Replacing your TJ door hinge bushings with oil-impregnated bronze bushing

[TJ Hunnicutt]

A while back I mentioned that I had done this and, after being asked, said I'd put up a post on how to do it. So, here we go...

I used Bunting LLC FFB68-10 flange bearings that I purchased form Motion Industries. Here are the full specs on it directly from the Bunting Bearings website. Here's a pic of the original bushing and the bronze one side-by-side. As I recall the bronze bushing is like 1/8" shorter...definitely not an issue.

Unless you have lost a door somewhere on the trail or your TJ has suddenly spawned a third door overnight, you will need four of the bushings to complete your TJ.

The inner bore of the bronze bushing is a perfect fit for the hinge pins on the door half of the hinges but, because they are thicker than the OE bushings, the outer bore is a bit bigger. To accommodate this extra girth, you will need to drill out the body-mounted hinge halves into which you will be placing the bronze bushings.

Start by taking the body hinge halves off of the TJ (you REALLY don't want to try this on the vehicle). Then, for each female half hinge, do the following:
1) Place it in a vise and, using an appropriate sized bolt, dowel, or whatever, drive the OE bushing out.

2) Using a 1/2" bit, drill out the opening of the hinge half to accommodate the bronze bushing. Be careful with this step, you don't want to wallow out the hole as it needs to be very close to 1/2". If you have a 1/2" reamer, you can drill the hole at 31/64 and ream it out to 1/2".

3) Next, use a file to clean off the top end.

4) Finally, carefully insert the new bronze bushing (don't put in upside down ). Again, you should take care in this step in order to keep from deforming or breaking the bushing. If your vise jaws open wide enough, you could use your vice for this, or a press if you have one, or, as I opted for, mount the hinge half back on the TJ and use a hammer and a block off wood to carefully run the bushing home.

5) Be sure to only loosely snug the body-hinge-halve's bolts and then install the door before tightening them up. These bronze bushings fit the door pins a bit more snugly than the OE bushings so you will want everything well lined up before honking it all down. You may even find that you will need to slightly loosen the door side of the hinges to get everything lined up just right.

You will also notice the tighter fit when putting your doors on, but it's not a major pain. You just have to align a bit more carefully before the door pins will slide in.

These have worked flawlessly on my 2001 TJ and I plan on doing the same mod on my 2006 once I get the more pressing fixes done on it.

 

[toximus]

Why did you use these bronze bushings and not a delrin bushing?

 

[TJ Hunnicutt]

Why did you use these bronze bushings and not a delrin bushing?

I have dealt with both bronze and Delrin parts in the past and found that the Delrin does not hold up well to impact or abrasion. In this case, abrasion is really not an issue but impact, when putting your doors on, is and I felt that the bronze bearings would hold up better to the "gorilla want put on doors now" treatment than would Delrin.

Also, quite frankly, the price of the Delrin bearings left me thinking there might be other less expensive, possibly better, alternatives.

 

[mrblaine]

I have dealt with both bronze and Delrin parts in the past and found that the Delrin does not hold up well to impact or abrasion. In this case, abrasion is really not an issue but impact, when putting your doors on, is and I felt that the bronze bearings would hold up better to the "gorilla want put on doors now" treatment than would Delrin.

Also, quite frankly, the price of the Delrin bearings left me thinking there might be other less expensive, possibly better, alternatives.

I have a buddy that made the door bushings for awhile. I chatted with him about them, their issues, and problems customers had run into over a 5-6 year period and 1000's of bushings sold. Breaking them putting the doors on was not on that list. Given what it takes to line the doors up and get the pins in the bushing holes, if you are slinging the door around wildly enough that breaking the Delrin flange on top of the hinge barrel is a concern, you probably aren't the sort who cares whether or not there is even a bearing in the hinge much less what kind it is.

 

[Moab]

Delrin bushings shouldn't cost $45 though. Good on you for finding a solution that only costs $1.72 each!

 

[TimB54]

A while back I mentioned that I had done this and, after being asked, said I'd put up a post on how to do it. So, here we go...

I used Bunting LLC FFB68-10 flange bearings that I purchased form Motion Industries. Here are the full specs on it directly from the Bunting Bearings website. Here's a pic of the original bushing and the bronze one side-by-side. As I recall the bronze bushing is like 1/8" shorter...definitely not an issue.

