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Old 03-10-2006, 06:37 PM   #16
rlith
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Quote:
Originally Posted by rtreptow
Is this picture upside down or is the hinge pin in upside down. I'm getting ready to tackle this project this weekend and I was under the impression that the head of the pin is on the bottom side of the hinge....make sense?
The top pin goes in from the bottom, the bottom pin goes in from the top.
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Old 03-20-2006, 09:30 AM   #17
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Just finished the job.
My pins took a little more persuation to remove.
The top pin came out half way but a piece of the bushing remained snug around the pin. No way it would slide through the bottom hole. I used a dremmel to cut the bushing off ... no problem.
The bottom pin was a lot more work.
It wouldn't budge no matter how much banging I did.
I was worried I might break a weld on the hinge I was banging so hard.
I ended up cutting the pin in half.
The bottom half I just banged out and the top half I ended up grinding the head off and banging out from above downwards.

A tip though which really worked well was to use a nylon tiedown strap and ratchet. I opened the window and looped the strap from the top of the window to my garage door rail.
Supporting the door from above is way better than balancing on a pail as in the photos and also this way the whole procedure can be done with 1 person.
Also, I found removing the spring with a tool way better than a pry bar (I tried this in the past).
Removal takes about 2 mins and is easy, and I don't have a ratcheting box wrench. (which would have made the procedure easier still)
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Old 03-20-2006, 09:39 AM   #18
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Talking Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Welcome to the new door hinge pin club, You have passed the test my friend. Just remember to grease (SPRAY GREASE )the new pin everytime you change your oil and your new pin should last forever...
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Old 05-15-2006, 07:56 PM   #19
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Re: how to fix driver side window

I have a 1997 s-10 blazer and the driverside power window, doesn't roll up and down, it has two little plastic wheels at the bottom of the window in a metal track and the plastic wheels are broke so the two arms came off the track at the bottom, what do i buy to fix it and how do i do it?????????????
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Old 05-16-2006, 06:08 AM   #20
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Re: how to fix driver side window

Quote:
Originally Posted by lindley83
I have a 1997 s-10 blazer and the driverside power window, doesn't roll up and down, it has two little plastic wheels at the bottom of the window in a metal track and the plastic wheels are broke so the two arms came off the track at the bottom, what do i buy to fix it and how do i do it?????????????
You can get the bushings for the window track at the dealership. What does this have to do with door hinge pins though?
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Old 05-19-2006, 09:45 PM   #21
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

I changed bushings and pins last year in my passenger door.

Here are some tricks I found:

I made my own spring removal tool from some old steel, bolts, nuts, and washers. It's similar to the tool you'd buy.

Since the metal I used to compress the spring was too weak, it ended up bending til I got the spring completely out; and since it also took so long to compress the spring, I decided against using my tool to re-install the spring.

Please note: While the following methodology used to re-install the spring works, it is dangerous. Please read the posts by Rlith and Blazee below.

So, I put the spring in the vise and slowly compressed it and then using thin wire, I wrapped it along its length to keep it compressed once I removed it from the vise. I made several passes with the wire to make sure it would hold. I opened the vise, rotated the spring 180 degrees along its length, recompressed it, and wired it a second time so that the spring would be straight, not arched, for installation. Then, out to the Blazer. I probably held the spring in place with a needle nose pliers and used a wire cutter to snip one of the wires. With the 2nd wire still in place, I made sure the spring was lined up on the hinge and then cut the other wire. (I put ear muffs on cuz I had no idea how loud it would be when the spring expanded and hit the hinge - my hearing is damaged, so I don't take chances anymore.) Anyway, all that was left was to use the needle-nose pliers to pull the pieces of cut wire out of the spring. Oh yeah, I probably had safety glasses on (maybe just regular eye glasses at the very least) while compressing the spring and also when I cut the wire off it.

Since some of the wire bits were a pain to get out of the spring and because the wire I used was very strong, I decided the next time I did this I would only make one pass with each of the two wires.

Why didn't I buy a spring removal tool? Well, I guess I'm too cheap.

Instead of a socket set extension, I found a bolt laying around, maybe 1/2 inch diameter and 6" - 8" long, and ground a point on the threaded end. The pointed end fits into the small, shallow holes I drilled in each end of the new hinge pin.

