Door Hinge Spring

[RodnRudy]

Have any of you fellas replaced the door hinge spring while still on the truck? I wonder if one can access the hinge with the front fender removed. I've watched a couple of you tube videos but the hinge was removed in them. I'm planning on removing the front sheet metal to clean up the engine compartment anyway.

[truckin 79]

Originally Posted by Justins76 View Post
I changed just the S shaped spring with the door still on the truck. Open the door all the way and put the S spring into the top slot first, with it slid as far down as it will go. Then make sure its lined up in the middle slot in the hinge. Then, using the door, start to close it slightly. You will see where the stock "little wheels" will push on the bottom part of the S spring. Close the door enough to where the S spring is lined up with the bottom slot. Use a small hammer and lightly tap it till it seats in the bottom slot.

I know this is old but just wanted to say this was a great thread. I installed S clip on drivers door by using this method. I used a hybrid of ureckme and justins76 method. I just put spring in and then used a big pry bar until I could close door and the first little wheel pushed into spring. I no longer needed the pry bar after that just a small hammer. I pushed door closed just a little more and the bottom of S spring hammered into place effortlessly.

[TKCR]

Just make sure you don’t put it on upside down, lol. I say that because I was going to just change my pins and bushings last year. I ended up changing the entire hinges because they were bent. And low and behold, after changing them, I think I figured out why. My S springs were installed upside down. No wonder I had issues with my doors. You can also see, whoever did these hinges, even left the inner bolt out.
But all good now!

[RodnRudy]

Thanks for the guidance guys. I'll get a couple of springs ordered and give it shot.

[fordguy40]

I installed mine with the doors off, but fenders in place. Just needed a long flathead and hammer. A jack-mounted door dolly also helps make this a one-man operation.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by RodnRudy

Thanks for the guidance guys. I'll get a couple of springs ordered and give it shot.

My personal opinion, change everything. I’m glad I did. Chances are the pins & bushings are bad too. You go to all this trouble, and then something else needs done at a later date. That’s what mine started out as, just replacing pins & bushings. But then I noticed the hinges were bent, which led to seeing that the
S Springs had been installed upside down. So all of it was taken care of at once. Just some minor adjustments, along with new door strikers, and the doors close perfectly now. No more slamming 3-4 times before it would finally close.