Dorman replacement hinges for 95 2 door

[dkknaebel]

Ok, it's time to address my hinges. Both doors sag noticeably and we are thinking of replacing the hinges. Has anyone done this before? Does the dash need to come down in order to secure the new hinges? What about on the passenger side with all of the a/c stuff there? Is it straightforward or a complete and total pain in the balls? I'd love for my door to close easily and properly. I tried to track down instructions from Dorman but I can't find them. Any help is greatly appreciated. Steadily trying to turn FrankenBetty from a shitbox into less of a shitbox.

 

[OR VietVet]

Are the hinges bad or do you just need new hinge pins and bushings?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...61345,body,door+hinge+pin+&+bushing+kit,10711

 

[dkknaebel]

Are the hinges bad or do you just need new hinge pins and bushings?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...61345,body,door+hinge+pin+&+bushing+kit,10711

Already did bushings and pins. Did not solve the issue.

 

[OR VietVet]

Well, that wasn't mentioned in the OP. On to the next thing now. Look at the you tube videos for the hinge replacement.

 

[east302]

I would try to adjust the striker first. There isn’t a lot of movement in it, but break it loose and see if it helps to move it. Don’t remove it, the backing plate may not be captive and may fall down inside. On my extended cab truck, the plate can be retrieved by pulling the back trim pocket out. I haven’t tried it on my two-door Tahoe so I don’t know if it is held in place in there or not.

And since you asked about the hinges, below is GM’s procedure. As suggested earlier, check YouTube as there are probably videos out there on it.

Sometimes, if the worn bushings have been in too long, the hole in the hinge can get wallowed (if that makes any sense) out and allow the pin to shift. In theory, you could weld the hole closed and drill it back out, but that sounds like a nightmare to access or accurately drill.

Last, the old way to “realign” a door was to use a pry bar on the latch with the door nearly closed (they sell a tool for this) or place a jack under the door and bend the hinges to work. I wouldn’t do it, but imagine that a lot of body shops still do it.

 

[dkknaebel]

East- Thanks for the diagrams. I haven't really been able to track down a video for the Dorman installation and like most stuff on FrankenBetty, it will probably be the biggest pain in the ass three day job ever. Nothing ever goes right on this thing. We did try to adjust the striker, it didn't help. My husband said if there was a bigger bushing to put in the hinge, that would probably solve my issue because there is a lot of play in the door, it is definitely wallowed out. It doesn't leak but at the same time, it's embarrassing to go shut the door and have it miss the striker and bounce back at you. I'll send him these diagrams and see if he wants to get involved with it or if we want to do the door alignment tool and jack. Quick question, do you have the Chilton service manual for these OBS or somewhere you are getting these great diagrams? I've tried to find a hardback edition of a Chilton and all that comes up is Haynes which is useless unless you need torque specs.

 

[east302]

Someone scanned PDFs of a lot of the GM service manuals and put them here...


https://www.gmt400.com/threads/88-95-service-manuals.43575/

What I posted is from the 98 manual. The content in the manuals seems to have improved with each subsequent model year.

Alldatadiy.com is another alternative. It’s about $30/yr for a subscription. For my 98, at least, it looks to be straight from the factory manual.

Paper copies of the manual (published by Helm) could probably be found on eBay.

If you know a welder, someone once said they put a small stitch inside part of the hinge hole to make it smaller - kind of along the lines of the larger bushing that you mentioned.

 

[dkknaebel]

East- Thanks for the info! Going to try door alignment tool (thanks Rock Auto) and new strikers. Worst case it doesn't work and then we get into hinges.

 

[Squirrelsmith]

Im going to use a reamer on my wallowed out bushing holes and makes new oversized bushing to fit. Then once all my bushings are in tight try the pry bar tool

 

[OR VietVet]

So the bushings are so bad that it has rubbed through the bushing and into the hinge metal and either elongated the hole or over sized it? Now that is bad.