'06 Door hinge repair | Ford Explorer Forums

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'06 Door hinge repair

jseabolt

Well-Known Member
Joined
July 12, 2009
Messages
232
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5
City, State
Kingsport, Tennessee
Year, Model & Trim Level
2006 Explorer Limted V8
When I open the driver's side door on my '06 Explorer, it drops down a bit and when I shut it, it makes a thud where the striker plate is not lining up.

Before buying it, I asked the dealership if they could take a look at the upper hindge to see if it was loose. Well turns out they did something to it and it worked for awhile but it's loosened up again.

On the upper hinge there is a pin or something that appears to be worn out. I can lift the door and see the hinge move around wher it pivots. I can't even see what holds it in place. Is it screwed in with an allen wrench or pressed in? How did the dealership temporarily tighten it up is another good question.

Is there anyway to fix this without having to replace the whole hindge assembly?

Here is a kit made by Dorman but so far I have not found one compatible with my '06 model.

http://tiny.cc/uns4uw
 






It looks like there might be an adjustment that can be made on the hinges using the large hex bolt in the middle, however I would just contact the service representative that you worked with and tell them what is going on and ask what adjustment they made the last time. Most likely they will tell you over the phone what they did and then you can determine if the hinges need to be replaced or not.
 






OK I think I figured out what the dealership did to the door hinge.

There is a bolt (1/2" socket) that goes through the hinge in into the door jam that was loose. I snugged it up and the door seems shut OK for now.

If this happens again, perhaps I need to apply some LockTite to the threads.

The pin still looks like it's worn out though.
 






Just a quick update. The other day I place an old unmounted tire under the door support with a floor jack and removed the bolt holding the hidge to the body.

The end of the bolt looked somewhat stripped out. I should have measured the length, size and thread pitch while I had it out but was trying to do this as fast as possible in case my floor jack lost pressure and the door got out of alignment.

I applied a healthy coating of blue Locktite on the threads and screwed it back in.

Only time will tell if Locktite will actually fix it this time around. If not next time I will replace the bolt.
 






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