Hi All,
The importance of hinge failure is hereby reaffirmed!! Lost the AC door recently and now understand that latches are no guarantee that the doors will not fly off if the hinge fails. If anyone has an '06 that they are parting out with a good AC door, please let me know as I need it. And no the electrical door will not fit. The AC door is only 14" wide and the electrical cmpt. door is much wider.
Also, I have conflicting opinions on hinges. But tend to lean towards the metal ones. Anyone know where we can get them and how much they cost. Need them for 04 and 06.
Bill Thomas
On my 4104, the previous owner had installed safety straps on each door in case of hinge failure. A simple and inexpensive solution. I think pieces of an old serpentine belt would work well.
Sorry for the loss, I lost the baggage door on my 5B last summer, went down the the road about a mile to
around , when I got back it was gone. I would guess it was picked up and taken to a salvage yard for scrap.
Stainless steel hinges are on the top of my list!
Steve 5B.....
Bill -
Ed Gallup sells the stainless hinges. His email is edannbus@aol.com IIRC.
I'm pretty sure Ted Campbell at Coach Maintenance up in Williams (2.5 hr drive away) will have the A/C compartment door for you, he's got quite a few '06's on the property. Just remember that he doesn't come to work until after 4 pm, email seems to be best. Google Coach Maintenance Williams CA.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
PS: Not sure about the Yahoo GMCbusnuts group. Yahell hiccups now and then, try later?
Hi All,
Thanks for the responses. It has been quite interesting discussing these hinges. I think it was Ron Brown who said that his coach has rubber hinges that are still good since 1981. Hard to believe, but I guess the good hinges will last while the junk stuff can last as short as 6 weeks like the present one I installed on a big door on my '06. In discussing with Bruce from Paradise CA, he is a fan of the rubber hinges as he says it prevents water from getting into the bays. He also says there was defective rubber hinge material that hit the market years ago and got everyone dead set against rubber hinges. He told me to use a 30 caliber rifle cleaning tool available at most stores that sell guns. I will be getting that today. He says it is about 3 feet long and can be used to adequately clean the door groove so that installation of the rubber hing is reasonable. I don't know if any of you have tried doing it without getting it clean, but I wiped out at least three long rubber hinges by failing to get the groove clean enough. The upper one generally is clean enough that you don't need to run the cleaning tool through it. Joe Alvarez has the SS hinges and is happy with them and says he doesn't get water in the bays with the SS hinges.
My friend Robert sold me a door with a hole in it for $50 and I went and picked it up yesterday. So we are good on the road until I find a nicer door.
And yes the safety straps are a great idea. Bill T. '04 & '06
Your doors have weatherstripping around edges to keep water out. The only time the hinges are exposed is when the doors are open. Also, the stainless hinges Ed sells are great. They even take up for the warp and bends on the old doors. I had one that would last about 1 year the replaced rubbbers again. Have not replaced the stainless ones. If you use the rubber, use a silicone pure lube. Dallas suggested Astro glyde at CVS drugstore. It works and I don't know why he bought the first tube.
Big John