Taking the doors off my TJ

I had to get a piece of 2 x 4 and a rubber mallet and put the wood directly under the head of the bolt and bang the heck out of it, all the while alternating from the top and bottom bolt. It helps having someone move the door open and closed a bit while you do it and work it slowly out. Actually this was one of the hardest things to get off my jeep! Sure was stuck! However, once I got them off for the first time it was easy to get them on and off. I cleaned out the hinge holes with some WD-40 and a wooden dowel and a shop towel. If you have full doors be read because they are kinda heavy and watch out so you don't mark up your jeep with the hammer or board. Good Luck! Tqm

Yup, they can be a serious problem. The hard doors on my YJ were an absolute pain and the soft doors on my CJ are all bent to hell and required quite a bit of work to remove. I just used a center punch and rubber hammer and punched them out ...after using lots of liquid wrench. As said by Tqm ...if you can have someone wiggling them while doing it ...it helps alot! Maybe they are different on a TJ tho?

The first time that my door finally came off it flew off and I caught it with my foot in mid air. I ended up with my shoulder through the window area and the door on my right foot all the while trying to balance myself from rolling down my drive way. Wasn't a pretty sight, and thankfully no one seen my ninja like reflexes in action. LOL I almost killed myself! I can just see it now, my wife comes home and I'm laying strangled to death with my jeep door in a heap on the ground like a scribble. Tqm

Mine are a pain to get off as well. My technique is to put my left arm through the window and grab the bottom of the door with my right hand. (I'm right handed, if you're a lefty reverse that.) Then I pull up firmly with my right hand and walk back and forth, to swing the door through its range of motion. Mine hold on like anything until the last and then let go suddenly, so be careful or you'll end up doing sort of a caber toss with your door.

Dean

Place one hand as near as possible to directly below the hinge, and lift. Use the other hand to open and close the door.

Some like to place their arm through the window opening and lift. You can experiment with different methods and seeele on the one that works best for you.

the whole key is moving the door back & forth....open close open close while lifting up on it... of course not really "closing it" just back and forth while pulling up! then be careful... you dont want to go to fast and scratch anything on the way up!

Nice dress!

HarryS

I must be the only one that puts my leg under the door for upward force while pushing it back and forth... Course I've only got 4" of lift, so I can still touch the door with my leg.... n.

Which one is Dean?? (I like 'em all)

SWEET I got my doors off!

I guess just lots of force and work takes em right off.

I wanted to try what Tqm said but I diddnt have a 2x4 and i diddnt want to scratch the paint. So what I did was got a brick and put a towel over it. I alternated from one bolt to another and just slammed on the bolts quite a few times while the door was open, a little closed and way open, so it would work itself out. Then I gave them a few tugs and they came right off.

WD-40 does help a lot. A while back when trying to get them off I sprayed some on the drivers side door and that was the first one I took off. The pasenger one took a little longer so i remembered the wd-40 and a few whacks later, it slid off.

Once again, thanks guys!

-Brett

Here's the other thing: WD40 the crap out of the bolts you removed, because the paint that just came off them with your rachet will make them rust like a champ, and then they're REALLY a PITA to get off there next time.

$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.texas.rr.com>...

I diddnt even think about that, sounds like a good idea.

news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

What?? Did I miss something? You don't remove the bolts in the hinges to get the doors off, indeed those bolts should not be touched or even loosened or the door will shift out of alignment. Only the nut at the bottom of each door hinge should be removed when taking the doors off!

Jerry

I thought thats what he meant. I diddnt take out the bolt, just the nut on the bottom.

forget the WD-40 ...use white lithium grease :) Jeff

Sorry-that's what I meant :) I have a weird color Jeep that's hard to match (Medium Fern Green) and I never bothered touching up the nuts, so they rusted and were a bitch to get off the second, third, etc. times.

Matt

Uh...why did you ever put the nuts back on?

Yep, my TJ has been without it's nuts since 6/96. Poor Jeep. ;)

Jerry

Well, at least you named it Geezer instead of The Nutless Wonder...how did you come up with the name Geezer anyway?