Door hinge pins

[triracer67]

Has anyone had success replacing the door hinge pins, or am I'm better off getting the Door Hinge Rebuild kit (https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Door_hinge_rebuild_kit/Bronco_Door_Parts_66-67)

Also, is it possible to install kit without removing the front door jam hinge? I really don't want to break/drill off the hinges, but, I can unbolt the back hinge and remove the door. Thoughts? I only need to do drivers door, and really just top hinge is loose.

 

[ericwilkison]

I tried replacing the pins on my hinges and gave up after several hours. Of the four hinges I was able to get one pin to move. The other three were rusted in place and not budging. My next option was to try to drill them out. That's when I decided to just buy new ones. From looking at old posts some have been able to rebuild them, but most, like me, were not able to get the old pins out.

I'd say pull the hinges off and try removing the pins. If yours come out you can try the repair kit. If not plan to buy new ones.

I don't think you'll be able to get the pins out while still on the truck. You'll most likely have to remove them.

Here is a big tip. For each hinge get one bolt removed from the pillar side first then screw a longer bolt with the head cut off in it's place. Only then take the other two bolts out. There is a plate inside the pillar that the hinges bolt to. The plate is supposed to be held roughly in place by a cage inside the pillar. Unfortunatly the cage commonly rusts out. If so, the plate drops to the bottom of the pillar and there is no way to get it back in place. Now you have to pull the fender off and start cutting into the piller to fix it. Do not ask how I gained this important piece of information.

 

[jperry1290]

I recently did this and it was major pain. I had to soak the entire hinge in PB Blaster and used a torch to get the hinges red hot. I then used a big hammer to knock the pins out. The hinges got pretty beat up in this process. I also second the backing plate cage rusting our and having the plate fall inside. What should be an easy swap wound up being a big ordeal.

 

[.94 OR]

When I rebuilt my Bronco I spent the money for Tom's rebuilt hinges. Boy was I torqued after a couple thousand miles when the drivers door sagged and rubbed the paint off in my door jam. I then had to replace the pin on the upper hinge on my freshly painted rig. It was not easy and I would think it would be worse on old factory rusted hinges.

I'm still bitter about that 25 years later because I get to look at it every time I open the drivers door. Good luck.

 

[jcasey12]

I put new pins in my '70 but went the cheap way. I removed the hinges, one at a time, used a hammer and punch to drive the pins out. Went to Napa and bought new pins that are 1/16 in. larger diameter Drilled out the hinge to fit the new pins, lubricated the pins and drove them into the hinge, and reinstalled the hinge. Worked fine and really tightened things up and took care of the sagging door problem. I guess I was lucky that it worked well after reading the above comments.

 

[jcasey12]

triracer67

I tried to respond directly to you via pm, but don't think it worked. I don't know the size of the pins I used, but take an old pin, or even the hinge itself to a parts store and they can measure and tell you what you need. That's what I did. Napa had a variety of pins of different sizes.

 

[triracer67]

Update, with more questions. I have a extra set of hinges that I’m practicing on before I remove the hinges on Bronco. I purchased a model t door pin press for $20 at hot rod shop. I cut the pins with hacksaw at the spaces in the hinge, removed center hinge piece, and used press to push out top and bottom pin, the pins came out pretty easy. I’m going to Napa tomorrow to get larger pins. My next question has to do with hinge pin, and looseness with hinge. The hinge pin was very loose in the center section, it seems that way on spare hinges, is that correct?

 

[Jfryjfry]

i took my time and made a jig for my drill press and it still sucked. It wasn’t hard but didn’t work great so I ended up doing my drivers side twice.
Unless you have a mill and set it up properly, expect it to still have some play.
I think WH and others would do good by having the bushings properly sized to the pins instead of having people drill them out. I would have gladly paid more for this service. And if I do it again, I would pay a competent machine shop to do it properly.

 

[hunter1]

Door hinge

I actually just done this last week to all four hinges for my 77. I was able to use a hammer to break the pin loose from the hinge and a drift to drive it out. All of this was done with the hinges off and driving against the edge of the vise. I then used a 5/16” drill to open up the holes in both hinge pieces. It drills easy with a sharp bit. I then used 5/16” drill rod, .3125 to make the pins. I tapered the bottom and again drove them in against the vise for support. Came out super tight with zero play.

 

[hunter1]

On a side note, look at the inner hinge piece. The hole was drilled off center from the factory. I read somewhere that Ford May have done this to help align doors. Maybe a bucket full of assembled hinges with varying degrees of off center sitting next to the door fitters?

 

[blubuckaroo]

I bought pins to do that when I painted the car. The old ones weren't loose, but I thought they should be replaced because of their age.
No amount of pounding would budge them. I gave up and threw the new ones into the spare parts box.

 

[ransil]

I used a press to remove the pins in a set I did .

 

[JefeAZ]

I had the same struggle with new pins not working. Wound up using clevis pins and have had no issues since installing them a year ago: Clevis Pins

 

[unimogger]

Even with new pins and bushings, the old hinges are never going to be factory fresh. When you drill for the bushings, or oversize pins, your drill bit is going to center on the wallowed out oval hole; even though you will have a tight fitting pin or bushing the center of the holes won't be where it was originally.
I removed my hinges and installed the bushing set with new pins. Having a press and a mill made the job pretty easy and the results are decent. I would not expect good results trying to do it on the truck.