Jeep Door Checks

Jeep Cherokee Door Checks for '60-'66 Chevy/GMC Trucks
The door stops on the old Chevy trucks were just that: door STOPS. They did nothing more than keep the doors from swinging open too wide. They did nothing to hold the door in the open position. All too often the rubber portion of the stop would disintegrate allowing the door to open just wide enough to let the door bump against the trailing edge of the front fender putting a nice smiley face in the door. If you've even been to chevytalk.com you seen the discussions about replacing the original door stops with door checks from a Jeep Cherokee (not a Grand Cherokee). The door checks were the same from 1984 to 2001 and, if front door checks are what you plan on using, the Jeep Comanche pickup uses the same ones. The Cherokee checks make the door feel solid when opened and has the added advantage of having detents to hold the door open so you can get out without having your shins beat up by the door as it swings back. Here's a little "how-to" presentation with some pictures that will help demonstrate the installation process.
	The original door stop is not much more than a bar with a rubber cushion (as hard as a rock after 40 or 50 years!) to keep the door from opening too far. There is nothing in the design to hold the door open. The Jeep Cherokee door check not only has the rubber cushion (soft and mushy!) but a spring loaded roller and two detents to hold the door open while you're getting in and out. The check shown here is from the front door of the Cherokee but the rear door check can also be used. The rear door check only has one detent and allows the door to open wider that the front door check.
	When the rubber cushion decides to abandon its post of duty you will surely end up with a smiley face on your door.
	To remove the old door stop simply tap the pin from the bottom with a hammer until it is flush with the "clevis" bracket. Then grab the top of the pin with some pliers and pull it the rest of the way out.
	The door panel will have to be removed and the window rolled down to allow room to reach the door stop from inside the door. As you can see in the far photo the window gear is in the way when the window is all the way up.
	Next remove the two phillips head screws that hold the stop to the door. A regular screw driver won't work so you'll have to us an alternate method such as that shown here. Once the screws are removed just reach in the hole in the door and pull the door stop out.
	Now you're ready to install the new Jeep door check. A couple of nice features about the Jeep check are 1) the pins are the same diameter so there is no need to rework the hole in the clevis bracket on your truck, and 2) the hole spacing in the door is exactly the same for the Jeep and the Chevy. The Jeep pin (on the left) is much nicer than the old original pin (on the right) because it is tapered and so exact alignment when installing isn't necessary.

	Before you install the new check, make sure is fits into the clevis bracket on the truck. This one didn't quite slide between the ears of the clevis.
	Just slip a screw drive between the ears and open them up a little. It won't take much.
	Before you install the check, pull the rod through as far as it will go until the rubber cushion bottoms out. It's actually easier to PUSH it through.
	Now put the new door check inside the door and slide it into place. Put the nuts (they are metric) on the studs and tighten them down. These units came from the wrecking yard and so I got everything: the checks, the nuts, the pins and the clevis brackets. I don't know that it makes any difference, but I installed the checks with the detent "teeth" or humps toward the inside of the door. That's the way that Jeep installs them. BTW, the left check and the right check are the same.
	Line up the hole in the check with the holes in the clevis and put the pin in place. Tap it home with a hammer. You're done. It takes about 20 minutes to do the first door and about 10 to do the second!
	The first detent holds the door open about 11 inches (measured as shown in the photo).
	The second detent holds the door open about 26 inches, but the door can be pushed to about 33 inches. The door with the OE door stops allowed the door to open about 36 inches.
	Here are a couple of photos of the Cherokee rear door checks installed courtesy of Larry Wilson (FleetsideLarry on chevytalk). These only have one detent and that's when the door is completely open. The width of the opening is about 42 inches, a little wider than stock, and, .....
	as seen here, come dangerously close to crashing into the cowl and creating a much-dreaded "smiley face".
	Larry placed a stock stop and a rear-door Jeep check side by side for comparison. The rear-door check is about 3/8" longer than the stock on. Larry shortened the Jeep rear-door unit by 3/8" and got an opening width of 34-3/4" (goes to about 35-1/2" with pressure on the door) and gives him about 1/4" clearance between the door edge and the cowl with some pressure applied. The Jeep rear-door check is estimated to be about an inch longer than the Jeep front-door unit.
*MORE DOOR CHECK IDEAS*
Jay (LUGNUTZ65CEVYSTEPSIDE) has a great website with all kinds of nice tips. One tip is a detailed explanation of using the Jeep Cherokee door stops on our 60-66 trucks. While you're there have a look at the rest of his site. You won't be disappointed! LUGNUTZ65CEVYSTEPSIDE