latch bolt on door

[jpdriver1]

I recently discovered the metal near the latch bolt on my drivers door is splitting. Has anyone else seen or heard of the issue - pics to follow

 

 

[sinkrun]

Mine cracked at the latch pin on the body side. I left it alone and withing a year it was very bad so bad I had to hold the door shut by hand. Get it welded now

[jpdriver1]

thanks sinkrun, that was one option we discussed --- another was to cut the same section out of a donor and put over the bad section as a patch ---- 

[RochesterMJ]

Had the same thing on mine.  Took it to a body shop, they fixed it and repainted the pillar.  

 

Might be normal wear and tear.  Mine was the result of door sag due to worn hinge pins  - thought it was the new door seals that I installed so I just slammed the crap out of it for a while but eventually figured out the door was sagging and that the latch wasn't lined up with the striker.  Cracked the B pillar and ended up having to replace the latch too.  

[ParadiseMJ]

My door was out of alignment and it would close as long as I kept slamming it until this happened:

 

 

So I made a piece to cover it out of 16 ga. sheet metal.

 

 

Fit it up, drilled the big hole with a hole saw, and placed it over the spot.  Then I riveted it to the body.  Need to make the center hole bigger than the bolt (striker) to be able to adjust it.  This has worked great for over a year without any stress cracks etc.  (I fixed the door hinge too)

 

[jpdriver1]

thanks guys 

 

paradise, you have and extra one laying around?  :thumbsup: