There is likely no part of our Mopar that gets used more often than the doors, and especially the driver's door. Each time the door is used, whether to retrieve a cell phone or go for a drive, the weight of the door is transferred to the door hinge. Since most of our cars have doors containing enough steel to build three Kias, supporting all that weight over time causes the door hinge to wear, and the door to sag. Eventually this leads to latch misalignment, and the door must be slammed to latch, or may not latch at all. Fortunately there's an easy way to detect door hinge wear, and the repairs aren't too difficult either.
Most Mopar doors are held in place at the forward end with an upper and lower door hinge. The upper hinge of most cars is prone to wear the most, but after the upper hinge wears enough the lower hinge will begin to wear as well. In extreme cases of door hinge wear, the symptoms are apparent, as the door will be hard to shut and difficult to latch. If lifting up on the door handle makes shutting and latching the door easier, then the upper hinge or possibly both hinges are likely worn. The real way to tell is to open the door, then lift up on the outside handle or rear of the door. If you feel more than just a barely detectable amount of play, then the door hinges should be inspected and repaired.
Whether repairing the hinges...
Whether repairing the hinges or replacing them, the door needs to be removed from the car. The hinges are then unbolted from inside the car behind the kick panel area, and on some models, also inside the door jamb area.
The good news is that door hinges are fairly easy to repair or replace, but require the removal of the door, so extra care should be taken, and an additional pair of hands is a must to prevent paint chips or scratches. Once the doors are unbolted from the hinges, the hinge is accessible and can be either repaired on the car by drilling and installing oversize bushings and new pin, or removed to facilitate the repair. We recommend removing the hinge, allowing the use of a vise to aid repairs. We'll show you this method on an A-Body door hinge. In extreme cases, the hinge may be worn beyond repair, broken, or too rusty to reuse, and must be replaced.
Since our '71 Road Runner was going in for paint, and was in bad need of new door hinges, we decided to repair them. Upon inspection, our hinges were too far gone to fix, missing all of the detent hardware that keeps the door from swinging freely. While searching the scrap yards is one option to locate replacement hinges, finding a good used door hinge is pretty unlikely, so we looked to other sources. Fortunately, YearOne stocks hinges for most Mopars that are completely rebuilt to new specifications. Since all of our hinges were shot, our car was a good candidate for these rebuilt hinges, so we replaced them all, resulting in excellent door alignment and operation. Follow along, and we'll show you how to repair your door hinges, or replace them like we did with remanufactured units from YearOne.
With the hinge in a vise,...
With the hinge in a vise, the old pin can be driven out of the two-piece hinge.
If your hinges are really...
If your hinges are really shot like the ones on our '71 Road Runner, replacement is the only option.....
....We found a complete set...
....We found a complete set of rebuilt hinges for our car at YearOne, and installed them while our car was at the body shop.
The hinge is now drilled for...
The hinge is now drilled for the bushings and can be reassembled with the new pin. Remember that the new bushings will go in the inner hinge that bolts to the car's frame, which is the part of the hinge that is most prone to wear.
With the hinges repaired or...
With the hinges repaired or replaced, the door will latch more easily and body lines will line up properly. The door and window seals will also be more effective with the door correctly positioned in the frame.
Consisting of bushings and...
Consisting of bushings and a new hinge pin, hinge repair kits are available from a variety of sources. We got lucky and found this kit in the "Help" section at the local auto parts store.