I purchased my 95 2 door in Oct 2012. Had 84,000 when I bought her for $2,500. I take public transportation to work (live in NYC) and only use her on the weekends so current mileage is 86K. Great Jeep and I love it, especially with all the snow we've been getting this year. I've done what work I can do, new exhaust, new headlights, new tires and wheels, and paid for the work I can't tackle myself - brakes and some minor engine work. I'd like to do more work myself but without a garage and gear at my disposal my hands are kind of tied.

Last fall as I was opening the pax door, the hinge broke and the door practically came off in my hands. I was able to move the door back into position and close it. It's been closed since, jammed and won't open. I know XJ's can have problems with the door hinge and it's not that uncommon to have to reweld and/or replace the hinge.

I took it to a body shop and they said it would be $500 to get the door free and gave me an estimate of another $400-500 to weld a new hinge. Total cost would likely be $1,000 and maybe more if they needed to do more work. I can't justify spending $1,000+ to fix a door on a Jeep I paid $2,500 for especially when I've already put another $1,500 on brakes and other necessary repairs.

What are my options here? I know this Jeep will last for another 100-150K miles if I play my cards right. If anyone knows a place in NJ or NY that I can get this job done cheaper please let me know. Ideally, if someone has done this repair themselves and has the knowledge and equipment to help me out I'm willing to talk prices...appreciate the help.

 

Post in the regional section of the forum and start finding people in your area that can help, another option is to look on CL, or go to your local community college, maybe their automotive or welding dept. can help you out....

 

Can you get the door unjammed? I would think that just getting the hinge rewelded would be much cheaper than having them deal with the whole door

 

Can't get the door unjammed myself and even if I could, I'd literally be left with a door in my hand and no equipment to fix it.

 

Did the hinge on the door or the Jeep itself brake? I would get a door from the JY and I bet with a $30 angle grinder and a bit of force you could get it off. Then depending on which hinge broke just bolt the new door on or having the hinge rewelded should not cost that much.

 

Yeah youll save money buying a welder, replacment door, and welding it on your self

 

You're probably right, but without the space (garage, driveway, etc...) I'm not going to be able to knock this out myself. Looking for someone with the gear on hand and I'll help offset some of those costs.

 

I would, but your clear across the country

 

Join a more regional Jeep forum, or look for a jeep mechanic on Craigslist. For some reason half of the NYC automotive service postings are for strictly autobody and dent repair, but there are tons of backyard jeep mechanics that will do work for cheap around my parts. See if you can find one close to you, or pay a forum member for his time and get some help.

(not sure if this link will work);
http://newyork.craigslist.org/search...y=jeep&excats=


I have welded on a ship before, so as long as the ground is level its really not that challenging

 

$1,000?? If you were local I'd do it for less than 150

 

Problem Solved - heard some good things about Goonies Garage in Patchogue, Long Island. John fixed the door for me with a new hinge welded to the frame. total cost $200. Now the GF will go places with me again, HA! Thanks for the help.