When installing the rough framing for a door frame, what is the most critical thing to get right? Since lumber is rarely a perfect, uniform, straight piece of wood, there are going to be all sorts of variances. Compromises will have to be made, so I'm wondering what would be the most important thing to get right – plumb the jack and King, make sure the king and jack are flush on the face, that the rough opening is of a certain width, etc)
Doors – the most important aspect of plumbing door frame
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The loose base is causing catching at the opposite corner because the entire door and frame is pivoting around the upper hinge and nearby framing that is presumably still attached firmly to the jack stud behind the frame. As the bottom left part of the frame swings out, the upper right of the door is moving up to where it hits against the frame there.
Take a look at the loose part of the frame and see if the nails attaching it to the jack stud have pulled loose. The hinge side of the door frame is often attached directly to the jack studs (no shims) so securing it may simply be a matter of driving in some brads or finish nails nearby.
If there were shims behind the frame, they may not be where they were originally; then you'd probably have to remove the door trim to get some more installed in the gap, then drive nails through the door frame, shims and studs.
The recommended rough opening for a 36" x 80" door, is 38 1/2" x 82". So you're basically looking at something like this.
Basically, you'll have to fill the purple area with framing. Which means you might have to either use thin planks on the sides, or cut into the walls to install framing.
The rough opening (blue) around the jamb (brown) will be left open, and shims will be used to make sure the jamb is perfectly level and plumb. This area will be covered by the casing, once the door is trimmed out.
Finally the door (green) will be fitted within the jamb.
The 1 3/4" you're seeing as "assembled" dimensions, includes the door, the small gap between the door and the jamb (3/16"), and the jamb itself (11/16"). This is typical of prehung doors.
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Best Answer
There's a built-in gap in the height and width of the opening. so trimmer/king plumb parallel to the wall's length isn't crucial (to a degree). It's far more critical to get the wall itself plumb perpendicular to the rough opening. Nearly everything else can be shimmed out later, assuming reasonably accurate dimensions.
Using a level of adequate length (to account for curves in the studs--I'd consider 4' to be a minimum), check plumb on the narrow edge of the king studs. How precise you get is up to your personal standards. A centered bubble indicates plumb or level. If it's not centered, it's not plumb or level. Flip the level end-for-end or rotate it 180 degrees and compare readings to gauge level calibration.
If the wall isn't plumb and flat, you have two possible problems:
If all the walls on the project are reasonably plumb and straight (top and bottom) there's no reason that your openings won't be as well.
You mention king and jack (trimmer) flush. That's important to keep the wall at the correct thickness. A thickened wall makes trim work more challenging, but won't typically affect the installation or operation of the door itself.