DougyFresh

has anyone made their doors removable on a pre 97 WITHOUT cutting the hinge?

I decided to go about finding a way to do it that didnt require removing the hinge because I honestly don't feel that half a hinge and a half 1/4" roll pin are sufficient to support the doors. I know, I know, it has been done over and over, but I have seen a few people who said their hinges were pretty tweaked from this.

I drove the top pin out on my passenger door and used a bolt with a smooth 1/4" shoulder as my new pin. I cut the head off the bolt and bent the shaft into an "L". I only did the top hinge so far for experimentation and it seems to have worked perfect. If anyone wants a pic I would be happy to take one. I will be buying a few feet of 1/4 steel rod and making pins for all of the doors out of it instead of using random bolts.

XJ ONLY

So you just drove the factory pins out and replaced them with your own pins? Seems like it would work. Ill def follow this to see how it turns out.

dubbydoo

I understand you don't want to cut but I think why everyone has a problem is the strap that holds the door from over opening most of the time isnt connected(Learn from experience) and when you open the door sometimes it will swing open to far (if parked on a hill) and it will stress what is left of the hinge and it will break the ear off had that happen once. now I just carrier a spare set of hinges pre cut and ready to bolt on if i have that problem again haha

DougyFresh

essentially, yes.

The factory pins are a roll pin designed for a 1/4" hole, which means they are actually just a smidge bigger when removed from the hole because they are made to hold tight.

I originally thought that this wasn't going to work because I thought the pin would hit the door before it could come all the way out to allow the door to be removed and that I would end up driving the factory pin back in and calling it a day, but it in fact did end up working.

I will be picking up some 1/4" rod tomorrow and will take some pictures as I go along and maybe shoot for a tech/how-to article, who knows

ldub100

The strap is on a spring pin and all you have to do is take some pliers and remove the spring pin on the fender side and the strap will pull into the door. You will also need ot put some male-female connectors on the wires for speakers, windows & locks if yours is so equiped.

DougyFresh

It would be just as simple to make quick release pins for the safety arms (or WTF ever you wanna call them) as it would the doors...

DougyFresh

on the door wiring, all I have is speaker wires, and I am probably just going to put some 5.25's in the dash holes and not have any in the doors.

xj_maniac_newb

So everytime you want to go doorless you have to pull the pins out instead of just opening the door and lifting up? You'll need another set of hands just to get the doors back on.

And the hinges only get screwy when you take the check pin out and slam the door open. But that'll happen whether you've got cut hinges or not.

DougyFresh

I don't know about you, but I am more than capable of lifting and supporting the door with one arm, so I wont be needing an extra set of hands...

xj_maniac_newb

Lol alright badass. Just go ahead and try it a few times and you'll see what I mean.

DougyFresh

they aren't THAT heavy...

xj_maniac_newb

Its not the weight, its what position you have to hold it in. Like I said, just go ahead and try it and find out for yourself.

Sparkys92XJ

I like your idea! Might be a lil tricky but you will get the hang of it. And I can lift my doors just fine by myself. I am also 6'4 lol

DougyFresh

Eh, we shall see I reckon. I don't think it will be to bad. If it does come to the point of being a pain in the rectum, it wont be hard to take the grinder and chop the bottom half of the hinge off and then weld a piece of the 1/4 inch rod into the top

DougyFresh

I'm 5'8 but I lift them by the pull handle so being short isn't a problem lol