Since I have the dreaded 'oblong hole' in my driver side hinges I was looking around at my options. I thought about getting a hinge off a donor truck but I figured it's a matter of time until that hinge wears out too.

I saw LMC makes a bolt on hinge kit and was wondering if anyone has used it and how good it works and how difficult it is to install

Thanks!

DT308/Anthony

 

The problem with the aftermarket hinges is that they tend to wear out more quickly (lower quality steel/construction). A good fix would be to remove the door completely and weld up the hole, then ream it back out to size. The weld metal will be harder than the rest of the surrounding metal and will resist wear longer. The key is getting it back into shape while maintaining alignment. This may require some die grinder work on the weld to restore most of the shape prior to reaming.

 

I was thinking of doing that, seeing as hole the hole is only screwed up on the door side of the hinge. The problem I have is how to get the hole exactly where it's supposed to be. I'm good with some things but that's not one of them. I figure a body shop would be ridiculously expensive so that's why I considered bolt on hinges.

Turns out this is more frustrating than I thought...

 

After looking and re-looking at the damn thing about 5,000 times I arrived at this possible reason:

On the left front bumper there's a small dent and the bumper is pushed in a little. I then looked at the left side fender and it's about a quarter inch back. I then looked at the plate (that's what I call it) that's attached to the chassis where the backside of the door hinge mount bolts to the fender and I THINK it's tweaked forward a bit. Probably enough to make the door not close ! (I'll take pics when I get it apart, if anyone might have the same prob)

The hinge pin hole is worn, but VERY little, and I can't see it throwing off the door that much that's why I looked further. Even with the new bushings & pins it did nothing.

When I pull off the fender and door next week I'll keep you all posted on my discovery. Hopefully a few good raps with a mini sledge will convince the plate to return to where it came

Does this sound feasible? I don't know a lot of body tech but it looks like it could be causing the prob...