StealthElephant

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/pro...products_id=33

my driver side door is terrible, it doesn't shut smooth, it sags and when i go to shut it gets "caught" and makes a really bad metal groaning to shut...i saw a product before that was like 150$ per door, and you had to cut off the old hinges/bolts etc, and compeltely redo it...any insight?

logikal6785

u should get down on ur knees like i did (in the street =P ) and poke around at the door joints, figure out if anything's severely bent. mine is bent, almost sheared off, and i'm getting the kit to replace lower pin and bushing and the upper hinge. will let u know how it turns out.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

The kit is made by Andy Z28 (aka 3rd Gen Solutions and now HKS (Hinge Kit Solutions)). Do a search on either my username or Andy Z28's and you'll have your answers. The hinge kit reduces the labor to repair the door hinge by half vs. the GM solution, which requires you to completely remove the door, drill out the old spot welds holding on the hinges and bolting new hinges on. This also requires you to un-wire the pdl's and pw's if you have those options. Andy's kits use a superior quality hinge pin and bushing material and don't require you to un-wire the door to repair it. Once you've ground off the swaged heads of the hinge pins and punched them out and removed the lower hinge pin, you just move the door back about 1" to expose the hinge bushing hole. The biggest hassle is sanding or grinding the hole to fit the new bushing. This is a very important and necessary step. The new hinge bushings are slightly larger then the OEM holes to allow for worn bushing holes. Sadly, the more worn your hinges are the easier it is to do this step. You do have to remove the inner door panel and support the door in some manner while doing the rework. But overall the process is half the work of the previous repair method and a lot more satisfying quality-wise.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions
(distributor of the HKS hinge kits)

StealthElephant

Well if the hinge itself is bent/sagging, I'm wondering how much just replacing the pins will do....the Gm way requires you to cut the hinge off in order to bolt the new one in, that maybe be more work but it sounds like it would be the only way to get a 100% OEM factory condition back to my doors....I'm just wondering what just replacing the pins does if the hinge is sagging....

I have no idea what sags....is it the bolt hole thats sags not the hinge itself? So the new pin/bushing eliminates the sag....if the hinge itself doesn't sag then no, the GM way is not worth it...

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

With so much weight of these long doors cantilevered off the hinges, yes the hinges can bend. If you replace the hinge pins and find the door latch is not aligned to the door striker bolt, I sell the tool to solve this problem as well.

E-Z Store Door Alignment Tool

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

That's much more professional looking than my crow bar method.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

It is really a cool tool. A lot easier to store and less expensive than the huge door alignment tool I bought from MAC Tools.

Lon