Does your door creak and pop when you swing it the whole way open?  It's likely a broken/cracked "Door Check".

What's a door-check you ask?  It's that flat bar you see in the door jamb near the hinges.  The door check's function is to keep the door from opening too far.  This thing is a much larger assembly than you'd think actually.

This is the part for the driver's door - make sure you get the right part (they are different for other doors).  This is what $47 gets you.

I hit my door-check bolts with some PB Blaster the night before to ease the removal process.  These should come out pretty easy - if they don't, hit them again with some sort of penetrating lube.

I'm replacing the driver's door door-check in this writeup, but the process is the same for all off the doors.

First thing to do is remove the door panel.  As always with these panels, there is a probability that you will break some of the plastic fasteners.  If you've bought these in the past, you will discover that DC thinks these are made of gold....

There are 3 screws holding the door panel on along with the plastic fasteners.

One screw at the mirror (pop the cover)

Back out the phillips screw...

Another in the door pull (phillips):

And one behind the door handle (of course this one is a T25 Torx...)

I've found that it is easiest to get the panel started in the lower front area.  You need to use some good force if these haven't been off before.

Work your way along the bottom toward the rear of the door and then up the latch side.

As you pull the panel off, hold on to it.  It is still held on with two actuator rods for the operation of the door handle and the door lock as well as two wiring connectors.

Pivot the yellow keepers at the end of the rods toward the door to free the clip, then lift the rods out.  Unhook the large wiring connector by releasing the trigger and pulling it straight out.

Also separate the wiring connector at the power mirror in the same fashion.

Here's what you are left with:

Remove the 4 phillips screws holding the speaker in and unplug the wiring connector. The speaker must be removed for access to the door check assembly.

Push on the door with your body so there isn't alot of stress on the door check.  This will make it much easier to get the bolts out (and back in).  There is enough room to use a small 1/4" drive 10mm socket in there.  Two bolts on the vehicle side and 2 nuts on the door side.

Check the orientation prior to putting the new part in (see the "UP" marking)

Then maneuver the part back inside the door and out through the speaker opening.  Maneuver the new part back in the way the old one came out and bolt it up.  Make sure you run the bolts on the vehicle side in with your fingers to be sure you don't cross thread the bolts.  I had a little trouble getting mine started and could see how this might happen.

Here's the new piece in place.  It's almost like something is missing when I operate the door now (the loud creaking that is...).

Here's the cracked piece.  Sorry for the fuzzy pic, you can see where it is separated by the pin.

Button everything back up in reverse order and you are good to go.  Make sure you connect all of your wiring and actuator rods.

Gallery: Door Check (WJ)

Help the Cause

Did this site help you?   Did it save you some money?   Show your gratitude by helping to keep it online!

Use the donate button below to make a contribution via Paypal.

Thank you to those who have made donations - your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Login Form

To access our downloads, please login. If you haven't created a free account yet, please create an account.

Shop Door Panel Parts

Jeep®, Jeep® Grand Cherokee, Jeep® Cherokee, Jeep® Wrangler, Jeep® Liberty, Jeep® Commander, Jeep® Commanche, Jeep® Compass, Jeep® Patriot, Jeep® Renegade, Jeep® Rubicon, Jeep® Wagoneer, Jeep® Gladiator, Jeep® Cherokee Chief, the Jeep® grille, Quadra-Drive, Quadra-Trac II, Selec-Trac, Vari-Lok, Trac-Lok, Quadra-Coil, Sentry Key, and Mopar are trademarks of FCA US LLC.