Is your door stuck with your new striker?

[1983-GT]

I replaced the drivers door striker yesterday with a Dorman ford striker, part number #38448
All seemed fine until the door seemed a little hard to close & I gave it a bit of a harder slam.

Well, then the door was stuck as if it was locked. Really took some finagiling to get it open again.
After looking at things closer I realized that the sleeve on the Dorman striker is slightly larger than the original.

Once the bushing is forced into the lock it jambs the whole thing up with pressure & the lock won't release. I cut about .040" off it & it now works perfectly. Just wanted to share incase someone else runs into this. I also pushed the original out of the back washer so I could retain the original look once installed. Working perfect now.

Seeing I am a newbie to the fox bodies, maybe this is a known issue but seemed it was worth sharing for anyone else who has the same problem. Easy fix if you have a way to cut them down a little.

My original measured .690" & the doorman is .740"

[qikgts]

Thanks for the tip and exact dimensions!

[dagenham]

I have used the help brand bushings alone and never had a problem. I never replaced the entire assembly. Thanks for the tip though.