Drivers door will not shut

[Rem701]

I have a 71 GMC Jimmy and the drivers door is really hard to shut. When I do manage to get it closed it does not line up with the quarter panel very well either. I am wondering if the latch is bad or if the door needs to be aligned? Or Both? I am no body man so if anybody has experience fixing this problem could explain how I would greatly appreciate it
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[lks dcvn]

A few things to check.

Is the top on and bolted down?
Do both doors have trouble closing?
How are the body mounts and bolts?
How does the panel gap (top to bottom) look for the door that won't shut?

Sounds like the top is off, body mounts are failing and the door won't shut from hitting the latch or the inner bedside.

Take a floor jack and put it just behind the door where the cargo floor before mount is. Jack it up slowly and check to see when the door shuts easier. Place shims at that body mount as an interim fix until you can fix the rust/body mounts.

[blazintowers]

do you have any pics? has it always been hard to shut? if the body mounts have been changed out or the old ones are rotted out it could mess with the door alignment too. are the door hinges in good shape or sloppy?

[Rem701]

The top is currently on the vehicle, it was off for a while though. I changed the body mounts about 5 years ago and they seem good. Al though I did change the mounts with the top off so that was probably a mistake, will messing with certain body mounts make it better? I will get some pics as well. Again thanks for all of the insight.

[lks dcvn]

Shims on the floor mount and the B pillar mount will impact door gaps and therefore the ability to open/close doors.

If you get pix - get one standing at the side of the truck so we can set the gaps at the front and rear of the troublesome door.

[68panelman]

You more than likely had factory shims on the OE body mounts and if they did not go back when you replaced, this will add to your door problem

[Rem701]

These are a few different angles.

[Rem701]

What do body mount shims look like and where do I get them?

[lks dcvn]

After reviewing your pix - it looks like you might have too many shims at the B-pillar location (just behind doors), which is driving the top of your door away from the bedside.

Your A-pillar gap (front of the door) in the first picture looks consistent top to bottom, which is what you want to see.

The 3rd picture shows your gap is increasing from bottom to the top of your door, which is not what normally occurs. What normally occurs is the top is removed and the gap at the top becomes smaller as the body folds down due to weight and rust/poor body mounts. This is impacted by shims at body position #2 (the bolts/shims at the front of the cargo floor). Check to see how many shims you have at this position as you may need to remove some/all of them to bring the door back into alignment. Also you may want to see if the bolt is tightened down enough as that would have a similar impact.

Body shims are about 1/8" thick pieces of steel with a hole in them for the body mount bolt to go through. They have them at LMC although you can probably find them cheaper elsewhere.

Link to LMC page for Blazer body mount hardware

Does the passenger side door also have this gap at the top? Any issues with that one closing/opening?