Rubber hinge for 4107 bay doors

[Geom]

I was closing one of the bay doors this afternoon and noticed one of them was a bit wobbly. Upon further inspection, I found that the rubber hinge that attaches to the bay door (in the middle, not the top), that is attached to a flat metal fulcrum piece in the middle, had sheered off and was split up to about half of the bay door's width.

Any idea where I can get more of that material?
Any suggestions or advice on removing the old material to install the new?
Any specific warnings or concerns about doing this myself?
I've heard that it can be a pita to replace the rubber hinge piece that actually attaches to the bus, at the top of the bay door.
Not sure how easy this middle piece will be. Looks like there are a lot of bolts holding it to the door.

Thanks in advance.

[Beesme]

Hi geom . I got mine and other things from bus services Sharon springs Kansas zip 67758 I think it was Kansas I can't read it very well lol but phone is 615 666 8500 they were awesome and fast!

[mung]

Speaking of hinges, is there a way to convert the doors on a 4104 to be the type like the newer busses have that lift up instead of out?

[chessie4905]

    Probably could be done with a lot of engineering, but not practical.

[mung]

Someone needs to make a kit!

[gus]

You need to experience changing the gaskets on a 4107 before you decide your 4104 needs that type doors!!

[sdc53]

Had to do this on a couple of my doors right after I bought it. Kind of a pain. Get a friend to help you. You need to relieve the tension off the torsion bars first. There is a procedure in da book, but I didn't follow it to the letter. 
The bars will hurt you if you aren't careful. One of them grazed my finger and it hurt. Would have been bad if I was really in the way.
There are 3-4 little screws that retain the old rubber. Once you remove them, the old rubber will slide right out. Getting the new rubber in is hard, we propped the doors up with a garbage can turned on its side and worked it in with soapy water. Clean the slots first with a small bottle brush or something.  Once you do one, the rest will go faster.

[RJ]

An initially more expensive, but less costly in the long run, solution are the stainless steel hinges.

edannbus@aol.com is your source.

Once done, you're done.

If you want to stick to the OEM style, give Luke a call: 1-888-262-2434 

FWIW & HTH. . .

[pabusnut]

I am with RJ--the stainless hinges from Ed Gallant are the way to go.  I have replaced a couple of mine, and will do the rest eventually.

Either way, rubber or stainless, we probably wouldn't ever have to worry about it again!

Steve Toomey
PAbusnut

[Purplewillie]

I too am with Russ and Steve on this having tryed the rubber hinge and then doing 2 of my 6 bay doors with Eds kits

[Geom]

Bruce, RJ, thanks  for the advice and places to shop for replacement hinges.

The PO had replaced the hinges along the top of one of the bay doors with the stainless ones. I'm not sure I like them better as that's the only door that seems to stick on opening. The door sits just slightly closer to the body and catches on the lip where the rubber hinge used to be. Could also be a bad strut. They left a bag full of those hinges for future replacements. So, would I be able to just replace the rubber pieces with these stainless hinges the same way along the top as well as in the middle? Is the range of motion the same?

Scott, in looking at the range of travel on the struts, it looks like they should be pretty much extended when the bay door is directly in the middle and that middle support piece is perpendicular to it.  
So were you able to remove the old rubber and install the new without removing the bolts holding the support arm to the door?

Thanks again for the help.

[gus]

It helps a lot to use a gun bore brush to thoroughly clean the grooves before trying to install new hinges, especially for rubber ones.

And, once the doors close properly be sure to install SS screws into rubber hinges. Those doors are to pretty close tolerances and will not close properly if allowed to move even slightly.