Door Hinge Question

[scrap--metal]

In the upper door hinge, why did GM use two bolts installed from the exterior of the truck and one bolt from the interior of the truck? Wouldn't it have been just as easy to install all three from the exterior?

I'm sure it was done for a reason, but I'm not sure what that is. Maybe the one interior bolt was installed first for alignment purposes on the assembly line, but that's the only guess I have.

Please enlighten me.

 

[Strick]

The bolts under the dash are a pain to get to regardless of their intent. I'm certain that GM had a good reason for doing this though as it definitely would be much easier to just keep them all on the exterior.

Strickland

 

[Octane]

An engineer somewhere thought it up.At least there are bolts.Most are just welded on hinges now.And if the bushings wear too much and cut into the hinge too far,the hinge has to be cut off and a hinge rewelded in place.

 

[scrap--metal]

An engineer somewhere thought it up.At least there are bolts.Most are just welded on hinges now.And if the bushings wear too much and cut into the hinge too far,the hinge has to be cut off and a hinge rewelded in place.

I guess it could be worse then.

I'm needing to replace the drivers door and hinges on my truck. I got a good door and hinges from a friend earlier this week, but I'm dreading the project as everything is currently assembled and in place on my truck.

 

[Octane]

Mark the location of the old hinges if you can, and trial/error after that

 

[SquareRoot]

Be glad your not working on a volvo.

 

[Octane]

Thankfully the worst doorhinge replacement for me were those 1970s camaro doors,they were even longer and larger it seemed,after they were removed from the car.And many of the doorhandles were broken,people would lift up on the door,because the hinges would be so worn out,just to close those doors.

 

[bucket]

Sure beats the welded on hinges. Drill out the bigass plug welds, then hope the resulting holes are somewhere near the location of the bolts on the replacement hinge, then you still have to get back in behind the post to hold the new backing plate in place.

 

[scrap--metal]

Thankfully the worst doorhinge replacement for me were those 1970s camaro doors,they were even longer and larger it seemed,after they were removed from the car.And many of the doorhandles were broken,people would lift up on the door,because the hinges would be so worn out,just to close those doors.

Funny you should mention that... The driver's door hinges on my '79 Camaro could use a little TLC too. It's tolerable for the time being though (again I'm dreading it, especially cause that car has decent paint).

My father used to say the same thing about the doors on his '80 Camaro. "These have to be the longest/heaviest (depended on the day or project) doors GM ever produced!" I agreed with him until I got a '76 Monte Carlo. Those have to be the biggest doors, they're certainly longer than the Camaro doors. I have four of them in my shed

 

[Octane]

I had a 79 Camaro

 

[bucket]

Funny you should mention that... The driver's door hinges on my '79 Camaro could use a little TLC too. It's tolerable for the time being though (again I'm dreading it, especially cause that car has decent paint).

My father used to say the same thing about the doors on his '80 Camaro. "These have to be the longest/heaviest (depended on the day or project) doors GM ever produced!" I agreed with him until I got a '76 Monte Carlo. Those have to be the biggest doors, they're certainly longer than the Camaro doors. I have four of them in my shed

When I moved recently, I had a buddy helping me load most of my parts into the semi trailer. Truck doors and Celebrity doors he was fine with... but he was not a fan of all the Camaro doors, lol.

 

[Octane]

To do my hinges etc on mine,it was trial and error and a floor jack on bottom of door.No help....just sweat.But I built that car...finally.And that heater core? My gawd.

 

[WFO]

I've always been pretty religious about changing out those hinge pin bushings before the hinges go bad.

 

[scrap--metal]

^ Too late for that now.

@Keith Seymore Do you know why GM installed the upper door hinges with two bolts from the exterior of the truck and one bolt from the interior of the truck?

I'm guessing it has to be something related to the assembly process.

 

[bucket]

^ Too late for that now.

@Keith Seymore Do you know why GM installed the upper door hinges with two bolts from the exterior of the truck and one bolt from the interior of the truck?

I'm guessing it has to be something related to the assembly process.

The '82-'96 GM A-body platform also had door hinges with one bolt from the inside. I don't know the reason for such a design, but you should read the hinge replacement procedure in the A-body factory service manual, lol. For the front door, upper hinges, you must remove the dash to properly (imho) change them. But the service manual says to use a hole saw and then let the bolt fall down inside the pillar... then pump in a bunch of caulking to keep the bolt from rattling