GMC 4107 Rubber Baggage Door Hinge Removal

[gus]

Help, I replaced one side of the lower hinge with SS hinges but I can't get the old rubber hinge in the other half to budge. The door has to be almost closed to get to the grooves, unfortunately the door is to the generator compartment and space is a wee bit crowded!

If I could close the door and work on it I could probably get it out but I don't have that option. I sure don't want to remove the whole door just to do this, this opens up another can of worms!

Is there some kind of special knife that would fit into the grooves and cut it out?

I'm afraid to hack it with a straight blade because it will break when I try to pull it out and it is almost impossible to get a straight blade into the groove.

It is soaking in penetrating oil right now so maybe tomorrow it will have loosened but I'm not optimistic.

[fraser8]

When I changed mine they were stuck pretty good, I soaked them with a light spray oil and wiggled them with a pair of needle nose pliers. The end of the track was pinched a bit and I had to open them up but the next day they slid right out with a couple of words of encouragement.

[Cary and Don]

Did you find those nasty little screws at the end of the track?  We drilled them out since they are usually so rusted they won't back out.  We cut the old hinge down the middle and pulled the two pieces separate.  There just isn't an easy way to do this job.  Thank goodness for metal hinges.  No more rubber.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340

[fraser8]

Oh, yes I forgot about the screws, all but two came out with a little help. They are tucked a little out of site.

[gus]

Cutting in half never occurred to me, sounds like a good idea.

I have them soaking in penetrating oil now so maybe when I return from this trip they will be more cooperative.

Yep, remembered the screws. Pretty hard to forget when it took vise grips to remove them. It is a mystery to me how little screws into Al and rubber can be so tight - they aren't more than 3/8 of an inch long either!

[FloridaCliff]

Gus,

I ended up cutting my first ones in half to get them out.

Others just slipped out, go figure.

I put Ed's hinges on the body mount and the rubber on the mid mount.

I have since replaced the rubber on a few doors, again.

But its a piece of cake on the middle hinge now...

Have Fun,

Cliff

[gus]

Cliff,

Mine are just the reverse, the SS hinges are at the middle hinge position. So far I was able to do this without removing the door and torsion bars. I only discovered it while replacing my genset, half the rubber was split right down the center so I replaced it with SS. I wanted to do the other half but got stuck when the rubber wouldn't come out, never had that happen in probably at least a dozen doors I've done, mostly on the 4104.

I replaced the body rubber hinge on the smaller forward door at the air tanks and heater coil last year but that door is pretty small. I hate to think about doing the large ones. The 4104 is a snap compared to this monster but the articulating doors are very nice when they work properly.

Of course once you install the SS hinges you are done for life with that door.

Anyway, this is all part of the bus experience I suppose!!

[Busgeek]

Some idiot (I'm an idiot also for hiring that nut case) cut the rubber hinges in half on the battery door and the fuel tank door.   Anyway good old WD 40 seems to work pretty well for help in both directions.   Busgeek.