<<< Return to Maintenance and Work

DOOR STRIKER BOLT - REPLACEMENT

April 2015. The drivers door was closing good but the passener door had a bit of play in it after you shut it. You could pull on the door handle and feel there was some play and the door didn't stay tightly closed. The bushings on the bolts I assumed were original, the drivers side bushing bushing was completely missing, the driver was still intack. Here is a pic of the drivers striker bolt:

The door striker bolts I purchased from LMC truck. I found out they are actually a smaller diameter and the bushings seem to be of less quality than the originals but after installing them they seem to work fine. Also the head on them is an Allen key, not Torx like the originals. Also I'm pretty sure the bushings are going to wear out faster than the originals, they just feel cheaper and started to mark up and dent with just a few closes of the door.

The original GM part number is 9601750 and these bolts are either called GM Door Lock Striker Assembly, Actuator striker, Lock striker or just Striker. According to www.gmpartsdepot.ca this part fits 2479 vehicle variants. Chevrolet: 33 models, 1338 variants between 1984 and 1991. GMC: 21 models, 1141 variants between 1984 and 1991. You can still find NOS strikers on Ebay,

Here are a few different suppliers of the door striker bolts:

LMC Truck 38-6593	Dorman 38420	Clips and Fasteners A20562	NOS GM 9601750 on Ebay

Removing the striker bolts is straight forward using the correct size Torx bit and 1/2" drive. Before removing the bolt, you will need to remove the interior vertical plastic cover on the pillar between the front and back seats so you can access the receiving nut (shown below).

The nut is loose and once you remove the bolt, it will fall into the pillar so you will want to access it and hold it with either your hand if you can fit it inside or with a pair of pliers. I didn't know this but I got lucky, the nut did fell but got caught up in the wiring and I was able to grab it.

Install the bolt holding the nut with the other hand and get the threads started. Once the threads catch, the bolt will wedge itself against the inside of the pillar wall and you'll be able to tighten it without holding the nut. The new bolts only come with one washer so you'll need to re-use the old washers for the correct spacing. I ditched the washer and just re-used the existing washers because the spacing was already correct and i wanted to presever the original red paint.

You may need to do some fine adjusting to the bolt to get the door to latch perfectly. When the door closes, there should be no play whatsoever.