Task Force Door Hinge Questions

[agnes the dog]

Hi,

I have a 59 and the doors are sagging, more so on the passenger side. I tightened the bolts (they were loose) and it didn't help much. I did notice that on the body side of the hinge, there is a hole in the center of the recessed section. It appears as though there may have been a bolt in there at one time. Unfortunately, none of my hinges have a bolt in that particular location, but it appears that this may be the cause most of the sagging problem I'm having. Can anyone advise if there should be a bolt that attaches the hinge to the body in that spot? To make the question easier, how many bolts should be holding each hinge to the body? Thanks in advance.

JJ

[Russell Ashley]

There should be three bolts on each hinge. On the bottom hinge there is a captive nut inside the front and the bolt comes into the hinge from under the fender. On the top hinge the captive nut is in the cab and there is a hole in the front of the hinge for a bolt. Sagging doors are usually caused by worn hinge pins but you can sometimes adjust the doors to close properly if the pins aren't worn too much. The hinges are adjustable where they attach to the door piller and also where the door bolts to the hinge. It usually takes a few tries before you get them adjusted properly. If you have too much slop in the hinges I would repair them before spending too much time trying to adjust the doors.

[spinned]

If you have too much slop in the hinges I would repair them before spending too much time trying to adjust the doors.

This might be a dumb question, but how do you repair a door hinge? If the pin gets sloppy doesn't that mean that the inside of the hinge is worn?

[OrrieG]

Here is a good tech article, its for AD truck, but TF are about the same.
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/do...ges/index.html

Once you have all the parts and tools, it takes about 15 miuntes per hinge. Usually only the lowers need repaired (at least that is how it was on my almost 300K miles truck). The kits are not expensive.

Basically you remove the pin, drill out the hinge to receive a larger bushing and install a new pin. Before you take off the hinge drill a small 1/8" pilot hole in the hinge at the jamb and at the door into the metal behind as reinstallation realignment starting points (this works for hood hinges too!). If you don't to completely remove the doors, support the door with a floor jack, etc. and remove the bottom, fix and reinstall, and repeat for the top.

Also check to make sure the lower jamb is not rotted away, that is a very common rust place and if it is bad will allow the door to drop and flex.

[Russell Ashley]

what Orrie said, except I don't think drilling a pilot hole now would be a good idea. It's doubtful that you will put the hinges back in the exact place that they are in now after you rebuild them. I usually just draw around the hinge on the piller with a pencil for a starting point. After you get the hinges done and doors adjusted you can drill the pilot hole then as an aid to re-assembly after taking it apart to paint. I personally never drill the holes as even on new paint you can still use the pencil mark and it will wipe off.

I didn't have to drill the holes in my hinges as the bushings that I got fit the original holes, but I guess if your hinges were so worn that the hole was "key-holed" it would be necessary. I got a kit off of EBay that supplied bushings and pins for all four hinges for less than $10.

[agnes the dog]

Great info guys! Thank you so much. I guess I have to figure out how to get some bolts in there. Unfortunately, there are no nuts anywhere in there. Do you suppose I will have to pull the fenders to get inside behind the top hinge? Any tricks to get around doing that would be greatly appreciated. I think I'm going to get the new bushings and do it all at the same time. I sincerely appreciate you guys sharing your experience and knowledge.

[OrrieG]

You can access the upper by pulling the kick panel. I think you can get to the bottom without removing the fender, might have to unbolt the bottom bolt to the cab a move it a little. Russ, I agree pencil works great IF you are not going to be blasting, priming, etc.

[Russell Ashley]

One more piece of advice: When you get the hinges rebuilt and start to put the door back on, remove the striker plate from the rear piller. Makes getting the door adjusted lots easier.