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By Jim Wilk, Licensed Auto Body
Technician
Start:
The doors on this generation of Jeep Grand Cherokee
have hinges that are welded to the door and bolted to the
car. When these doors start to sag, some service advisors
tell owners that the entire welded-on hinge must be replaced.
However, replacement door pins and bushings
are available at many auto part stores.
A good mechanical technician can change these pins and
bushings and correct the sagging door.
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One of the first things
I always do is to put a layer of masking
tape along the edge of the door and fender, then
a layer of duct tape over that. This protects the
paint from chipping. If
you put duct tape on without masking tape
underneath. You will spend extra time cleaning
off the adhesive residue. |
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The torn metal in this door latch area is
a result of worn-out door hinge pins and
bushings.
Since the door had
sagged so badly, the door latch was lower than
the striker (the post or metal rod that the
latch grabs on to). Whenever the door was shut,
the striker pushed upward on the latch.
Eventually all this upward slamming caused some
tearing in the sheet metal that the latch was
attached to.
This door would not
close at all. The owner used a bungee cord to
keep the door from swinging open while driving. |
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One the better qualities of this Jeep Grand
Cherokee is that the engineers thought of the
repairman: The door can be removed by simply
removing four bolts and disconnecting the wiring
harness.
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I started disconnecting the wiring harness by separating the flexible
hose from the plastic retainer. Then by pressing
inward on the top and bottom retainer clips I
pulled out the plastic retainer. |
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| With a flat
screwdriver I pushed up on the edge of the red
harness lock.
Because of the tight space, I wasn't able to
disconnect the harness at this point. But this
preparation made the job easier when I unbolted
the door from the vehicle.
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When removing and replacing a heavy door I
always put a support platform underneath
and get an extra person to help. It's
best to have the support under the middle of the
door so the weight is balanced. |
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| I removed the
four bolts holding the door hinge to the hinge
pillar plate.
I made sure I had someone holding the door on
the platform. These doors can weight 100 pounds
or better.
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Now as I slid the door back I disconnected the
wire harness. |
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| View of hinge
pillar and mounting plates. |
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View of door hinges and new pins and bushing
kits, purchased at my local NAPA auto parts
store. |
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| I started
with the lower hinge first. I always do one
hinge at a time, not to get them mixed up and
for reference
purposes. Using a grinding wheel on a die grinder, I ground
flush the head of the lower part of the pin.
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The yellow arrow shows the die grinder and wheel
used, the shield was removed to get into the
small area. The red arrow shows the metal punch I used to
knock the pin out.
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| Using the
punch and hammer I knocked the pin through the
hinge. |
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The problem I had was that the punch wasn't long
enough. |
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| So I used a
pair of vise grips with a hammer to knock it out
the rest of the way. |
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View of the swivel part of the hinge (also
called the pivot plate) with the
two bushings that need to be replaced (red
arrows). |
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| I needed to
support the hinge and drive the bushing
downward. Working on a block of wood, I
clamped a socket in a pair of Vise-Grips to
support the hinge. With a flat-tipped punch and
a hammer I knocked the bushing out of the hinge. |
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View of the tools
used: Socket in the vise-grips, hammer, long punch. I
did this job on a block of wood because the bench vise
in our shop is broken. |
| I have found
that these brass bushings can crack easily, so
using a pair of flat vise-grips as a press
I carefully pressed the bushings in as much as
possible. |
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Using a hammer, I carefully tapped the bushing in
the rest of the way in. |
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| Then using a
drift pin or line up punch, I aligned the pivot
plate with the stationary part of the hinge. |
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I put the hinge pivot plate back into the
proper position. Now we are ready for the
hinge pin. |
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| With vise
grips holding the pin I tapped it into the hole. |
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The bottom wasn't lining up so I used the line
up tool again. |
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| Once the
pin was through the bushing and mounting holes,
I hammered the knurled part of the pin in flush.
I had to hammer the pin fairly hard. |
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View of lower hinge completed. I put a tack weld on the bottom of the pin,
which is my preference to be certain the pin
never comes out.
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Replacing The Upper Hinge Pin:
| Next I moved to
the top hinge which I found to be different.
With a die grinder and abrasive disc, I ground the head
of the pin flush.
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View of pin head end ground flush. There was a
head on the top and bottom of this
factory-installed hinge pin.
Because of the closeness of the top hinge to
a body curve I ground the bottom first.
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| I tapped the
pin until the top head came close to the body
curve. Then using a die grinder I cut the shaft
of the pin near the hinge (about where the
yellow line crosses the shaft). |
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Using the flat punch I tapped the pin through. |
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| View of upper
pin and hinge. Because the pin has been cut
shorter, it just dropped out in the middle of
the hinge. |
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2nd New Hinge Pin
Installed:
Following the same procedure as the first
hinge pin, I
installed the second new pin by knocking it upward from the
bottom end. The red
arrow shows tip of pin.
Note that on the lower hinge, the pin head
was oriented up. On this upper hinge, the pin's
head was oriented down.
I tack welded the tip, which is my preference'
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| View of old
pins and bushings. The red arrows point to the
areas of wear. Regular lubrication with white
lithium grease would have prevented this wear.
Then I replaced the door on the vehicle.
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Repairing The Damaged Sheet Metal
In The Latch Area:
The owner of this 1997 Jeep Cherokee
did not want to put a lot of money into this old car. So
the latch area was repaired to be functional and economical,
not necessarily attractive.
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With fender washers under the bolt heads I was able to secure the
latch in position. |
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| Then I tack-welded the washers in
place to give it some strength. If a
do-it-yourselfer needed to repair damaged sheet
metal like this, but did not have access to a
welder, the entire door could be taken to a
local welding shop where this weld could be done
for a very reasonable cost. |
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With new pins and bushings the door is back to the factory position
(i.e. it no longer sags). |
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| Finally, to
prevent rust I painted the latch area with black primer sealer
and then black spray paint. |
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More Info:
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Tools Used:
- 10mm Socket and
Ratchet
- Hammer
- Long Mechanic's
Punch
- 3/4" Socket
- Small Flat
Screwdriver
- Die Grinder,
Grinding and Cut-off Disc
- Vise Grip Pliers
- MIG Welder
(optional)
- Milk Crate and
Blocks of Wood
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Materials Used:
- Door Pin with 2
Bushings (2 sets)
- Lubricating Oil
- Masking Tape
- Duct Tape
- Fender Washers
- Primer/Sealer
- Spray Paint
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