Earlier this year I picked up a set of his quick release hinges with the intention of either building some solid half doors or tube doors. The hard doors are nice as they keep mud out, and your junk from rolling out. But tube doors are lighter, easier to store, and block even less of your view.
Well Thursday I am heading out for a offroad event I have been planning on attending for a couple months now. I was all set to take my FJ40 up till the other weekend when I installed a new throwout bearing. Being the impatient moron I can be at times, I didn't realize that I knocked the clutch out of alignment and tried to force the tranny back in. The end result? Busted the clutch plate, and with only 10 days before the event at the time I was not about to try to order up the parts and repair it. So I opted to take my truck up there instead.
The new clutch kit would have set me back $200, plus shipping and getting the fly wheel recut. So I took that money and invested in a set of tube doors from Adam. The shipping was delayed a few days as he was out of town, but they did arrive Saturday. So right away I ripped into the package and pulled them out. I had pulled my drivers side door off before hand, and quickly mounted up the new tube door to see how it looked. After that I painted them up, and picked up a set of mirrors. Of course I thought of welding a bolt to the doors after I painted them, but the mirrors work out very well where I mounted them
The door latch setup works very well, it would be nice to have a spring loaded setup that worked like the factory doors. But less moving parts means one less thing to worry about failing.
The door hinges on the other hand, I am having issues with them. This spring I installed the drivers side hinges, but not the passenger side. Over time the lower hinge pin worked its way out, and broke the retaining clip. I replaced the pin with one of the others from the passenger side hinges I had yet to install. Now when I went to pull the drivers side door off... I was able to remove the passenger side pin, but the upper pin would not budge. I ended up having to drive it out with a 3lb mallet and a long punch, and screw driver.
I remembered reading on pirate, on people having issues with them as well. And someone either suggested or switched to 5/16 pins. So I figured I would just do that, easy right? Thankfully I am a smart one at times... and I only did this to the passenger side hinges. I found out the larger head on the 5/16 pins do not clear the bolts, at all
. I was still able to fit the tube doors on with them though, and didn't worry about it till I went to put the hard doors back on. I tried to get them to work, but ended up using the stock hinges to put the passnger door back on.
After dinner I checked to see what time Mendards closed, and with a hour to spare I drove my way there to see what I could find for a clevis pin. Unfourtunatly they only had 2" long pins in the 5/16" size I was in need of. I needed at least 2 1/4" if I was going to use one per hinge. So I grabbed 4 of them, with the plan to use two pins per hinge, 4 per door. I cut two of the pins last night, and assembled one of the hinges. Seems to operate very smooth, and the pins go in and out without any fuss. However I did not feel like pulling my passenger door off again last night, so I will be trying them out on the truck tonight after work. I have a good feeling about this setup, and can't wait to see how it works.
Ohh and one last thing... I did slot my stock hinges after giving up on the 4xinnovation hinges for the passenger side last night. I don't like that setup at all
Right now the drivers side hinges are lined up perfectly, and both sets of doors close like they should without any adjusting between swaps.
Pics!
I can't wait to wheel with the new doors later this week
Well Thursday I am heading out for a offroad event I have been planning on attending for a couple months now. I was all set to take my FJ40 up till the other weekend when I installed a new throwout bearing. Being the impatient moron I can be at times, I didn't realize that I knocked the clutch out of alignment and tried to force the tranny back in. The end result? Busted the clutch plate, and with only 10 days before the event at the time I was not about to try to order up the parts and repair it. So I opted to take my truck up there instead.
The new clutch kit would have set me back $200, plus shipping and getting the fly wheel recut. So I took that money and invested in a set of tube doors from Adam. The shipping was delayed a few days as he was out of town, but they did arrive Saturday. So right away I ripped into the package and pulled them out. I had pulled my drivers side door off before hand, and quickly mounted up the new tube door to see how it looked. After that I painted them up, and picked up a set of mirrors. Of course I thought of welding a bolt to the doors after I painted them, but the mirrors work out very well where I mounted them
The door latch setup works very well, it would be nice to have a spring loaded setup that worked like the factory doors. But less moving parts means one less thing to worry about failing.
The door hinges on the other hand, I am having issues with them. This spring I installed the drivers side hinges, but not the passenger side. Over time the lower hinge pin worked its way out, and broke the retaining clip. I replaced the pin with one of the others from the passenger side hinges I had yet to install. Now when I went to pull the drivers side door off... I was able to remove the passenger side pin, but the upper pin would not budge. I ended up having to drive it out with a 3lb mallet and a long punch, and screw driver.
I remembered reading on pirate, on people having issues with them as well. And someone either suggested or switched to 5/16 pins. So I figured I would just do that, easy right? Thankfully I am a smart one at times... and I only did this to the passenger side hinges. I found out the larger head on the 5/16 pins do not clear the bolts, at all
. I was still able to fit the tube doors on with them though, and didn't worry about it till I went to put the hard doors back on. I tried to get them to work, but ended up using the stock hinges to put the passnger door back on.After dinner I checked to see what time Mendards closed, and with a hour to spare I drove my way there to see what I could find for a clevis pin. Unfourtunatly they only had 2" long pins in the 5/16" size I was in need of. I needed at least 2 1/4" if I was going to use one per hinge. So I grabbed 4 of them, with the plan to use two pins per hinge, 4 per door. I cut two of the pins last night, and assembled one of the hinges. Seems to operate very smooth, and the pins go in and out without any fuss. However I did not feel like pulling my passenger door off again last night, so I will be trying them out on the truck tonight after work. I have a good feeling about this setup, and can't wait to see how it works.
Ohh and one last thing... I did slot my stock hinges after giving up on the 4xinnovation hinges for the passenger side last night. I don't like that setup at all
Right now the drivers side hinges are lined up perfectly, and both sets of doors close like they should without any adjusting between swaps.Pics!
I can't wait to wheel with the new doors later this week
I put the passenger side tube door against a couple trees, while navigating through some very tight trails. And it was much easier to see what my front drivers side tire was doing.
