RE DOORS FAILING AT HINGE

It is either time to replace the hinges or it is touching the fender as the door opens

As I understand it the was open at the time and was forced further open towards the front of the car? I think your door pillar was twisted around. In a new car the body shop might cut out the door pillar and weld in another, but I think that is mot the way here.
What you want is for the door to shut evenly in the body all round. There is a small amount of adjustment available in the door hinge attachment bolts, body side and door side, and in the lock striker plate. See here p23

http://www.turboninjas.com/camry/bo.pdf



It may be that a little adjustment in all these would be enough to fix the problem. Try that first.


If not, take the offending door off and look carefully at the A pillar. It does not take much distortion to prevent the door from closing properly. Compare it with the good side, using a long ruler to see where it should line up with the surrounding body. This will give you a target for straightening it.



Then you need a metal bar like this U channel, 2-3 ft long by about 3 in wide.


http://i00.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/483095456/U_channel_steel.jpg



Hardware shops sell them. Drill holes in one end to match the door hinge bolt holes, and bolt it on to the door pillar, first one hinge then the other. Use it to carefully twist the door pillar back the other way, not too much, using the long ruler as a guide.


This should bring the door pillar back to where the manufacturer's adjustment takes care of the rest.

How exactly are the hinges ruined? To change the door on Sierras you drop out the pivots the hinge swings on. If the hinge bodies are the damaged part it's going to cost you money. You will need to get a GOOD body work specialist to cut out the old hinges and re-weld new ones in. Get the specialist to check the body and frame in case the wind has bent something else.

a body shop will need to weld up and possibly build a plate to reinforce the area where the dooor check is attached.

The right way to fix that really is to weld a steel plate inside the pillar. it is complicated and if you don't know what you are doing you can start a fire.
Likely you could do something similar using tulip head bolts on the exterior part and drawing the original metal into pre-drilled and countersunk holes in the plate. (plate should be no less than 1/4" thick.
Likely that would give you some degree of structural strength. and a solid mount to attach the hinge to.
There must be a design flaw in those door posts as I've seen too many tear off. Most I've seen have been repaired at good body shops and have lasted a long time after the repair.
Good luck with it whichever way you decide upon!

This could be something that your insurance would cover.You can get free estimates at any body shop.Hope this helps.Good luck.

Are the hinges coming loose from the body? Remove the front fender to get at the body support area for the door.

dont weld it first drill and screw it on 2 screws to see if it lines up and closes all right then have it mig welded leave screws in till welded then just totch it up

Weld broke twice likely because job wasn't done well. Shop didn't reenforce post when making repair. I also recommend painting over weld to cover any newly exposed metal after repaired. Don't know of any recalls...you can check nat highway traffic safety board. Sounds like your brakes would work better with abs disconnected (we all drove with no abs for how many years??) I'd do this 'till I found a good cure. On the hose thing... Pull the hose back into the cavity on both door and body. Splice with a longer piece than you need and leave the spliced ends inside the cavities, not in the "flex" area between the door & body. Good luck!

If you need to get a door Id suggest trying a local wrecking yard. If you can try to get the whole hinge assembly and latch as it sounds like there is a possibility that the hinge on your current door is worn out or the latch mechanism is worn. If you are lucky you may even get one that is the same color as your current vehilce color.

I would say that you can most likely weld the torn metal around the latch. Be sure to protect or remove all wireing, upolstery and any thing else that may melt, burn or catch fire due to high tempatures. I would suggest TIG welding if you know someone or a shop that can do it but you are more likely to find a MIG welder which should do a decent job as well.