- Location
- Roanoke VA
I'm no sheet metal mechanic, thats my disclaimer! But I just picked this 94 Country up and the drivers door was falling off. I had to fix it. Here is my write up;
So it started today! I attacked the drivers door that was about to fall off.
Here is the problem;
The XJ/MJ drivers door top hinge is know to just come loose from the welds. Part of that is because Jeep had the bright idea to weld 1/4" steel to two layers of 12ga sheet metal...Duh!
So it pulls loose due to use, people hanging on the doors etc. Mine had been welded back a few times as evident by the bubble gum around the hinge
To get to the hinge to make repairs you need to remove the fender flare, inner fender, front header panel and then the fender. Takes about an hour
So my plan was to make a brace to support the weight of the door. I simply found some stock, cut it, drilled it, tapped it to 5/16"x24 and also welded on some 5/16"x24 nuts.
So I drilled the hinge and panel to match my brace
So, how do I get the brace up into the hole? Time to go fishing! Fish a wire from the top hole down to the large hole where the rubber bellows comes out of the jamb, you will have to peel the bellows out of the hole but its easy to get back in. The attach the wire to the top hole of the brace and form it into a "T" so you can pull the brace into place. This goes easy but you do have to deal with the door pin wire harness and fish it around that. Its tight in there but it will make the trip.
After you get the brace into place, start the grade 8 5/16"x24 bolts through the holes and tighten the hing back into its original position.
After that, seal it all up! I used Lord Fuser single stage seam sealer. It seals well, is paintable and its cheap!
I will pick up some duplicolor touch up spray tomorrow and paint the area with it so it will blend in.
So the whole project took me 4 hours start to finish, including removing the body panels. I spent a total of $6.82 on some grade 8 hardware and I will never have to deal with it again.
So it started today! I attacked the drivers door that was about to fall off.
Here is the problem;
The XJ/MJ drivers door top hinge is know to just come loose from the welds. Part of that is because Jeep had the bright idea to weld 1/4" steel to two layers of 12ga sheet metal...Duh!
So it pulls loose due to use, people hanging on the doors etc. Mine had been welded back a few times as evident by the bubble gum around the hinge
To get to the hinge to make repairs you need to remove the fender flare, inner fender, front header panel and then the fender. Takes about an hour
So my plan was to make a brace to support the weight of the door. I simply found some stock, cut it, drilled it, tapped it to 5/16"x24 and also welded on some 5/16"x24 nuts.
So I drilled the hinge and panel to match my brace
So, how do I get the brace up into the hole? Time to go fishing! Fish a wire from the top hole down to the large hole where the rubber bellows comes out of the jamb, you will have to peel the bellows out of the hole but its easy to get back in. The attach the wire to the top hole of the brace and form it into a "T" so you can pull the brace into place. This goes easy but you do have to deal with the door pin wire harness and fish it around that. Its tight in there but it will make the trip.
After you get the brace into place, start the grade 8 5/16"x24 bolts through the holes and tighten the hing back into its original position.
After that, seal it all up! I used Lord Fuser single stage seam sealer. It seals well, is paintable and its cheap!
I will pick up some duplicolor touch up spray tomorrow and paint the area with it so it will blend in.
So the whole project took me 4 hours start to finish, including removing the body panels. I spent a total of $6.82 on some grade 8 hardware and I will never have to deal with it again.
in the middle of typing this since finding this thread saved me $$.