View attachment 82914

Unless you have lost a door somewhere on the trail or your TJ has suddenly spawned a third door overnight, you will need four of the bushings to complete your TJ.

The inner bore of the bronze bushing is a perfect fit for the hinge pins on the door half of the hinges but, because they are thicker than the OE bushings, the outer bore is a bit bigger. To accommodate this extra girth, you will need to drill out the body-mounted hinge halves into which you will be placing the bronze bushings.

Start by taking the body hinge halves off of the TJ (you REALLY don't want to try this on the vehicle). Then, for each female half hinge, do the following:
1) Place it in a vise and, using an appropriate sized bolt, dowel, or whatever, drive the OE bushing out.
View attachment 82920

2) Using a 1/2" bit, drill out the opening of the hinge half to accommodate the bronze bushing. Be careful with this step, you don't want to wallow out the hole as it needs to be very close to 1/2". If you have a 1/2" reamer, you can drill the hole at 31/64 and ream it out to 1/2".
View attachment 82921

3) Next, use a file to clean off the top end.
View attachment 82922

4) Finally, carefully insert the new bronze bushing (don't put in upside down ). Again, you should take care in this step in order to keep from deforming or breaking the bushing. If your vise jaws open wide enough, you could use your vice for this, or a press if you have one, or, as I opted for, mount the hinge half back on the TJ and use a hammer and a block off wood to carefully run the bushing home.
View attachment 82923

5) Be sure to only loosely snug the body-hinge-halve's bolts and then install the door before tightening them up. These bronze bushings fit the door pins a bit more snugly than the OE bushings so you will want everything well lined up before honking it all down. You may even find that you will need to slightly loosen the door side of the hinges to get everything lined up just right.
View attachment 82924
You will also notice the tighter fit when putting your doors on, but it's not a major pain. You just have to align a bit more carefully before the door pins will slide in.

These have worked flawlessly on my 2001 TJ and I plan on doing the same mod on my 2006 once I get the more pressing fixes done on it.

Thanks for post. My tail gate on my 2002 TJ seems to be stiffer than it should be. I've lubricated it with WD 40 and 3in! oil but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Are your bushings an option?

 

[TJ Hunnicutt]

Thanks for post. My tail gate on my 2002 TJ seems to be stiffer than it should be. I've lubricated it with WD 40 and 3in! oil but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Are your bushings an option?

Not sure what year they changed from the cast hinges like these on my '01:

to the stamped steel ones like these on my '06 (one of the plastic covers removed):

In either case, the hinge pins are press fit in.

In the case of the cast ones, the magnet test shows that they are non-magnetic so probably aluminum or an alloy. I'm not sure I feel great about the chances of the pins holding after pressing them out and back in.

For the stamped steel ones, they appear to have bushings of some sort from the factory an, if a bronze bushing of the appropriate dimensions is available (certainly looks possible), then you could always do a tack weld on the pin to keep it secure after re-assembly.

 

[PCO6]

I have dealt with both bronze and Delrin parts in the past and found that the Delrin does not hold up well to impact or abrasion. In this case, abrasion is really not an issue but impact, when putting your doors on, is and I felt that the bronze bearings would hold up better to the "gorilla want put on doors now" treatment than would Delrin.

Also, quite frankly, the price of the Delrin bearings left me thinking there might be other less expensive, possibly better, alternatives.

To make it easier to put your doors on, cut the threads off of one of the pins. I cut the them off of the lower pin. I line up the top, now longer pin, insert it partially and the lower shorter pin lines up easily. It makes it a lot easier especially for the much heavier full doors.

 

[Sundowner]

I have a buddy that made the door bushings for awhile. I chatted with him about them, their issues, and problems customers had run into over a 5-6 year period and 1000's of bushings sold. Breaking them putting the doors on was not on that list. Given what it takes to line the doors up and get the pins in the bushing holes, if you are slinging the door around wildly enough that breaking the Delrin flange on top of the hinge barrel is a concern, you probably aren't the sort who cares whether or not there is even a bearing in the hinge much less what kind it is.

