door hinges

my front passenger door got pushed forward and then dented in my front fender. i was checking out some other xj's and say a few others like that, is that a common problem? or am i just lucky. if it is common, is there an easy way to fix the door? TIA

Hinge failure on XJ's, especially 2-doors, is pretty common. If the hinge is tearing away where it is welded to the unibody, it can be rewelded, but to do it right requires that the door and fender come off. When the door gets far enough out of alignment, it will catch on the edge of the fender. Sometimes you can adjust the door on the hinge, or just bang it back toward the body, but it's likely that the only real fix will be to repair the weld. If the door check is broken, you can replace that, and it will help keep the door from opening out too far and denting things. The check mechanism is not strong enough for the weight of the 2-door if it is flung open, and will often even bend out the frame of the door where it is mounted. When this happens, the hinges reach their built-in limit stops, and flex out from the body, eventually fatiguing the welds.

There are also two repair/reinforcement packages Jeep has come out with for the door hinges on 84-97. Which one to use depends on how much weld seperation there is. If the seperation is less than 75% then you use part #5083060AA. If it is more than 75% you use part # 5083061AA. These require removing the door to fix.

What's in this package?

What does the repair package do? Any welding, ...?
Kai

No welding just hammering the hinge close to the body (if it pulled away), drilling and riveting/bolting in some reinforcement brackets. Depending on the kit used you would have to pull the door to install the more severe kit.

Repair kit not useful for me?

Since on my two door the weld itself is intakt, but the sheetmetal beneath it is breaking at the transition from the weld, these repair kits won't be of too much help. Right?
Kai

Kaivi, make sure your problem is not simply a broken door check, or broekn metal around the door check. If it fails the door will open too much and make contact as well.

XJguy

Matthew Currie said:

Hinge failure on XJ's, especially 2-doors, is pretty common. If the hinge is tearing away where it is welded to the unibody, it can be rewelded, but to do it right requires that the door and fender come off.

Click to expand...

I can see why the door should come off if the hinge will be re-welded. Why remove the fender? It looks like I could get a weld tourch in with the door off...

Thanks!