Monday, March 06, 2006 - 11:11 am, by: Michael Keen(Jzz30man)
Thought this fix info might be useful for some of you guys. My door has sagged so much that the leading edge of the door is starting to catch on the back of the front guard. See the damage to the paintwork below.
Advice from Niall is that one day it will catch the front guard heavily and actually crimp the front guard. I have some hinges coming off a 97 model, but in the interim the catching noise has been getting a lot louder. Thought I had better do a temporary fix.
I supported the door with an engine hoist. I suppose there are a few different ways this could be done, such as a block of wood and a jack under the door instead.
Loosened all the upper two bolts and the lower two bolts with a 12mm socket and ring spanner.
Bought some washers to insert in between the hinge and the door, for the bottom two bolts only. Washers need to have approx 15mm diameter hole for the bolt. The washer I used here are 2mm thick. First inserted 2 x 2mm washers to each bolt, but this raised the door too much. 1 x 2mm thick washer for each bolt worked quite well. Maybe raised the door just a tad too high. So if you door isn’t sagging a huge amount I suggest trying a 1.0 to 1.5mm thick washer for each bolt. Here is a pic with the 2 x 2mm washers before I cut it down to 1 x 2mm washer per bolt.
The full fix is to replace the bearings in the cast aluminium hinge, top and bottom. Some people recommend using a jack under the doorto bend the door at the mounts so it closes better. I don't recommend this for obvious reasons.
I'm waiting for my 97 model hinges to come, then i'll use the crane to hold the door then remove and replace the hinges completely. That way i shouldn't have to strip the wiring from the door or need 3 people standing around to support the door while i'm doing it. I do recommend some wider lifting straps and maybe a lifting beam with more points of support, so the load can be spread along the length of the door, as my straps compressed the lining little.
Monday, March 06, 2006 - 01:49 pm, by: Peter Nitschke(Pen)
Jacking the door isn't to stretch the hinges. The idea is to support the door, loosen the bolts, jack the door a little then to tighten the bolts again. Just jacking it... I hate to think. Those hinges don't really look like they are going to bend too easily.
Monday, March 06, 2006 - 04:40 pm, by: Brian Laws(Asian_warrior01)
i like your thinking but i have read somewhere how to diy on replaceing the door bushes and i was wondering if anyone knew where i can get my hands on the bushes for the door.
Monday, March 06, 2006 - 05:47 pm, by: Michael Keen(Jzz30man)
Peter, I understand where you are coming from. I have had other people suggest I jack the door so the door itself bends where its mounted to the hinge. Obviously we think the wame way about that idea.
Brian, I believe the bearings can be obtained. Not sure what bushes are involved, but interested to find out if there are any. I have read on ALSC that the bearings can be replaced to fix the sag, but i'm not yet convinced that the bearings are all that will need replacing. There are a lot of arm at that move with these hinges, and there might be a few pins and bushes that will need replacing as well. Last time i spoke to Niall on it, he seemed to think there were quite a few things like pins and bushes to replace or drill and oversize etc to refurbish these hinges properly. If anybody has more of an idea their info would be appreciated here.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 06:11 pm, by: John Jantzen(Taslex)
Thank you for your 'fix', Michael, my door just started to "catch" on the guard and I've just done your fix with very satisfactory results. Ideally I would have adjusted the lock loop's position up slightly, but I didn't realise those screws were 'star' type - which I don't have a driver for (yet!). Anyway, the lift provided by the 2mm washer under each bottom bolt worked great, and I actually lost a door rattle I used to have into the bargain, so I'm well pleased!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 08:59 pm, by: Mustafa Akgul(Muzzy)
i am currently in the process of replacing the bearings in a spare hinge i have,
from what i have seen is the top bearing collapses creating space for the door pin that sits inside the bearing to move around hence the sagging etc. getting the old bearings out is damn hard to do so most of this reco of the hinge is or will be outside of diy. unless you have access to engineering equipment.
just a footnote not many engineering shops are willing to help so far 3 joints have squirmed there way out of it or quoted stupid amounts to pull out the old bearings.
Michael`s fix sounds good, my other hinge on the car is also rooted so mite try that wile i attempt to fix this spare hinge...
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 09:01 pm, by: Mustafa Akgul(Muzzy)
btw a box of any description that slides under door is all you need to take off the hinge and replace it yourself done it a few times and never needed help with holding the door... fyi
Muzz you probably need to change bearings both at the top and bottom when you anyway is there, then you need new plastic washers, crinkle washers and maybe new pin or pins, one I did needed a new pin.
Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 07:34 pm, by: Jan Christiansson(Janoc)
I had to special order them, bloody expensive, $7.50 for the plastic washers and $3 for the crinkle washers/each and you need 8 plastic washers and 4 crinkle washers = $72/hinges.
Previous
