Rubber hinge trick...

[Danny]

I just had to replace my battery door rubber hinge and found that spraying a goodly amount of WD-40 on the old rubber hinge and letting it set helps it to come out much easier.

Danny

[pvcces]

Danny, it's probably a good idea to make sure that anything you use to clean out the grooves will not cause deterioration of the new hinge rubber. There have been many complaints of short life in the replacement material, and I believe some people have used the wrong lubes.

For what it's worth.

Tom Caffrey
Suncatcher
Ketchikan, Alaska

[Bosshosssport96]

A good product to use and is great for installing the rubbers is silicon(comes in an aerisol can).Its slippery and it protects the rubber FWIW...........Frank

[Chuck Newman]

Danny,

Me and a friend need to replace the rubber hinge on our 102's.  Other than the lubricate process,
what is the procedure?

Also, who has the best price on the hinge?  Cost???

Thanks,

Chuck

[Danny]

To replace the hinge on the 102 - take the hinge off from to bus by removing the metal screws up under the battery compartment.  There will be about 8 or 10 that holds the hinge.  Then there will a screw one each end that holds the rubber in place in the track.  You must take these out and the rubber will slide out (with a little bit of effort).  That's where the lube comes in.  I put in the new rubber hinge and then replaced the screws that held the door in place.  This takes two people.  It is not that bad...  Make sure the lube is in place or will won't want to come out or go back in.

Danny

[Chuck Newman]

Did you get the hinge from MCI or another source?

Did you check around for pricing?

Thanks.

[gus]

It is better not to use petroleum products to lube the hinges because they shorten the rubber's life. Use dishwashing detergent mixed with water and brush a lot on the groove and hinge. This dries out and will not harm the hinge. Keep it wet while inserting the hinge.

After removing the old hinge clean out the door groove with a round wire brush until you can pull the hinge through the groove with little effort. Do the same for the bus groove.

Then fasten the hinge to the door with the screws and slide the hinge into the bus groove. Be sure to have the door at an angle that keeps the hinge from bending.

I've done the large doors on my 4104 alone by using this method and supporting the door on a shop stool riding on a garden wagon.  I just get the hinge started, pull the wagon along and quide the hinge into the groove.

[Ncbob]

My way is to (hopefully not wait for the door to fall of as it did to me) block the door up on a pair of saw horses, and shim as necessary.
With a sharp razor knife cut the center of the hinge to seperate it from the bus body....carefully.

Remove the two retaining screws from each end of the hinge.  Make believe that the contained piece of hinge is your worst nightmare of a Mother-in-law and slash lenghwise many, many times throught the channel with that SHARP razor knife as though you were posessed.  Remove the slashed pieces with needle nosed pliers, or whatever.  The same procedure is used on the mating part.

Using a 30-30 rifle bore cleaning brush and a rifle cleaning rod (I put it in a cordless drill)...clean both channels thoroughly.

Use copious amounts of either spray or liquid Teflon to lubricate the new hinge.  I install it in the door first and with one helper and the lubricant...it's all over in about 5 minutes.  Re-install the keeper screws and apologize to your Mother-in-Law (silently).

Bob

[Danny]

I like the idea of the dishwashing liquid    I didn't know - this was my first replacement.  Thanks for the tip!

Danny

[pete81eaglefanasty]

We just put a new rubber hinge on our bus Saturday, we used wire pulling lub.
it went in with ease. cleaning the track is the trick for it go easy.

  Pete

[gus]

Danny,

OOps, I really goofed. Of course you must put the hinge into the bus groove first and secure it with screws. It is impossible to do it the other way on GMCs. Don't know about MCIs.

NC,

I never found it so difficult to remove the hinges. I cut the hinge like you, makes the job much simpler. After that I find that using a cotter pin remover always pulls the hinge right out of the groove.

I got mine from Sears, it looks like a screwdriver but has a 90* bend and a semi-blunt end so it doesn't scratch the groove. I don't see how you keep from making a bunch of cuts in the groove with the razor blade, especially when you go after your Mother-in-law!!

[Bosshosssport96]

Beware of using dishwashing liquid,if a person should have anodize panels,and if the dishwahing liquid should have a lemon ingriendent in it(acid) it might mess up your anodize panels(BTDT) Silicon spray protects the rubber,and makes it easy to slide it in.FWIW...Frank

[kyle4501]

I would not use Anti-Bacterial soap as it will corrode stainless steel.

I don't know what it will do to aluminum. 

[gus]

I used plain old, non fancy, generic dish washing detergent on my anodized Al panels with no problems so far.
I've replaced all the hinges, some of them two times because I used the low quality ones that were given to me by the PO.

NC,

Don't feel bad, I had four or five doors fall off. Luckily most of them were the smaller doors. Only one was the large size and it was held on by the support bracket. I can only imagine what would have happened if one of those had fallen on my head.

I finally figured out that the reason they don't fall off when closed is that the hinge supports nothing. The cam lock latch supports the full weight when it is closed.