Broken XJ door-hinge welds: cheap n easy fix! (Redux!)

[WrenchMonkey]

I originally posted this writeup way back in 2009, here: http://www.cincyoffroad.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3148

But, photobucket got greedy, broke all the old links, and destroyed my thread like so many others. So, here's a redo, with directly attached photos...

[WrenchMonkey]

Like many XJs (especially the two-doors) my driver's door has sagged badly for years. Last week, the damn thing finally fell off in the driveway. That's how I know it's time to fix something.

For those that don't know, the problem stems from AMC's lame-brained idea of welding the hinge to the sheet metal unibody (bad enough) and then neglecting to weld the rear edge (even worse.)

As those welds start to crack, the hinge separates from the body, and the door sags. Eventually, the hinge can break all the way off, and you're done.

I'm a pretty mediocre welder. I can stick plate to plate pretty well, and sheet to sheet pretty badly. But sticking the ~3/8" hinge back onto the cracked, rusty sheet metal just wasn't going to happen for me.

I considered paying a friend to do it, but he was busy and I was broke. So I came up with this...

[WrenchMonkey]

First, I cut out the ruined sheet metal where the hinge broke off. That left about a 2-1/2x3" opening.

[WrenchMonkey]

Then I could see that there's enough space behind that panel for a new, stronger mounting plate.

So if I needed to mount the hinge like so (the yellow), I figured I'd need a plate shaped something like the blue outline. So I drilled (4) 3/8" mounting holes (red).

[WrenchMonkey]

Then I cut my new mounting plate. I used about 8" of 2x1/4" flat stock. If you were careful and spaced your holes closer, you could get away with less, maybe 6", but I tend towards overkill.

I had to notch the bottom corner to clear a bulge in the unibody, then I drilled and tapped four holes to match the ones I drilled in the jeep body.

I ground the old welds off of the hinge, drilled a couple more 3/8" holes to bolt it to the plate, then (after test fitting everything) I drilled and tapped the plate to match.

[Edit] When locating the upper hinge, it should be vertically aligned with the lower one, and 12.25" on center above it.

Then I sprayed everything black

[WrenchMonkey]

It took a little wiggling to get it into position, but the plate bolted in nice and solid. Then I bolted the hinge to it; and finally rehung the door:

[WrenchMonkey]

Overall, I'm thrilled with the results. I was hoping just to get the stupid door back on. But the new mount lifts it back up where it should have been all along, and it opens and closes better than it has in years.

I was careful to put the hinge right back where it was originally, and like I said, it does work well. If I was to do it again, though, I might move the hinge forward (toward the front of the jeep) about a quarter inch. That way I could shim the door-side mount to exactly where I wanted it, and even adjust it over time if it started to sag again.

All told, it took me about an hour and a half (not counting the time to pull off the fender), and since I picked the plate out of the scrap at work, I was only out seven 3/8" bolts. (Even buying a foot of the flatstock would only be $4 at OnlineMetals.)

Hope it helps somebody!

Robert

[WrenchMonkey]

<Update, a week later>

It finally got warm enough to get my fender back on, and I discovered a little wrinkle.

There was originally a tab tacked onto the body just below the hinge. I thought it was unused, and since it was right where I wanted to put my bolt hole, I snipped it off...

[WrenchMonkey]

Well, it turned out that tab was one of the ones used to mount the fender. Without it, there is a bit more play in the fender. Not a lot, but a little.

So the way I figure it, there are three courses of action.

(1) You could reposition that bottom hole to work around that tab. I'm sure it could be done, but to see exactly how and where, I'd have to tear it all back apart. And sorry guys, I'm just not that interested...

(2) You could make up a new tab that mounted under that bolt head. Just a small piece of light-gauge sheet, bent into an "L", with a hole in each leg.

(3) You could ignore the whole thing, because your rig is already rusting to pieces in the driveway, and a little play in the fender really won't be noticed.

I chose number three.

But I thought I'd mentioned it, so anybody that might try my fix can decide for themselves, and adjust accordingly...

Robert