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Now both my door hinges are broken!

tonexj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
windsor, ca
so i bought a 94' xj for really cheap didnt notice on the driverside front door the upper hinge that is epoxy'd or whatever'd (definitley not welded) had come completely unattached from the jeep. it looks like it was attempted to be repaired by an arc welder and it looks horrible. now the bottom hinge from all the stress has broken apart at the ears that hold onto the center pin. my doors hanging on now by the striker and the little thing that keeps it open when u open it. any ideas on where to get new hinges and is it ok to weld here or is it too thin?

94jeep022.jpg
 
you can probably reuse the hinges you have if you grind off all the weld/epoxy/whatever is on there. the hinges can be rewelded (had it done on my 95 xj) but you might need to cut out a portion of that jam and weld in some decent metal. i had mine rewelded at a body shop for $250, but probably could have had a welder do it for less. i just wanted to make sure it was fixed right and lined up properly.
 
Jeep has a repair/ reinforcement kit available, it is a known problem for the hinge to break. I am sure a search for hinge will bring it up, don't know about pricing.
 
Hmm.. Remove the door completely. Remove fender and inner splashguards. Grind away any remaining weld/glue/crap. Clean up old hinges of any remaining welds/glue/crap. Weasel some nice 1/8 or 1/4 steel in the old hole area and weld to original metal. Grind to finish and re-attach original hinges to new metal. Clean and paint. Re-hang door and adjust.

Looks like fun!
 
Been there, done that. Looks as if whoever did it first did not get good penetration, probably trying to weld with the door and fender still on.

Do as dj99 suggests if at all possible. Get a piece of reinforcement behind the hole, even if you can only tack it, and then weld again, making sure you get a good deep, well formed weld. MIG works well for this.

The original attachment, for reasons I've never understood, is welded only on top, bottom and front edge, leaving the rear edge open. It tears out from rear forward, of course. Last time I did this, after I had the hinge well placed and welded in, I put a piece of 3/16 or so rod into the rear edge, welded over it, to provide a wide bridge of reinforcement. It never flexed again.

Especially if this is a 2-door, you'll find that the hinges are always stressed, not just by the weight of the door, but because when you open the door, it swings too far out. The door check begins to pull out on the frame of the door, and make it worse. The hinges themselves have a stop built in, and when the door passes the usual check point and hits the stop in the hinge, it pries the hinge right out of the vehicle frame like a sardine can key. Bad design there.

Once you have the hinge rewelded, you can help prevent further problems by making sure that the door itself is not distorted where the check bolts in, and if you're handy at welding, weld the hole in the end of the check shut, and redrill it about !/4 inch further back. Grind to fit and reinstall. The door will not open quite so wide now, and will stop swinging before the hinges hit their limits. You can also grind out the limits on the hinges a little.
 
thread necromancy!

Check Letterman's Reversing Lambo Doors and Jes' Lambo Doors thread.
 
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