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door hinges cracking out

yj_evolution

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Victoria, TX
hey everybody, i have a '94 2-door XJ and the passenger side door hinge is cracking out. i already know how i'm going to fix it, i was just wondering if this is a pretty common problem. it's cracking in the driver's door jamb too where the little plastic vent thing is. i'm just guessing this is all due to the unibody design. does anybody else have these problems? thanks.
 
it's a pretty common problem ESPECIALLY on 2-doors, due entirely to Chrysler's boneheaded decision to weld a 1/4" thick door hinge to a pressed steel sheet uniframe, and not only that, to not weld it along the trailing edge of the hinge plate. There was a TSB to fix the problem (in two degrees, moderate cracking and severe cracking) and I believe also a change to the design of the door check bar to add some rubber bumpers and keep the door from swinging open quite as enthusiastically.

I know you said you already know how you're going to fix it, but here's a thread on how someone here did it: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=986973
 
thanks for the info. i was just going to weld it up and paint over it, but i'll check out the link and see how they did it. it makes sense that the 2 doors would be worse, since the doors are longer. thanks again.
 
You can help avoid problems after repair, or before the hinge fails, by shortening the check strap. The door is so heavy it not only overpowers the strap, but bulges out the door where the strap attaches. When that happens, the door hits the stops in the hinges, and pulls them out by the roots. If you're welding anyway, weld the hole in the end of the check shut, and redrill it an eighth of an inch or so back.

Welding the back edge of the hinge helps some too. You can also file out the stops in the hinges, so it doesn't lever them out so quickly.
 
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