Hi,

Does anyone know how to fit cab door check straps. Took them out for bus re spray, been fighting to get them back in ever since. No idea how to do it or tips etc. can't seem to squeeze them in enough to get them in and taking apart I can't get the bits back on.

Any help appreciated.

Many thanks

Hi SmartyHarper - do you still need help with this?

Edit: after re-reading this I'm hoping you mean the later metal internal door check straps - 64-67 splits not the early fabric ones! hahahaha

I had to do one of mine yesterday - My passenger door had stress cracked around the lower hinge and was making a horrific cracking noise with the checkstrap in when opening & closing, so middle of last summer I just pulled out the checkstrap to stop the noise - (it sounded like I was breaking the door off everytime it opened!) they come out easy don't they - until you try getting it back in!!

So I finally got around to welding my door up properly yesterday and set about putting the check strap back in - I remembered your post - I thought how difficult can it be.....

LOL - well getting the first thickness of the checkstrap through the rollers is'nt too hard, with a screwdriver prying the rollers open, but getting it in past the thick 'endstop' part is nigh on impossible, after nearly losing several fingers, a fair bit of swearing, prising the 'surprisingly extremely strong!!' springs apart with increasingly larger screwdrivers, I admitted defeat...it wasn't going to work that way - not without blood loss...

So then I thought I need to let the door\body do the work, so I tried wedging the checkstrap against the seal channel - this is not a good idea!! - that channel is NOT anywhere near strong enough - after several worrying flexing/creakings I rapidly abandoned that idea too.... then I spied the actual door check arm welded to the body - now that is rock solid (as you would expect) but you can't get the checkstrap close enough to get any form of pin in to push the checkstrap in with....

So I came up with a cunning inventive solution (or the worst kind of bush mechanicery/bodge/work around) - delete as required - hahahaha

I found out some soft green garden tying wire - the crappy stuff that you can wobble and break off with your fingers - wrapped a few turns of that through the body part of the arm, then a few turns through the door checkstrap end - like the worst sewing/knitting in the world with the soft wire..... I thought this is never going to work, it will never be strong enough to push against - but BOOM - one little pushette of the door an inch or two - a bit of flexing & straining of the wire and it in popped with no drama whatsoever - hahahaha RESULT!

The strength of the many (turns of wire) outweigh the strength of the few.... nods....

Then I just cut the wire off - pushed the clevis pin in - Job Done!

Hope this helps someone in the future - there's a probably a fancy schmancy factory tool for this - but hey........

The wire..... £1.95 all good greenhouses (just don't tell the wife!)



A bit of knitting later..... I'd actually pushed the door & got the checkstrap in, in this pic, until I thought I'd better take a quick piccie!
Before getting it in, the check strap was not close the the body arm as it is now.





A quick push of the door - and in she pops sweet as a nut!



Cut off the wire with gleeful triumph!!



Pop in the clevis pin, and bask in the glory of a (gash) job well done... hahaha



That is all - Cheers

Easier way than that..

Insert a screwdriver between the tensioner bars that fit inside the door. Gently prize them apart and push the check strap bar through (over the big bulge at the end). Then close the door so the other end moves into position. Push the pin through the top. Open door to allow full access to get teh c clip on the bottom of the pin.

Takes but a minute.

hmmmm - there was no way I could prise those bars apart anywhere near enough to get the thick bulge through - that was the problem. I could prise them enough to get the thin end through and that was all...