracked around the bottom hinge. It was first noticed when the door appeared to have sagged.
I took the Prado to the local dealer and expressed my feelings that it should be replaced under warranty as was surely a design fault. The dealer took all the details, looked up service history, and the km's. They then informed me that it would not be warranty because a) km's were over 100,000km and b)Toyota had not serviced the Prado since 60,000km.

I asked that they submit the request to Toyota Aust, who knocked it back, (too no suprise). I then rang Toyota Aust and asked for them to advise the reason why such a major safety issue would not be covered. I raised my concerns that my wife was now unable to close the rear door 100% all the time and I was not sure she should drive the car on the freeway. Where would Toyota stand if she was driving and the door opened and an accident occured and someone was killed. I then asked could Toyota please send me a letter stating the Prado would be safe to drive.

The girl on the phone then advised she would discuss and someone would ring me. Within 30 min's I had the local dealer on the phone telling me they had a new door being shipped to them and they needed the Prado to change the door over.

My advise is try Toyota first, and raise that it is a safety issue. You may not get anywhere but it is worth a try.

P.S I also took the non standard size spare of the rear door and put a standard tyre back on before going to the dealer.

Good luck