GM Van Side Door Hinges

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tkb

tkb

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Location
MA
I know that there are a lot of us that have a GM van with the side double doors instead of the sliding door.

I am having a problem with the hinges on the door on the left being very stiff. Seem that with the hinge exposed and facing into the wind all of the road dirt gets into the hinge and makes it very stiff.

I know all the vans where I work have had this problem. I know that at least one of them had the hinge rip off the welds to the body because of the repeated use while stiff.

I have sprayed the hinges with WD40 and white lithium with not so great results. Almost every van I see on the road with this setup has a very dirty area around the hinges from trying to lube them.

Is this common in other areas as it is around New England?

Is this a design flaw by GM? Exposed hinges, WHY?

When I asked about it at the dealers service counter, I got a blank look and no results.

Anyone have a good fix without taking the door off the hinges?
 
Funny you should mention-

I'm having this problem with the rear passenger side door on my van but it's a Ford. It started a few weeks ago and I associated it with the deep freeze we were in at the time. Now that it has warmed up, I still have the problem though. I'm located in N. Illinois and I wonder if all of the road salt is a contributing factor?:confused: I don't relish the idea of removing the hinges either.
 
White lithium grease is about the best lube for these hinges, so if that doesn't do it, there's a physical reason for the friction. Did you use the spray type, which penetrates better than the tub stuff?

The problem could also be a bent hinge, which means that the hinge pins are not perfectly aligned, and will bind. Try sighting with a straight-edge, and in more than one direction, like plumbing a pole.

This could happen if someone bumped into something rigid, and just close enough to hit the hinge and not the body. While you're at it, check for body damage around the door opening, too.
 
Larry trust me the hinges are not bent, twisted or otherwise damaged.

I have had the same problem with my last two GM vans. Winter road conditions get into the hinge and seize it up. You can prevent this by keeping WD handy*. This keeps the hinge loose but leaves nice stains down the side of the truck.

To make matters worse the hinges are welded on, you can not remove them. I have seriously considered drilling and taping a grease fitting into the hinge so I can get the grease where it will work.

The best way I can think of describing these hinges is to call it a piano hinge like you would have on a metal tool box.



*(BTW these hinges on the side door are not like the front door hinges, there is no way to get white lithium into them)
 
I have the same problem with my Ford van. With my truck it's the passenger side door immediately behind the passenger side front door. I've tried everything: WD-40, spray lithium, 3 in 1 oil, I even tried to tap the hinge pin up a little bit in case it was pinching the leaves of the hinge together. Nothing works. We're electricians though. Maybe this isn't the right forum for that problem.:smile:
 
I had the same problem took the door off the hing's drilled and tapped and incerted grease fittings no problems after that
 
I'm unclear on why y'all are using white lithium grease. I don't think of it as a particularly weather-resistant grease. I know it's fine for low-load situations where drying out might be a problem -- for example, I grease the tracks of my 'Vette with white lithium, but not the door hinges because the doors are forever long and heavy and the hinges aren't as protected as the insides of the doors.

The suggestion to drill and tap for a grease fitting sounds quite workable, but I'd shoot them up with something heavier than white lithium.
 
tallgirl said:
The suggestion to drill and tap for a grease fitting sounds quite workable, but I'd shoot them up with something heavier than white lithium.
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Julie anything heavy is not going to get inside where it is needed.
 
iwire said:
Julie anything heavy is not going to get inside where it is needed.
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That's not true -- look at how effectively bearing grease is pressed into bearings. Surely if a grease of that weight can be pressed by hand into bearing races, a grease of similar weight can be used on door hinges (I use it on my doors, so I know it works). White lithium grease is only appropriate where there is little load and no exposure to weather. Lithium grease doesn't have the sheer characteristics to withstand high loads or weather the way heavier greases do.

If you're concerned about grease penetrating the hinge and don't want to give up your white lithium grease, I'd use lithium grease, then press a heavier grease in behind that to seal out moisture and resist the weather. If you're up for drilling and tapping a grease fitting, I'd go with a moly-based grease. The heavier weight will help resist the elements.
 
muskiedog said:
So how does someone in Texas no about weather conditions in Minnesota. I have a GMC van also with the same problem.
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Motorcycles. Lots of parts exposed to the weather on account of they have no body ...
 
When spraying the hinges, do you find that road dirt collects even more on them?

I guess I've been pretty lucky. I've had a GMC/Chevy van since 1997 (3 of them) and have yet to have this problem. It may be because we don't get snow here, I don't know. I usually sell them after 4 years also.
 
muskiedog said:
So how does someone in Texas no about weather conditions in Minnesota. I have a GMC van also with the same problem.
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tallgirl said:
Motorcycles. Lots of parts exposed to the weather on account of they have no body ...
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You have no idea, really you don't.

See it is not just water, it is the chemicals, in some areas salt is still heavily used and where the roads run through wet lands it is some other chemical.

iwire said:
Julie anything heavy is not going to get inside where it is needed
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tallgirl said:
That's not true -- look at how effectively bearing grease is pressed into bearings. Surely if a grease of that weight can be pressed by hand into bearing races, a grease of similar weight can be used on door hinges (I use it on my doors, so I know it works). White lithium grease is only appropriate where there is little load and no exposure to weather. Lithium grease doesn't have the sheer characteristics to withstand high loads or weather the way heavier greases do.
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Again your talking without knowing.:roll:

You have not seen the hinge, it is not like bearing, I can not work grease into it. If I drill it and tap it for a fitting I could pump grease into it.

Besides being a gear head up until I had kids I spent 5 years as a mechanic at an amusement park repairing all sorts of stuff. I have at least half a clue.:cool:

Julie I know your sharp....be sharp enough to know what you don't know.

I will post a picture of the hinge later, than you can tell us how you would lube it.
 
hardworkingstiff said:
I've had a GMC/Chevy van since 1997 (3 of them) and have yet to have this problem. It may be because we don't get snow here, I don't know. I usually sell them after 4 years also.
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It is the winter roads, it can happen in just a few snow storms on a new truck.
 
I agree with the poster's who have noted the "unpackability" of the hinge. I can pack bearings with the best of them, but the side door hinge is designed to keep the fluids out, so trying to get grease in there without tapping and inserting a fitting is hard.

On the '02 Ford E-250 I was driving before, I had to spray it with WD-40 and just keep working it back and forth, and made some progress. After working it for...probably half an hour or more (?) I managed to get it back under control, but it was not like new.

We don't have salt on the roads in CO, but it's still a problem. Rememberring back, I think it was actually shooting it with the wand at the car wash that aggravated the hinge in the first place. Probably due to all the dirt collected from the WD-40. :D

Paradox, anyone? :)

Edit to add: The rail inside the door, that stops the door from opening beyond it's designed arc was also a problem area, and a much easier time with the WD-40. Many times this fixed the problem I was having with my doors.
 
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rogue said:
I had the same problem took the door off the hing's drilled and tapped and incerted grease fittings no problems after that
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How did you remove the door?
Are the pins removable?
 
Tim I think we could do them in place.

Drill a through the leaf and a little into the pin, then use a self tapping grease fitting.

yhst-28505188400710_1935_58602648


1/4-28 Straight Self Tapping Grease Fitting

Of course much depends on the hardness of the leaf. If it is hardened I doubt it would self tap.
 
Here are a couple of photos.

TruckDoor1SM.jpg


Those white flakes on the stripes are road chemicals.

TruckDoor2SM.jpg


The pin is a press fit into the top and bottom sections so the pin pivots in the long center section.

It is no easy to get lube into it.
 
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