Rear gate sag fixed on 97' VX Grande.

[brewpig Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close brewpig]

By placing a 2 x 1 mm thick washers under each of the three bolts (between hinge and car body) on the lower hinge, I was able to raise the door to the strike plate level (sag was causing door to rest on bottom of door guide - about a 1 cm sag). This saved buying one or two hinges @ $70AUD ea. And it also bought the top corner of the door back in tight to the frame. there were no stress cracks around the bolt holes - it was just that the hinges had worn down over the 340,000 km or so. I of course removed the spare wheel (culprit) from the gate b4 making the mods to make re-tightening a little easier. When I fixed the spare wheel back on to the gate, it sagged about 1 mm more under the extra weight. Formulas used :

on road = 1 x 1mm washer / 500,000 km

off road = 1 x 1mm washer / 170,000 km

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

Thanks, I was thinking of doing something similar. The rear door on my 98 Prado has also sagged a bit and needs to be lifted a tad at the bottom hinge.

[K & M McF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close K & M McF]

What were the symptoms before doing this? I have to push the door in as I squeeze the handle before pulling out. This has only started recently.

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

Hi I think this is what I have to do to my 90. Was anyone getting a clunk noise only on some sharp bumps? maybe the latch hitting? I will grab some washers tomorrow and give it a go , Hopefully its a winner. Ta Mass

[ken2m Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ken2m]

Another UNTRIED (by me) way of fixing the problem could be to swap top and bottom hinges as the wear would be on the oposite side of the hinge. The top hinge wears to the left and the bottom hinge wears to the right (when looking at the door). By the way the washer method works really well.

[Fishin_Dan Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fishin_Dan]

When I used to drive over bumps, the rear door would thump loudly. This was essentially the door lifting, then banging back down onto the door guide (The black metal bracket that narrows to the back). I tested this by putting several layers of tape onto the bottom of it (over the wear marks on it) and going over the bumps. The noise was still there, but more muffled.

So the other night I put some washers behind the bottom hinge. I then has to move the top hinge in the align the top of the door better as the seal wasn't good after the adjustment the washers made. By closing a piece of paper in the door then pulling it out, you can test how good the seal is. Once I adjusted it all in, the thump is all but gone. There is still the slightest noise, but very very miniscule. I also ran the hose over the rear door making sure I sprayed everywhere there might be a leak, but all good.

I'm very happy with how this turned out. The washers were about 1.5mm-2mm thick