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Replacing Hinges

17K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  SolarColumbia 
#1 ·
I am getting ready to remove all my stock hinges and put Black powder coated stainless steel hinges on the entire jeep. Have any of you done this before? And What should i look out for. I have heard that taking off the windsheild hinges can be a pain in the butt. I have been told two different storys on these. 1. there is a plate inside and to put a threaded stud in place of the bolt once you remove it to hold the plate in place. Then install the new hinges by removing one stud at a time and replace with a new bolt. 2. There are nutts inside and you have to remove the dash to get to the nutts in order to remove and install the new hinges. I hope this is not the case ... i am not prepared to remove the dash to install hinges.

The only hinges i have that are in bad shape with alot of paint peeling off are the ones on the back gate. Those for sure i want to replace. As for the rest i thought it would just look nice all in black. The rest of them are in good shape with an occasional chip here and there which could be cleaned and a spot of paint put on to prevent any rusting. What do you all think of putting on the new stainless steel hinges, or am i just waisting my time. Or if any of you have done this what experiances have you had doing this. I do have all the correct tools for removing the hex head bolts. I just don't know how hard it will be to get them loose.
 
#2 ·
i would recomend breaking free all your bolts before you buy em....make sure you can get em off first. i had one that wouldnt budge when i put my windshield lights on (just used the others and left it in cause they mount on top). I cant really give you any advice from expereince/things to look for... just make sure you dont waste some money(could go towards other things :D )
 
#3 ·
I had already ordered them. I got everything except for the lower hinge mounts and the tail gate hinges. I went out this morning to see how they would all break free, and to my surprise every one broke free with out much effert. The paint chipped around the bolts since when the jeep was painted from the factory the hinges were already in place. I think this afternoon i'm gona put on what i have. Then when i get whats back ordered it would only take me a few minutes to put those on.
 
#4 ·
I can't speak to a TJ, but on the YJ's yes there is a plate so you have to pull one bolt at a time or you'll loose the plate. First found this relocating the tailgate hinges while installing my swing-away tire carrier.
 
#5 ·
I can't speak to the TJ, but on the YJ's yes there is a plate behind that the bolts thread into. Need to pull one at a time or the plate moves. First ran into this while relocating tailgate hinges as part of my swing-away tire carrier install.

As previously stated make sure to loosen all of the bolts up as these Torx can be a challenge and a half. I ended up drilling one out of four on the windshield when installing my overhead rack.
 
#6 ·
Just make sure to anti-seize all the bolts when you put them back on. Also don't throw away your stock ones, too many of the aftermarket add on's are crap finishes and 1, either rust out, 2 flake off, 3 break from cheap steel. The mirrors are the worst, the ball joint they use lasts about 5 months in the aftermarket ones then they mirrors won't stay in the same spot after any kind of hiway driving in wind or local driving from bumps.
Going to strip down my factory ones and repaint them, the joints in those are still good.
 
#7 ·
Well i guess i was a little over confident when i started today. I ended up putting all the stock hinges back on. The Passenger side Windshield hinge didn't fit right. The Flange that the door hinge slides into wasn't far enough. When i slide the door hinge into it and about to screw in the door bolts the holes weren't even close to lining up. I'm gona see what customer service says from the place i ordered them from.

I was real disappointed. I had the drivers side done, but because the passenger side wouldn't work i took everything off and put all the stock hinges on. So now im not sure i want to tackle this task again. If i keep the stock hinges on i'll have to get some touch up paint now since taking them off marked up all the bolts. Also when i was all done with the drivers side the SS hinges are a bit over sized and the stock mirrors wouldn't fit very good over the hinge. I'm not sure what to do there if i decide to do this again.
 
#8 ·
Nothing worse than having crap like that happen. Happens to me all the time. Put a new faucet on that sink, sure ... broke a fitting, needed a torch to get it off ... put on a new fitting, and I haven't even started on the faucet yet. We look at jobs and say "piece of cake," then what should have taken 30 minutes takes 4 hours with the help of 2 friends on a Friday night and everybody's dressed to go hunt for babes. Pay someone to do it and have a burger and a beer while you wait.
 
#10 ·
I was thinking about replacing the tailgate hinges on my 03 TJ, but decided against it because I remember how badly the install went on my old YJ. I just finished sanding, priming and painting my factory tailgate hinges. Looks ok from 5 feet away and that's good enough for me.
 
#11 ·
Hey so your changing all your hinges and putting black? I have been thinking of doing that at least for the door hinges to give it a mix of black and silver but I have hesitated at the thought of how it would look. If you do it post it up. Thanks.:thumb:
 
#12 ·
I didn't change out my hinges. I did order all kentrol hinges in black and was going to change them out but they didn't fit right. I gave up and sent them back and left the originals on. The only thing i did was sand down the rear hinges and paint them black. they were getting in bad shape so i grinded all the corrosion off and painted them. looks great.
 
#14 ·
I recall a post a few years back where the aftermarket hinges didn't line up. I don't know if he said what brand they were. I thought Kentrol made quality stuff.
 
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