The pointy bolt in the drilled pin reduced the number of times I had to re-center the bolt as I hammered the pin into place.

I drilled a hole in the other end of the pin as well, just in case I needed to remove it in the future.

I did remove the door myself, but I would recommend a second set of hands. I had the window fully opened so I could grab the frame. I put a floor jack and some wood beneath the end of the door to realign it (really bad bushings and an egg shaped hole in the hinge) and also to hold it in place.

Hope someone finds something in here useful.

Last edited by Cruize; 05-23-2006 at 12:18 PM.
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Old 05-20-2006, 06:51 AM   #22
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Well, compressing the spring the way you did is highly dangerous. (Believe me, I know). When compressing it in a vice like that so you can wrap wire around it, the spring can pop out and smack you in the face (again, hehehe, I know from experience). Easier to buy a 15 dollar tool, then to end up with a cut/bruise/lump on your forehead. I'd rather have the right tool (especially considering how cheap they are) then to sacrafice safety...That's just me though

As to the grinding the point down, that's ok, but with the socket extention, you don't really have to recenter it as it grips the hole head of the pin.

If you develop egging, the best way to take care of it, is to weld the hole up, grind it flat, then redrill.
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Old 05-20-2006, 07:05 AM   #23
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

I agree, it's always better to use the right tool and do the job safely, especially in a case like this when the right tool is so cheap.
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Old 05-21-2006, 09:27 AM   #24
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Quote:
Originally Posted by blazee
I agree, it's always better to use the right tool and do the job safely, especially in a case like this when the right tool is so cheap.
Yep...
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Old 07-02-2006, 01:47 PM   #25
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

FYI, you do end up ruining the 1/4 inch ratchet extension in the process...Also, When reinstalling one of the pins, I was hammering it back in place with the extenison and one of the NEW bushings cracked in half, good grief! This job can be easy if all goes well. I suggest purchasing an extra pin and bushing kit in case you run into the problems I did.
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Old 07-02-2006, 02:59 PM   #26
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Thumbs up Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Update: DOOR HINGE PIN TRICK

Here's a little time saver Trick I learned on the last set of door pins I did...

I was replacing a friends 99 blazer door hinge pins last weekend and I was pounding the shit out of the old pins for 5 minute's each, and they were not moving at all. I sprayed WD40 again on each of them and grabbed the center of the pin with a good pair of VICEGRIPS, I rotated each pin a little bit and broke them free of their rusty bond, Then I tapped on each one of them with a hammer lightly, and they fell right out with one hit...Enjoy
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Old 07-02-2006, 03:06 PM   #27
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Quote:
Originally Posted by rtreptow
FYI, you do end up ruining the 1/4 inch ratchet extension in the process...Also, When reinstalling one of the pins, I was hammering it back in place with the extenison and one of the NEW bushings cracked in half, good grief! This job can be easy if all goes well. I suggest purchasing an extra pin and bushing kit in case you run into the problems I did.

Are you sure you had the correct bushing on the correct side of the pin. as stated already, two different size bushings go on the door pin. Big one at the top, small one on the bottom. If you mix up the bushings they will crack when pound the pin back in...
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Old 07-02-2006, 09:03 PM   #28
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Yes, bushing was on the right side. I did one door with no problems a while back. This door gave me a little grief for whatever reason. Didn't help that it was 90 degrees and humid today!
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Old 07-03-2006, 05:41 AM   #29
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

Hmm, never broke a bushing tapping a pin back in...(also never damaged a 1/4" ratchet extension).... Did you clean the bushing hole prior to loading everything? Did you grease anything? Sounds like we're missing something here..
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Old 07-03-2006, 07:31 AM   #30
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Re: Door pin and bushing repair How-To!

My 1/4" ratchet extension is no doubt shot. The end is mushroomed from me hitting it with the hammer to try and knock the pin out. Maybe it's not a quality tool? I don't know what to say about the bushing getting cracked on the way in. I did clean the hole out for the bushing and sprayed it down with WD-40. I did not grease it. I did make the little tool with a nut and bolt to squeeze the bushing into place. That worked slick! And yes, the bushings were in the right hole. Don't know why it would have cracked pounding the pin through? The only thing I can think of is if the door wasn't propped up enough and the pin was going through at a little bit of an angle? Does that make sense? When I did the first door a few months back, all went smooth. Not this time.
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