Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Changing drivers door upper hinge. First i get the door off, okay that was easy enough. Hmmm yep theres no way im gonna get to that hinge, fender has to come off. Now ive got to ask, whos smart idea was it to use screws at the front of the fender to hold it on. I think ive got everything else off the bloody thing, cept those 2 screws, thats gonna be a bit of a mission with the bullbar on it, the bullbar might have to come off. Im not sure, but my sidestep might have to come off to to allow for me to pull the fender out.

Now i know why so many mq's i looked at had sagging doors
Either that or im going around this totally the wrong way

easy way to fix it, and do this at your own risk,


first make sure there is no rust or fractures in the steel around the door hinges or where the hinges attach to the body,

open door fully grab the end and lift and i mean lift, give it some

if the sag is minor you'll bend the door mounts enough to fix the problem if its really bad it may close better anyway not closing and hitting the door striker etc...... this is the same way panel beaters will do it if they can't quite get that door to sit properly

how long is that method likely to last, do you think? I too have that issue, causing problems now because the door takes a bit of a slam to shut, and where the lower corner in coming into contact with the body, both surfaces are starting to rust (you can imagine with all that scrapeage, there's not much paint left there).

Justin_M wrote:I'm going around this totally the wrong way

your dead right !

MQ/MK doors sag because the "plastic" bushes ...... yes thats right PLASTIC BUSHES ..... wear out !
I have rebuilt heaps of these hinges and its a very straight foward job, should take half a day to do .... the doors, the tailgate, and the rear window hinges !

Doors-----
open door, look at the top hinge, near it there is a 10mm bolt head that holds the front guard, undo it about 3 turns ( the guard has a slot in it at this point). Close door, look at sill where the front guard bolts onto the sill, should be two 10mm bolts, remove these. Stick ya head where the wheel lives and look back at the firewall, should be a brace from the firewall to one of the 2 bolts I mentioned before, losen it and swing it out of the way.
now use a "Philips head screw driver to remove the moulded plastic inner mud shield ( it stops mud etc from getting to the hinges ).

The bottom of the guard should now "swing" away from the door pillar allowing clear acess to the hinge bolts. Remove them leaving the EASIEST ONE TO GET TO LAST. ..... have a friend help you at this stage to hold the door while you remove the last 2 easy bolts, allow guard to go back into its normal place, lift door latch and the door should fall off !..... be ready to catch it ... unbolt the hinges from the door.

Now what was so hard about that

Now I spose ya wanna know how to rebuild the hinge using BRASS BUSHES.....

Kingy

P/S
Oh yeah...... the front guard is GLUED to the inner guard and its a BIATCH to seperate the two pieces...... be EXTRA carefull if you go that way as you WILL bend the front guard if you force the two apart.

hehe yeh thats what i ended up doing, undo half the bolts holding fender on and give it a tug, got it far back enough to undo the bolts for the hinge.

New top hinge on, door's sagging as bad as ever, can see visible movement in the top hinge, bottom hinge isnt showing any movement... Take top hinge off again, compare to old hinge.. exactly the same, new hinge bolts up the same (going by paint). Either i got a lemon top hinge or im missing something here..

yeah, the actual door frame buckles over its 20 year plus life from its own weight, people swinging off it, etc so u may have to straighten the frame inside the door, have a look both sides see if its the same....

If you think you still have movement in the doors then try this..... ( you'll need a mate handy )

Open the door to 45degrees to the body,
stick ya head where you can CLEARLY see the top & bottom hinges,
get ya mate to lift the door up and then down a few times from the catch end of the door,
Use a torch if you cant see the hinges properly.
You should now be able to clearly see where the movement is.
If not change the angle of the door to the body .... IE: open it or close it a bit.

The new hinges you bought, are they genuine or non genuine parts ( some of the non genuine stuff is worse than old worn out hinges in some cases. If so TAKE EM BACK !

Dont throw out the old hinges either ....... they are easilly rebuilt and are better than new when done correctly.

Kingy

Yeah i can see the movement in the top hinge when someone gives the door a tug up, it isnt much, but when ya amplyfy it by the length of the door its a shitload!

Teach me to try and skimp on $20 and get the non-nissan part i guess, hope the guy takes the hinge as a return.

yeah agreed, my doors are sagged as well, might look into doing something about it








Well i've looked around and decided that seeming i now only drive it for fun, they can stay that way...... Damm i'm lazy

well $55 and 15 minutes later my doors as good as new!

Maybe next time ill just go genuine parts from the get go

well $55 and 15 minutes later my doors as good as new!

so what did just buy genuine hinges? or repair the oldies, would have thought genuine hinges would be dearer

Thats a genuine nissan upper hinge for $55