Suburban Liftgate/Upper-Hatch/Clamshell... Hinge rebuild

[Frizzle Fry]

Guys, I got those hinges from Captainfab and adapted them to my 69 Burb, but now I'd like to replace the hinge pins with new ones. I assume there are no "kits" being made for this, right? What have you guys done to tighten them back up? I'm thinking about making some pins from hardened steel or brass. Any suggestions?
















Check out this video:

[laidout]

im no help on this one but that is very nice mod

[ChiefRocka]

I would do some impregnated bronze or brass bushings with the hardened pins.

That would work great....or how about some sealed bearings ?!?

(way too overkill I guess)

John

[Frizzle Fry]

Thanks guys,

The thing is, there's no room for bushings. It's basically cast parts with holes and pins. I may be able to over bore the holes for bushings but there's no room for a shoulder.

That's why I'm thinking brass or bronze pins. Or would I be better off with just hardened pins?

[Frizzle Fry]

Well, I bought some brass rod. We'll see how it goes...

[Captainfab]

Sorry Mike I didn't realize they were sloppy....of course I didn't have them bolted up to anything to be able to check them either . I would suggest going with a hardened steel pin. I would be afraid that a softer brass or bronze pin will deform under that much pressurse and loosen up or possibly shear off.

BTW it all looks great....I'll be checking out your build thread to see some more pics.

[Frizzle Fry]

Hey, no complaints A little bit of slop in a compound hinge is, well compounded... What do I expect of 40 year old hinges? I'm just happy they worked out. I think I actually got bronze rod not brass. I'll have to verify that. But it seems pretty hard. I'll try it out and go from there.

[Frizzle Fry]

Ok, guys I posted this in my build thread but just to "close the loop" on this thread I wanted to let you know what I ended up doing (for those who may not get over to the project board).

..........................................................

These hinges have two different sized pins in them; the big ones are 5/16" and the small ones are 1/4". It seems like the 5/16" pins are harder than the 1/4" pins because the big ones showed no wear while the small ones were clearly worn.

What I did was to make brass bushings/sleeves from 1/32" sheet and replace the 1/4" pins with 1/4" brass rod. I bored the 1/4" holes out to 5/16" and the 5/16" holes out to 3/8" (add 1/16" to each).

These hinges now have ZERO slop!

Here's some pics (camera died after these) :

[protrash64]

Cool mod...........I have a 64 'burb that is missing the hatch support on the passenger side..........I also have a 99 s-blazer and the gas supports would fit perfectly.......are you going to use something similar? Will they hold up that hatch? Mine wieghs a ton! If i get hit on the head by that thing I will never be heard from again.........Later.

[fastbagged68]

Frizzle, that is money!!!! My burb has a ton of slop in them and have been looking for a rebuild kit. Did you reuse your pins and just roll the brass around it?

[maaboo]

i dd a 72 what are those hinges from i cant find gaskets to rplace my old ones that look like a sweet mod i been wanting to do something like that