1971 Duster Driver Door Adjustment
The factory never used "bushings" in the lower hinges. They won't last because the lower hinge carries the bulk of the doors weight.
Those "kits" are cobbled together to make the seller a few bucks. Beware that after you Drill out your lower hinge to insert the bushings" ,the hinge is now un rebuildable.
because the hole is too large and the hinge is weakened.
I throw them away all the time when people want their hinges done properly and didn't know that the installing bushings ruin their hinges.
It takes more than a lower pivot pin to rebuild a hinge. The door check rollers are frozen most of the time as well and nobody sells parts for those. Mine are custom made for me.
Want your hinges done right, contact me.
It's not the doors weight on the lower hinge that wears it out over time. It's the pressure from detent spring that wears that hinge. That is why they never put a thin wall bushing in that hinge. That load would have needed to be on a larger diameter pin, more hinge halve thickness and thicker wall bushing to survive. It all boils down to mechanical engineering. They didn't expect or want these cars to last 50+ years. Door hinges wear ( especially drivers door ). The door has to climb up onto the latch post, door bounces on that post, then latch starts to bind, sheet metal at the post fails.
Yes this is a classic mopar forum but I have to mention, GM did put these pissy little bushings in their upper and lower hinges. In about 1989 I learned from the parts manager at Bradshaw in Greer SC, that GM was selling about 10 thousand of the bushings every year, for vehicles that were around 5 years old, not 50 yrs. old.
Although the Toyota engineering is better design IMO ( they have a 3rd part, detent mechanism mounted in between the two hinges), ... that piece is a expensive part to replace.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QMN9FP9/?tag=fabo03-20
Doors on my two 300K mile Camrys, a 2 door and a 4 door, still open and close fine but... they will close or swing open with vehicle angle.
Bottom line... As MoparLeo stated, aftermarket repair kit including 4 bushings and 2 pins should be for 2 upper hinges, not 1 upper and 1 lower. Those pissy little bushing simply will not survive the added force of that S spring. If the hinge halves were 1/2 inch thick and pin was 3/8 diameter, now your building a hinge for a military vehicle.
