I bought the replacement door pins and bushings for the driver's side, from a GM dealer. I replaced the bushings and put the hinge together but it still had a lot of movement.

If you look at the photos, it seems like there the diameter of the pins is less than the size of the holes where they pass through the part of the hinge that is welded to the door.

Is that common? Is that from wear? Do they make oversize bushings and pins that will fit snug? Also, it seems like the replacement pin has a tapered end but the old pin does not.... however the pin on the passenger side IS tapered. Not sure if it makes a difference. Also, the dealer sold me 4ea of the tapered pins. Are these a replacement for the upper hinge pins as well?

 

I had this problem, too.. ended up replacing the door as that was the overall cheapest option I found. Hopefully some has a better option for you.

 

First those are the wrong pins. Those are for a S10 I believe. That clip on them will be riding in the bushing, that won't work. Second it's possible that the holes in the hinge on the door are wallered (sp) out. You should be able to weld those up and drill them back out. They should be nearly a press fit. I'd get some from Top Down Solutions, Most GM dealers don't have the pins and bushings for these doors, sounds like you got a parts man who didn't do his research. Welding the hinges isn't to difficult if you try it yourself. Good luck with it, let us know what you did.

 

Oops, my bad. Those may be the right pins. Check that they fit the bushings and that the bushings aren't loose in the hinge. The ones that I used look the same but dimensions may be different. There's a lot of different pins and bushings and they sometimes get mixed up on the shelf. TDS still is the way to go as they have a kit for the upper hinge as well.

 

How do you fit a drill in there? The distance between the top of the hinge and bottom is way too tight and the curve of the door covers it from the bottom. Also, the hole isn't at 90 degrees to the hinge, its angled.

 

Yeah, I think it's the right pin for the lower hinge anyways. The bushings fit fine and the pins fit the bushings. I'm not sure the TDS kit will solve my problem. Seems like I either need to replace the hinge or try and find a wider pin that fits snug.

I wonder why GM didn't use bushings for both parts of the hinge.

 

Angle head drill or reamer, either one. Off the car of course. It's been a while since I've had to do this to any hinges so memory ain't too good. I've had to do more S10's than third gens.

When you say the bushings fit fine, are they a very snug fit in the hinge? Usually they shouldn't just fall out. The pin is meant to be stationary in the hinge half without bushings. Also if the pin isn't pushed all the way down that could cause some movement. The top of the pin has splines to prevent it from turning in that half of the hinge. It could be several things wrong including the upper hinge worn. There is a procedure for
replacing the hinges on the door. GM used to have a kit, not sure if they still do. Probably not but it was just a bolt on replacement hinge with bolts, template, and threaded plate for inside the door.

After looking at the pics again, yeah the bottom hole is definately loose. You may want to drill that one out and put a bushing in it. I've seen it done, may not be GM correct but should tighten the door up. Good luck.

 

I checked and the dealer no longer carries the bolt-on replacement kit.

American Truck Classics sells oversize pins for vintage GM trucks. They sell a pin that's 11/32... slightly wider than the stock pin. But I'm not sure if that's enough. Actually, their pin looks a lot like the one that I took out........

I think my options are:

1. Weld-up the hole and re-tap.
2. Tack-weld the pin to the hinge to keep it from moving.
3. Drill-out the hole and install a bushing. Might weaken the hinge though.

I'm leaning toward option 2. Any thoughts?

 

Here's were I bought my pins and spring removal tool. = http://www.top-downsolutions.com/bod...149ab209b0751c Its really the only place to do it because they are made especially for this exact application/problem.The man that runs that site is named "Lon" at "Top Down Solution" is dedicated to help fix problems like this with "top" quality parts and excellent customer relations/etc. Give them a call.Here's the kit I bought = http://www.top-downsolutions.com/doo...able-p-38.html
By the way if you stack your photos instead of side by side you will not stretch the page this way.Just place the cursor on the right hand bottom corner of the first photo and hit "Enter" the cursor will drop below and to the bottom of the left hand corner of the first photo then paste your next photo there. That stacks them and leaves the page the way it should be. Hope that helps some.

 

I honestly don't suggest the weld and drill unless you verify before hand that you can fit a drill with the proper bit size in there. I was unable to and ruined my door hinge trying...

 

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/ca...werpinkit.aspx

 

He already has that, the problem is the hinge, not the kit

 

Drill/ream out and use the same type bushings on those holes. Then grind them down flush with the hinge bracket on the inside. Done

 

His problem is the lowest hole which is stationary to the pin. When he called (assuming that he was the customer that called for suggestions) I gave him two solutions. I'll mention three here.

First solution: Mix some JB Weld and smear it in the hole, then install the the pin.

Solution two: Install the pin, then tack-weld it in place.

With either of these two solutions you will need to grind off the end of the lower pin before attempting to remove it the next time you need to do a repair.

Third solution: Install the pin, then shove a hex nut onto the end of the tapered pin. It will fit snug. Then weld the hax nut to the hinge. This solution will allow you to remove the hinge as normal next time you need to do a repair. I also use a pin that is slightly longer than the standard one, so it enters fully into the hex nut. I have had to use all 3 of these solutions on a customers car. I did inform the customer that they would need to remember to grind off the JB Weld or tack weld before attempting to remove the pin or you'll ruin the lower hinge. The hex nut solution is preferable since you can remove the pin as normal, so no potential damage to the hinge. Also the hex nut doesn't show unless you get on your hands and knees to look.

Lon Salgren

 

Or do a small bead weld around the bottom of the hole as close to the center as possible and it should close the hole a bit. Talking a couple hundreds to thousands of an inch but that may be all you need. Then you wont need to drill anything out.