Door Hinge Pin Replacement

[Hunter4x4]

My driver door was sagging 'cuz the hinge was worn bad!



The fix was a lot easier than I thought. Picked up Part Number 38386 "Door Hinge and Bushing Kit" at the local NAPA off of their 'HELP!' parts rack. If they don't have it in stock it can be ordered.



I pulled the lower hinge, replaced the bushings, and wha-la! Door doesn't sag and closes much better!!! It really was a no-brainer, just took thje time to work through it all!!!



Here's how I did it:



1) First thing I did was prop the door up (I used a couple of milk cartons and a wood block) so it doesn't sag when you unbolt the hinge. If possible, mark the position of the hinge to the door and the body.

2) First bolt out is the hinge to body mount accessible from the outside. You need to use a 6" extension and a universal on your 9/16 short socket.

3) There are 2 more hinge-to-body bolts accessible form inside the vehicle; you need a 9/16" deepwell socket for these two. Unscrew all the kick panel screws except the top 2 (you're not unscrewing those because you can't get to 'em!!! You'll see what I mean when you get in there!!!) Pull the kick panel back, and you'll see an oval rubber body plug; pop that out and you can get to the other 2 hinge to body boles from inside the vehicle.

3) Unbolt the hinge form the door (3 more 9/16 bolts) and take it to your work bench.

4) Punch out the hinge pin, separating the hinge into two pieces.

5) My hinge had very worn factory bushings, which you have to punch out. The kit has 2 replacement bronze bushings which just popped into the same holes (I've heard that in some cases there is no factory bushings and the hole has to be drilled for the replacement bushings).

6) After the bushing are replaced, fit the hinge back together and then drive the new hinge pin back in.

7) Re-install the hinge; I installed the 2 inside hinge-to-body bolts first (the ones accessed from inside the vehicle), then the door-to-hinge bolts, and the last bolt was the outside hinge-to-body bolt.

8) The hardest part is re-aligning the door; the hinge-to-body mating has a lot of adjustment. Take your time, try to line it up with your earlier mark. It is possible - even likely - that because of the slop in the worn hinge you may have to 'tweak' your original mounting positions.



And that's all there is to it!! Took me less than an hour - even in the miserable drizzle that started up after I started!!!



Hope this will helps someone - actually, I know it will!!!



Mike

 

[southpaw]

-Mike, good fix. I just finished doing my 93. A wet floor and carpet prompted me to do the fix. I pulled the seats, carpet and kick panels to remove the soaked mats. I pulled the parking brake mech off the firewall its easy, pop the hood and look just below the brake cyl. 2 - 1/2 inch nuts and then back inside remove the phillips screw from the brake handle bracket and one 1/2 inch socket to remove the bracket to the side kick panel its just above the bellcrank. pull everything away from your work area remove all the kickpanel screws and check the vent for leaks and operation it also makes removing and reinstalling te carpet and pads much easier. I will use your method on my neighbors truck next week . If the door seals and belt weatherstrips need replacing JC Witney has door seals 18$ each and a set of 4 belt weather strips 54$. Now I roll the windows down to close the doors. anyone replacing the belt weather strips should use blue masking tape on the window sils the retaining clips scratch the paint so easily, they are sharp. Thanks for your post Mike.

 

[Hunter4x4]

Southpaw -



It's funny you talked about the door seals and wet floor, cuz' that's where I'm going next!!! I have some new seats, and the plan is to strip everything out, clean up and repaint.



Do you have the JCW part numbers for the door seals?



Thanks for the tip on getting the e-brake out of the way, too!



Mike

 

[KSommer]

i just went to the junkyard and got the lower hinge off a 83,000 mile gasser. same color, even. i'm bolting it on this afternoon, weather permiting.

kent

 

[southpaw]

Hunter,the pn#is WA737610A $18. 95 Each. The belt weather strip 4 piece kit is WA071354T at 52. 95 JCs ph# 1-800-529-4486.

 

[southpaw]

Hunter, I forgot to mention the door seals will probably be about 6 inches too long and my old one was attache with black sticky and thick gasget cement . I just pulled the old one off and pushed the new one on ,I didn,t need to add any more sticky to mine. hope you are as lucky. If you need any more Pn# info just message me here. good luck. Ken.

 

[3dracer]

wet floors

Hey guys,,,what you need to look at for wet floors... ... . After you remove the kick panels,,take a look at the gasket that seals up the vent. It will be bad as usual,,quick fix is a small bead of silicone around the gasket surface. Be sure to let it dry before installing. No more wet floors.

 

[Hunter4x4]

Thanks for all the input, guys! Especially about the silicone behind the kick paner.



I ordered the parts from JCW yesterday and pulled the carpet last night. I'll come back to this post when I'm all done and let you all know how it goes!!



Thanks again!!



Mike

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Great "tips" thread guys... .



pb. .

 

[Paychk]

Another thing to check when you have the kick panels pulled; is the vent well, it can fill up with leaves and plug the drain causing corrosion problems. Would be the time to vacuum them out, prevention would be to put screen under the cowl vent at the base of the windshield.

 

[Hunter4x4]

Thanks, PB! That's what I love about TDR!!