97 ZJ Door hinge repair suggestions

The driver's side lower door hinge is separating from the door. The sheet metal is torn. This is clearly visible.

Does anyone have any sage advice? My plan is to pull the door, hammer the hinge back into roughly the correct location, and weld it, inspect the uppe r for similar problems and weld it if indicated, then put the door back. A ny other options that might be better?

Oh, and while I've got the door off I'm going to try to get those crummy li ttle toothed wheel thingies that bear against on the "hold-open" spring to turn again--they're rather solidly frozen which I suspect was a contributin g factor to the breakage. Any advice on how to get them turning beyond tha n Kroil, a pipe wrench, and much profanity?

Reply to
J. Clarke
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If it's any thing like other welded on hinges.. If you have to pull the hinge off, drill a couple location holes then use a suitable screw or rod as a guide so they go back exactly where they came from. This helps a lot in getting the door lined up.

BFH

Actually, check to see if a socket will fit over them. Mine bound up a bit but some PB Blaster and a steel drift got them turning again. Now I just put a blob of axle grease on them every so often.

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wow.

So far my 93 is holding up. Not looking forward to having to mess with hinges. :/

Reply to
DougW

Good thought on the rods.

Thanks for that link. I was looking for something like that and didn't find it.

Related minor annoyance, the inside lights wouldn't turn off on the way home--I could jiggle the door so they turned off for a few seconds but the first bump has them back on. Finally pulled the fuse.

And the door closes a lot easier from outside than in--with the bottom hinge busted you have to put some weight on it to get it to close.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Some XJs, like my 89, had the hinges welded on only 3 sides and the side with the most load (door side) during operation had ... body putty. Is that how your ZJ is?

I used a bit extension (usually used with wood spade bits) to drill thru my hinge and door (5/16") jamb close to the bend then used a 3/8" hex-head self tap screw (an old body panel screw from a Chevy) about 2" long after reaming the hinge out to 7/16".

This pulled the hinge tight enough for well over a year until I could get my welder out to the car.

Be sure to disconnect your battery, protect flammables inside the Jeep from sparks, and have a fire extinguisher handy.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

Well, it's fixed. How long it will stay fixed I have no idea but at least I can get to work tomorrow (unless I bust it again today ).

If I understand correctly the XJ is arranged a bit differently from the ZJ-

-on the ZJ the hinge frame is welded to the door itself, not the body, and bolted to the body. What broke was the sheet metal of the door, so there's nothing behind it to put a screw or bolt into, otherwise I agree that that 's the easy fix.

Anyway, I welded everything I could reach and some things I'm not sure I re ached, put the door back on, and it works better than it has in years.

People tend to sneer at my little Harbor Freight 110v stick welder but today it p aid for itself.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Really the only difference between those and the $$$ ones is how often and long you plan on running them. I've make booger welds with a couple of car batteries. Did what it needed to do.

Reply to
DougW

And in the can't win for losing department. Went to run an errand and the window on that door is busted out from the inside. Glass on the driveway, not inside, at least not until I touched it and the rest of it fell apart.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Well, it's fixed. How long it will stay fixed I have no idea but at least I can get to work tomorrow (unless I bust it again today ).

If I understand correctly the XJ is arranged a bit differently from the ZJ--on the ZJ the hinge frame is welded to the door itself, not the body, and bolted to the body. What broke was the sheet metal of the door, so there's nothing behind it to put a screw or bolt into, otherwise I agree that that's the easy fix.

Anyway, I welded everything I could reach and some things I'm not sure I reached, put the door back on, and it works better than it has in years.

People tend to sneer at my little Harbor Freight 110v stick welder but today it paid for itself.

I've got one of those and one of their 110 flux core wire welders.

I like them because they're light and portable.

If I have to weld heavier stuff I drag out my brother's big Miller 220V AC stick welder.

A buzz box on steroids!!!

Yes, XJ's have the weld on the door frame post and bolt to the door but this summer you might want to strip the door down and rosette weld a length of

3/16 - 1/4" plate inside then burn thru the door skin to weld to the plate.
Reply to
Budd Cochran

But it was all for the best. I ended up getting a new windshield out of the deal (three cheers for full glass) and I didn't realize that I needed one--I thought my eyes were shot.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Glad to hear that. Got to get my windshield replaced one of these days. It's been peppered with road rash for .. well .. 21 years. :)

Reply to
DougW

Well, it let go again yesterday while I was running around chasing the cool ing issue. Plan for today was to fix it right, clean it down to bare metal , weld it up, grind the welds down and inspect, touch up as needed, and rei nforce with angle stock. Got it down to bare metal and it started to snow, so tacked it together as best I could and put it back. If it lasts until weekend after next I'm happy.

Lesson learned--if the bottom hinge is letting go, go ahead and bust it off and the door works a lot better.

Reply to
J. Clarke

oling issue. Plan for today was to fix it right, clean it down to bare met al, weld it up, grind the welds down and inspect, touch up as needed, and r einforce with angle stock. Got it down to bare metal and it started to sno w, so tacked it together as best I could and put it back. If it lasts unti l weekend after next I'm happy.

ff and the door works a lot better.

Another lesson. The door around the latch can get banged up enough that th e switch for the interior lights and alarm doesn't make contact. A felt fu rniture glider from Home Depot built it up enough that it works fine now.

Reply to
J. Clarke

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