Driver door lower hinge replacement

[sholzee]

I just purchased the driver door lower hinge for a 92 4 dr Explorer at the dealer for $19.95. Any tips on how to change it are appreciated.

 

[Goober]

Not sure about changing the whole hinge. I think one side is welded on(door side, I believe).

 

[sholzee]

The hinge has to screws that hold it on to the door. From the new hinge, it looks like a stud on it has a nut from behind the drivers kick panel, and then one screw that also holds it to the body.

 

[FMExplorer]

sholzee,
I did mine - or at least I started too... This is what I found...
The inside of the hinge is welded to the doorjam. However, 99.9% of the time the hinge is not the problem. It is the hinge pin. The bushings for these pins are soft metal (brass I think) and they give out. this causes door-sag (presumeably the problem). The pin kits are avialable for about 3 bucks. Cut the old pins out and replace with new pins and bushings. About 1/2 work with a dremel...

Jon

 

[FMExplorer]

sholzee,
I did mine - or at least I started too... This is what I found...
The inside of the hinge is welded to the doorjam. However, 99.9% of the time the hinge is not the problem. It is the hinge pin. The bushings for these pins are soft metal (brass I think) and they give out. this causes door-sag (presumeably the problem). The pin kits are avialable for about 3 bucks. Cut the old pins out and replace with new pins and bushings. About 1/2 work with a dremel...

Jon

 

[M&M91XLT]

I have a 91 and I guess I paid too much ($ 29.78) for the lower and ($ 19.86) for the upper. I did both of mine in about 3 hours. The upper was the hardest. It helps to have a floor jack to hold up the door. I just took my door off and it was easier. I purchased some touch up paint and painted mine before installation. I removed the passenger side kick panel and the computer. I think Ford put the hinges on first and than built the rest of the rig around them. Good luck
M&M

 

[weebo22]

The hinges are NOT welded to the body. This is the same thing I thought until I actually started working on it. For the lower hinge....open the door and remove the two bolts from the door. (support the end of the door with a jack or something similiar) - also, mark the position of the hinge on the door and on the body with a marker or something. After the hinge is loose from the door, then you will be able to fit a socket w/ extension in between the front of the door and the fender. This allows you to remove the bolt from the outside. Then, remove the kick panel from the inside and dig around behind the wiring harnesses til you find a nut that corresponds the the hinge. Remove the nut from the stud and the hinge will come right off. The appearrance of a weld is actually just paint and some heavy gasket type of glue. The bottom hinge took me about an hour to fix. I've still got the top one to do, but haven't been able to reach the nut on the inside, so I keep putting it off. Any more help, just email me at prana_22@hotmail.com
Randy

 

[Goober]

JonM,

Have you replaced just the bushing? I talked to a service guy the other day and he told me he thought the Mustang/F150 bushings might work, if I couldn't find ones for the older Explorers. If you have the part # it might help him find it easier(or tell me where to go, if not Ford). Thanks.

 

[FMExplorer]

Goob's,
You can get the pin and bushing set at ADAP, NAPA, Discount Auto and so on... the one for the 150 will work - same hinge pin. I replaced both the pin and the bushing because the pin got mangled upon extraction

Unless the hinge is bent there is no need to go to the problem of replacing it. It's gonna be the bushings. Any other questions just let me know... (did this to 2 Explorer doors and 2 Saab doors - piece of cake!)

Jon