Door pin replacement

[Ninergrad]

So my doors are starting to sag very bad like.
You open driver or passenger door and it drops down like 1/8-1/4" I can move it up and down by hand. Very sad.
What is the fix? Pins? IF so how hard is it to do, or should I just take her to teh body shop?

[Saleen4971]

Davit i plan on doing the same job this summer on my 5.9

[Copied form JF - props to "Vestjam" for the excellent writeup and pics]
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=506080


I finally got tired of my slightly sagging front drivers door and decided to replace both the upper and lower hinge pins on my 95ZJ.
It really wasn't a difficult process, it just took some time. I would say that two hours would be plenty start to finish.

You'll need a few items before you start:
1. Replacement Hinge Pins. I got mine from Advance Auto.
38422 - The ones in this thread, no C clip
38423 - Same size as the ones in this thread, but with a C Clip for the top To hold the top hinges pin in. (you will need TWO of these - each 38423 kit coems with one logn and one short pin, you need 2 long pins)




2. 9MM socket with socket wrench for the four bolts that hold the door to the Jeep.
3. Possibly a small Torx bit (not sure on the size) I believe it would depend on the year on your vehicle if you would even need one or not. This is for the electrical connection hub on the door.
4. A dremel type tool with a cut-off attachment to cut the old hinge pins out. Some have suggested a chisel for the hinge pin heads. I had zero luck with that option.
5. A base of some type to rest the door on while removing the bolts holding the door.
6. A work are big enough to rest a door on it's side. I used the bed of a pickup parked near the Jeep, but a couple of saw horses with a blanket over the top will work.
7. Some lithium grease to lubricate the new pins after you put them in.

I first opened the door and then slid the rubber boot back that contains the electrical wireing. There is not much room in there at all. In the middle of that black plastic connection is a bolt that takes a small torx bit. Again, I'm not sure of the size. I used the torx bit fitted to the end of a 1/4" closed end wrench ( about 4" long). The wrench was used to turn the torx bit while I kept finger pressure towards the plastic wire assembly. This will take a couple of minutes to undo the screw. You'll know you are making progress when you see the plastic assembly start to pull away from the door.

Once that is complete, you'll need to support the outer edge of the door with something. I used a bucket with a folded towel.

Now you can remove the bolts that hold the door in place. I loosened all the bolts (4) a few turns first. I then removed one from the top and bottom. I removed the other bottom one and then the top one last. As I removed the last top one, I started to hold onto the door to give it a little more support. If it sags too much, the bolt will start to bind. The door is heavier than I though it would be.

Now that the door is off, set it in your predesignated work area. I attempted to knock the top of the heads off the hinge pins (15 minutes with no noticable success). I moved to grinding them off (about the same results). I then got out the dremel tool and used a 1 1/4" cut off wheel and cut through the pin in about 1 minute. The angle will be important to avoid hitting the hinge and to allow clearance to get entirely through the pin.




Once you cut through, knock both sides of the pin out and slide the loose hinge out. Remove the old steel rings and rubber reinforced sleeve from the hinge (If there is any left).




Open the new hinge replacement and slide in the brass sleeves. They go in from the top and bottom. I used a pliers to get them started and then just tapped them in the rest of the way.




You may choose to put a little bit of grease on the brass sleeves and hinge pin before you slide it back into the door slot. For the top hinge, you will have to put the pin in from the bottom. Once it was in as far as I could push it, I used a hammer to seat it the rest of the way. Since there was no lock ring for the top of the pin, I’m hoping the knurling at the head of the hinge pin will hold it. The bottom hinge will go straight down so there should be no need to worry about it backing out.




Put the door back on and reconnect the electrical. That’s it...

[Ninergrad]

Sexy timez!

[5.9_Racer]

this is awesome!... my doors are doing the same thing... on top of popping and squeaking.... WD-40 and silicon spray only hold out for a week at most.

Sure beats having to replace the entire hinge (what the dealer tells you to do since they dont have the parts)

[Saleen4971]

http://thespeedfreaks.net/showthread.php?t=575

[5.2zjkid]

i thought i was alone . look at how much surface area the bushing has how thin the metal that the bushing goes through is . .... wonder why they fail ?

[Escape]

Excellent info...my old 94 ZJ does the same thing, drops about 1/4" on the drivers side.

Thanks,
Escape

[Saleen4971]

yeah its a very common problem on the ZJ's, especially now that we are all 10-15 years old

[RINGWRAITH]

got a set for the 9er!