Hi,

I hope this qualifies as body work. My driver's door on my 2000 Monte SS is sagging. It's gotten to the point now where when I open it, it drops down a little. My mechanic says I need new Hinge Pins, but he can't find just the pins without having to buy the whole hinge assembly.

I checked and the dealer wants ridiculous money ($160.00 for EACH hinge!). I called the junkyard and they have a set of 2 hinges for $70.00 + shipping. Much better price, but am I going to get hinges that are no better than what I have on my car now? (The car the junkyard is getting the hinges from has 109k miles, my car has 165k.)

Or, is there another way to fix this problem? Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

 

Sorry about the door problems. My driver door is about a half in low right now. There is a tiny bit of play when I lift on it. I don't know how much help I can be. Did your mechanic actually remove the door or is he just making an educated guess? I was going to try to take the door off and re install it just to make sure everything is as tight as it can be. As far as junk yard parts are concerned you are taking a chance just the same as you would buying anything second hand but at less than half the price I think it is worth the risk.

 

Most likely its a bushing problem. I'm not sure you need new hinge pins necessarily? There is a "kit" you can buy at like Autozone and Oreilly that has bushings that fix this problem. I just had the same problem and when my bumper repair was done I asked the body shop guy (a friend of mine) if he could level the door for me and he said "Piece of cake". I know he didn't put in hinge pins he simply installed some bushings which is what he said he would do to level it out. Now it works perfectly and no more sag.

From what I'm reading the reason the doors sag on these is that GM has used the same hinges they use on a 4-door model vehicle which of course is a lighter weight door. Putting that same hinge on a larger, heavier door results in sagging after time because its not meant to support the weight of that door.

Whether its true or untrue is anybodies guess I assume but I wouldn't doubt that GM would skimp on a door hinge.

 

Considering these cars have rivets insted of pins just changing the bushings is a BAD idea. Do you get the whole door with the hinges for $70? If not I'd pass. Hell i can buy all four hinges for $40 bucks

 

That kit sounds promising, but now I'm a little confused as to which way to go. To answer your question, my mechanic didn't remove the door, I assume he has encountered this same problem with other cars before, but I can mention the kit to him to see what he thinks.

To answer the other question, no the hinges I mentioned for $70.00 are just the hinges and not the whole door.

My door is sagging, but not falling off just yet. Problem is where the bottom corner of the door meets the body is the furthest point away opposite the hinge, so when I close it (unless I lift it) that corner is wearing a small groove in the runner, or rail, whatever you call that piece where the door closes on at the bottom.

Yeah, GM would skimp on a door hinge because they can later charge an unsuspecting customer $160.00 each for them!

 

You can always go the jy route? I'm sure there's some montes with low miles... It'll probably be a lot cheaper if you are up for doing it yourself..

 

My body shop guy simply lifted up on the door and there was probably ½" of play so he said he can fix that NP as he has fixed a lot of 'em.

I guess we'll see if it holds up. I have faith in him dudes been in business for like 20 years doing the same thing.

I bought a whole door with hinges included at LKQ off a 2001 Monte SS for like $20 (it was a holiday weekend with their 50% special). This Monte was made in February of '01 and my '01 in December or November of '00. First the wiring "block" didn't fit so we had to swap all the wiring out, secondly of course the door lock has to be changed, and thirdly we got the damn thing mounted and....VOILA' these door hinges sagged too.

So in closing I wouldn't recommend anything door or hinge wise from a J/Y on these cars. Chances are you are just swapping out your problem for someone elses.

 

Dorman makes a hinge pin and bushing set (#38490) and it is an improved design that replaces the rivots with bolts that can be tightened. This is by far the cheapest route and probably the best way to go

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it. This is definitely a problem that can be a tough decision on which is the best way to go about repairing it. I agree there's no way of knowing if JY hinges would be any better than what I have now, it's a crapshoot for sure. Only thing I knew was that the car they got the hinges off was less mileage than mine, but who knows if it wasn't some big heavy guy who owned it and always leaned on the door when it was open, right?

JuniorCar, I'll have to check on that hinge and bushing set you mentioned, any idea how much they cost? Can my regular mechanic install it or would it require a bodywork guy?

 

Its a diy