Door Pins

[ulm4lyf]

My driver side door is sagging pretty bad, so I've gone ahead and ordered some replacement door pins. The videos that I've seen appear to be pretty straight forward, but have any of y'all replaced them yourselves? How big of a pain was it?

 

[SirRobyn0]

I've done lots of them, oddly enough not on my truck. Not really any tips other than I like to support the door with floor jack, and block of wood. Do one hinge at a time, and if you bought just pins, you should get bushings as well, I think most come as a kit with both. Sometimes the bushings can be a bit of a pain, but remember they are brass, so push the new ones in as straight as you can and remember if you hit them to hard they will break. I say about a 30 - 45 minute job, as long as there aren't any complications. Occasionally it seems like the hinge doesn't want to line back up after the work, and you just have to play with it. If you have super nice paint you might want to put painters tape along the edge of the fender so if you loose control of the door in that direction when one of the pins is out there is little risk of damaging the paint. I'll be fine and more than likely you'll think it was relatively easy.

 

[ulm4lyf]

None of the videos that I saw showed them doing it one hinge at a time. They all showed the door being removed, which to be honest looks like a pain in the you know what. Thanks for the tip!

 

[SirRobyn0]

None of the videos that I saw showed them doing it one hinge at a time. They all showed the door being removed, which to be honest looks like a pain in the you know what. Thanks for the tip!

Interesting, I've never seen any of the guys I've worked with pull the door to do pins. I will elaborate on how I do it then. But I'm also going to say I just went and watched a video and door removal will obviously yield more space, but you'll have to have someone to help or a way to support the door from above.

I started working on cars in the early 90's so it wasn't long before the GMT-400's needed hinge pins and those most all had power door locks and windows and of course the associated wiring, so we would do them with the door in place. So like with the upper hinge you'd support the door with the jack, knock the pin out, lean the door down with the jack and then knock the bushings out. Then install the bushings, tip door up and knock pin into place. But you have to be careful not to catch the top of the bushing on the hinge when tilting the door back into position, or you can snag it and break the new bushing. Obviously it is a tighter working space than having the door off, but it's quicker I think, and possibly easier depending on your perspective. Maybe the best thing would be to start with the top hinge and if you don't like the working space pull the door off. It'll be interesting to see if anyone else comes along and say how they do it.

 

[fast 99]

Bushings have a slight press fit. They are very brittle any impact will break them. I use a vise grip and gradually push them in. Have both removed the doors or not depending on what equipment the shop had available and if a helper was free. Really doesn't matter either way. But need to think about what to do with the door when off. I was doing customer vehicles so had to be very careful not to damage anything.

Will add if the bushings have been neglected for a long time and the hinge holes have oblong wear, replacement bushings won't last long or will break right away.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Bushings have a slight press fit. They are very brittle any impact will break them. I use a vise grip and gradually push them in. Have both removed the doors or not depending on what equipment the shop had available and if a helper was free. Really doesn't matter either way. But need to think about what to do with the door when off. I was doing customer vehicles so had to be very careful not to damage anything.

Will add if the bushings have been neglected for a long time and the hinge holes have oblong wear, replacement bushings won't last long or will break right away.

I have tapped the bushings in with a small hammer and used a socket and extension, as well as the plier method. Whichever route you go Brian is right they are easy to break.

 

[BKING33]

You can press them on by using a spacer and a bolt.

 

[Craig Nedrow]

beat me to it!! Brian