I’m looking at changing the door pins on 1994 GMC truck. It says A bit. Not really an issue just have time on my hands. Anyone done this before? Is it difficult? Will the housing be wore, will it fix the sag
Rockauto sells a Dorman pin/bushing set for about $5 each:
http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=13966&cc=1146169&jsn=486
I changed the dood pin’s on my F150 it is not a hard job most of he wear was the pin;s with a little wear on the housing it made a big difference in opening & closing.
If you have access to a cherry picker engine lift the job will be much easier. I found that wrapping a tow strap under the door and through the window opening on alternate sides at the top will support the door’s weight. If a cherry picker is not available my old DIY method was to lay a 10 foot length of 2x4 on the roof(padded) and attach the strap on the door and on the opposite side attach a weight at the proper location to offset the weight of the door. The tension lifting on the door should be as near neutral as possible.With the door properly secured remove the spring from the detent, the lower pin and then the upper. Pay attention to the old bushings’ placement of the thrust ring. If you insert one wrong it’s near impossible to get it out without damaging it. Replacing worn door pins and bushings saves the door latch and doing so is well worth the effort.
Just a note here. I have accumulated dozens of bushings and pins because when I buy the HELP package for my application it’s often incorrect. You might measure and closely compare the new parts to the old ones in the door to hopefully save a trip.
And dab some white grease on the inside of the bushings before installing the pins.
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Alrighty then, Very good. Thanks guys
I’ve changed mine, it’s fairly easy. I would buy a door spring tool 10-$15. Otherwise the spring is very hard to get back in. I just put a floor jack under the door while someone else held it. Knock the pins out with a chisel or screwdriver. Press the bushings in with a bolt, washer, socket set-up or tap in evenly with piece of wood. The bushings will crack if you bang them in crooked.
You can buy the pins and bushings at pretty much any auto parts store . . . no need to pay s/h
A word of advice . . . if you’ve let them go too long, the hole where the bushings press in will be worn out, and it won’t be a long lasting repair
Worst case scenario, you can buy door hinge kits, but it’s a lot more work
Assuming the hole I mentioned is not already hogged out, yes the pins and bushing will fix the sagging
And yes, I HAVE done this before, several times
Just remembered something else . . . if you’ve let it go too long, the hinges can also start tearing off the doors and a pillar. If that happens, even new hinges will not be enough, as you’ll have to figure out a way to repair the underlying door and/or a-pillar. This sometimes happens to guys who have ignored their sagging doors for 5 years, as an example
Pickup doors, unlike large 2 door automobiles, usually don’t get too seriously damaged at the bushings or the door pillar. I recall Monte Carlos were a real pain though.
I have seen quite a few exceptions to your “rule” 
Monte Carlo had some big azz doors. I know. I rolled one. Landed upside down a few feet from the lake
I guess like so many other things it’s a ‘relative’ situation regarding the damage and also the difficulty getting the doors off and back on.
I will conquer this dang thing. I just lifted the door and the bushings are gone. Door closes fine but you can see the sag in the body line. Its a pretty truck. Kept in shed…I’m thinkin I bring it back to proper. 100%
Perhaps I see really bad examples, because I’m a fleet mechanic, and the vehicle operators clearly won’t treat the vehicle as if it were their own. They also tend to let things for a long time, before complaining
I worked on several fleets and the two largest were very particular about their trucks due to their high profile businesses but the others were mostly interested in keeping everything running while watching the money closely. The top 2 wanted everything looking and operating like new till they were pulled off the road. Door hinges, spot painting bumpers, replacing weather stripping on doors, etc., was just part of normal maintenance. The money was good and the complaints few though.
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I had the same problem with a worn hinge pin and a sagging door on my 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass when it was 22 years old. I took it to an independent body shop and was told that I would have to find the replacement part and my best bet would be a recycling yard. I figured that cars 22 years old had long since been crushed, so I decided to go to the Olds agency where I bought the car. The Olds dealer had a body shop. When I drove in and showed the service writer the problem, he got the woman who managed the body shop. She looked at the problem and said, “I don’t think we can get parts like this for a car this old”. I replied, Ma"am, I am really disappointed. I was told when I bought this car new from this very dealership that parts and service would always be available". “We didn’t expect you to keep the car 22 years and drive it 224,000 miles, but I’ll see what I can do”. She then went back into the body shop and came back with a big fellow named Bruce. Bruce was carrying a sledge hammer, a big drift pin and a large box end wrench. He loosened the bolts holding the hinge to the door frame, put the drift pin against the bottom of the hinge, pounded on the pin with the sledge hammer and tightened the bolts. The door worked perfectly. When I asked about the cost, I was told “No charge. We guarantee these babies 25 years or 250,000 miles”. Maybe the same technique Bruce used to fix my door will work on his truck.
Very Good
Thank you