The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk LMC door hinge pins

Received my windows, door weatherstrip, hinge springs and replacement hinge pins from LMC today. There is no way the replacement hinge pins will fit the hinges on my 49 Sub. The original pins that I drove out of the hinges measure 5/16"(.312) diameter by 2 1/4"long. The replacement pins are .340 diameter by 4" long. In a plastic bag with a tag saying made in Tiawan. There also were brass bushings furnished with the pins. The originals are not bushed. They are listed in their catalog to fit 1947 and up Chevrolet & GMC. I called their customer service and talked to Carolyn. I tried to explain that these pins should not be advertised for 47/54 because they don't fit They are simply too big. She said they will look into it. I am sending them back ( I pay shipping of course) for a refund. If you are ordering replacement pins for your 47/54 from any of the suppliers don't expect them to fit. JC and Chevys of the 40s sell the same kits. Another learning experience. I think I am going to use 5/16 AN aircraft bolts with castle nuts and cotter pins.

Weeds

Weeds,

Is this like the kit your received? I used a few of these kits a month ago (they were bought about 2 months ago).

You could also take your hinges to a parts shop and see if they have over-sized hinges (you'd drill the holes to fit and probably cut the pin to length) - NAPA usually has pins.

Tim, yes that is the kit. I have a pretty complete machine shop. Lathe, Bridgeport mill etc. I could have machined the hinges to fit. All I wanted to do was drive the old pins out and install the new pins. Can't do it with this kit. It should not be advertised as fitting the 47/54 trucks. I hope LMC looks into it. I may try NAPA before I resort to bolts.

Weeds

Those kits are wrong, I agree. You pretty much have to find the closest pin for your hinges. As you say they didn't have bushings.

Some searching will lead you to websites that show pictures and explain how to use the kit which is somewhat self evident and I think you understand it already. People who reported installing these kits seemed pleased with the results. I have not found any vendors selling stock sized replacement pins. Most people seem to indicate the wear is in the hinge parts, not the pin since the pin often freezes in the strap part of the hinge and then wears the "cage" part of the hinge.

The oversize pins Jim Carter sells do not use the brass bushings. I used his on my hinges since it did not seem to make sense to carry the door load on two small bushings vs. the entire door strap. The oversize drilling was very easy and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Chuck

Made in Taiwan! Again more offshore garbage! I had a set of clamps with Grade 8 bolts to hold the u-joint trunion in place on my torque tube 49. The bolts were hardly Grade 8 and they almost looked like they were cast! The holes in the were bigger than the bolt heads! Made in China! This time from a supposedly reliable Chevy car/truck supplier. They also sold me a bed mounting kit and the holes in the cupped washers were bigger than the bolt heads!

I did the same thing for my 54 3100. I bought pins from LMC realized that they were not right. Called customer service and the gal told me that I had to drill the hinge holes bigger and install the brass pins and cut the pin to the right length. That made a relatively simple job that much more difficult. But I got it done four hours later.