Bad Door Seal - Lots of Road Noise
 

I tried to search for this topic but I wasn't able to find anything. Maybe I wasn't using the right words or something, but if this has already been answered then I apologize for making a second thread about it.

My passenger door doesn't make a seal with the front third of the door frame (front third, more or less), this lets a lot of road noise in and driving on the highway is starting to get annoying after 9 months of ownership. If I put a paper towel in the frame and shut the door on it the towel will slide right out and this can be on the side by the roof or by the ground. I thought it was because the rubber seal around the frame was old and dry so I replaced it but that didn't help. I figure that it would have to be something regarding the hinge, then. A friend at work said that the hinge is mounted on a brass bushing(?) and that the bushing might have gone bad. Does anybody know about this claim? Does anyone have ideas or knowledge of what it might be? The rest of the door seals up fine (proven by the paper-towel-test), it's only the front that does not.

if the rubber makes a seal, then it shouldnt matter about the door bushing.

what kind of tires do you have? some tires are very prone to horrid road noise.

If the hinge bushings are worn, the body line won't line up where the door meets the quarter panel, You will also notice the door droop a little as you open it. There will also be a shiny spot on the striker plate from misalignment. It is possible the door hinges are worn to the point that it's allowing air/water in between the body and seal, but when they leak there it is usually an indication of damage to the door (window frame is tweaked), misalignment of the door when replaced after an accident or a tweaked windshield pillar.

Thanks Mike, a lot of what you mentioned is going on. The door doesn't line up with the quarter panel and when it rains some water comes in through the door as well. And the door does sag a little when I open it. My car has a rebuilt title but whatever it was happened a couple of owners ago so I don't know what it was. There isn't any firewall material between the passenger door and the body though and the door looked perfect except for the bottom of it. The face of the door that faces towards the ground had a pretty big bulge in it pointing towards the ground. I tried to make the surface flat again by hitting it with a hammer, it helped a little with the noise but it didn't fix it.

Do you think I need to replace the hinge as well as the bushing?

Exactly all of what was mentioned here

Thanks for the help everyone. Just did some searching on Rock Auto and I found Dorman Part No. 38490, is this what y'all are talking about? I guess I expected the part to be a bushing for the hinge to mount up against.

Do you think I need a new hinge? Like I said there's a lot of noise so air is getting into the car and when it rains or I was the car water gets in through the door as well.

Thanks again,

Radagast

I would personally replace the hinge as well as the bushings and pins, you are taking it apart anyways so you may as well. Plus they may already come packaged in a kit as a unit which would just save you time and energy.

When I use to drive the late 70s camaro's they were notorious for needing pins and bushings as the doors were so heavy they just couldn't handle the load, the bushings are very cheaply made

Does anyone have a procedure or tips on how to remove the old mounting studs to get the new ones in? The locking nut on the bottom is a hex-shape but the top of the stud is rounded. Anybody have a video or website with pertinent information to link to?