The problem I had was that the Delrin ones started getting crushed with nothing more than daily usage; this led to small cracks around the flange portion of the bushing, and that led to crumbling. So, I figured "material defect" and installed a second set; no issues yet, but they don't look great. I usually run full doors, so they're seeing a lot of weight...but I still don't think that weight would be enough to fuck up a Delrin bushing. I'm honestly not sure what happened; the first set wasn't installed for that long, and I baby my doors.

 

[mrblaine]

The problem I had was that the Delrin ones started getting crushed with nothing more than daily usage; this led to small cracks around the flange portion of the bushing, and that led to crumbling. So, I figured "material defect" and installed a second set; no issues yet, but they don't look great. I usually run full doors, so they're seeing a lot of weight...but I still don't think that weight would be enough to fuck up a Delrin bushing. I'm honestly not sure what happened; the first set wasn't installed for that long, and I baby my doors.

Not sure whose you used but that very much indicates that someone confused material. Black ABS and black acetyl are very difficult to tell apart unless you are very familiar with how they machine. The main difference is the mechanical strength and lubricity. One works very well in load bearing situations and the other crumbles.

 

[Sundowner]

Not sure whose you used but that very much indicates that someone confused material. Black ABS and black acetyl are very difficult to tell apart unless you are very familiar with how they machine. The main difference is the mechanical strength and lubricity. One works very well in load bearing situations and the other crumbles.

I'll have to go back through the records and see where the second set came from. I do know that the first set wasn't from the guy you know that was making them; for whatever reason, they weren't available when I went to order them so I had to look around elsewhere. Can't recall where I found them.

 

[steelhd]

Not sure what year they changed from the cast hinges like these on my '01:

My 04 TJ-U has hinges like in your first picture. A friend's 04 TJ Rubicon has hinges like in your second picture.

 

[TimB54]

Not sure what year they changed from the cast hinges like these on my '01:
View attachment 84687

to the stamped steel ones like these on my '06 (one of the plastic covers removed):
View attachment 84688

In either case, the hinge pins are press fit in.

In the case of the cast ones, the magnet test shows that they are non-magnetic so probably aluminum or an alloy. I'm not sure I feel great about the chances of the pins holding after pressing them out and back in.

For the stamped steel ones, they appear to have bushings of some sort from the factory an, if a bronze bushing of the appropriate dimensions is available (certainly looks possible), then you could always do a tack weld on the pin to keep it secure after re-assembly.

Thanks for the quick reply. My tail gate hinges look like the ones on top. Sounds like I should keep trying lubricants.

 

[PCO6]

Not sure what year they changed from the cast hinges like these on my '01:
View attachment 84687

to the stamped steel ones like these on my '06 (one of the plastic covers removed):
View attachment 84688

In either case, the hinge pins are press fit in.

In the case of the cast ones, the magnet test shows that they are non-magnetic so probably aluminum or an alloy. I'm not sure I feel great about the chances of the pins holding after pressing them out and back in.

For the stamped steel ones, they appear to have bushings of some sort from the factory an, if a bronze bushing of the appropriate dimensions is available (certainly looks possible), then you could always do a tack weld on the pin to keep it secure after re-assembly.

The change occurred sometime in early '04. The early flat back aluminum hinges work on '04 and up TJ's but the later steel hinges do not work on '03 and earlier TJ's. The pivot point location actually changed on the later hinges. In fact there is a small impression in the body of '04 and up TJ's to accept the later hinges.

 

[Captain Phoenix]

What's your one year review on this?

 

[TJ Hunnicutt]

What's your one year review on this?

Sold the TJ that I put them in. Have not yet gotten around to doing it on my Rubi but will probably order the bushings tonight because one of the OE bushings started to delaminate yesterday and I had to ream it out to get the door back on.
When I sold the 2001, they had been one for several months and had zero issues.

 

[Captain Phoenix]

Sold the TJ that I put them in. Have not yet gotten around to doing it on my Rubi but will probably order the bushings tonight because one of the OE bushings started to delaminate yesterday and I had to ream it out to get the door back on.
When I sold the 2001, they had been one for several months and had zero issues.

I think I might steal your bronze bushing idea. I just need to think up a way to clamp them while I drill since I don't have a vice.

 

[Jeep 541X]

Following the above instructions very closely..
.