I got a little off the trail at the MAR 2013 event in Va this past Sept, and with my rear end downhill and hanging a bit off the trail to my right, I made the mistake of opening the rear gate to get some recovery gear. Needless to say, the rear gate with the weight of the spare at that severe angle took off out of my hand as soon as I got it unlatched and sprung the rear door hinges. I used a ratchet strap to keep it closed to get back to camp and then loosened the hinges to get it in the first notch to keep it shut. Used the rachet strap the rest of the trip just to make sure it stayed closed. Ratchet strap made the next trip to URE in Oct as well.



Rovaguy got me a set of used rear gate hinges promptly, and in the color I needed. Thanks Will! I hauled them around for a couple months now, and I finally got around to swapping them out. I thought at first I would remove the entire gate, but I ended up just removing the rear gate interior panel, and removing one hinge at a time. Two bolts per hinge inside the rear gate, one near the hinge/door frame under black plastic pop-off cap and the other further in the door under the clear plastic that covers the door under the door panel. Two bolts for each hinge inside the rear gate. I have a steel rear bumper, and it worked as a bit of a support, but when re-installing the replacement hinges, I bolted them in the gate and then did require some assistance lifting the gate and manipulating its position while I bolted the hinge to the body. Once I had both replaced, I had to do a little adjusting to get it to line-up well. 13mm socket takes care of the 3 bolts on each hinge at the body and the 2 bolts for each hinge support in the rear gate.

I also had to cut two rivets that were in the lower hinge where it enters the rear gate where it has a flange that mates up to the inside of the door frame on the gate side for added support. I will have to go back at some point a find the proper size rivets and put them back in. I used a Dremel cutting wheel just to cut across the head a few different ways until the rivet began to come a part. I then drove an old flat blade screwdriver up under the flange to pry the remaining bits of the rivet off and loosen the flange from the gate. When replacing them I noted that the top hinge really looked fine, and was not out of shape, just the bottom, but I replaced them both anyway, as I had already removed the top one first. I also noted a little rust under the hinges where they mount to the body, so did some light sanding and put some rust-o-leum rust stop in that area to slow down the rust before putting it back together.

For now, just the hinge bolts are doing the job, and the flange is resting slush on the inside of the door frame on the rear gate side. All in all, much easier than I had thought it would be. If you have never removed the rear gate door panel, an inexpensive door panel removal tool is a good deal. I had removed mine a few times before with a putty knife and a wide flat blade screwdriver. Tore up the panel a bit and broke a lot of the red push connectors. You can get the replacement red push connectors a few places at a pretty good price on the Internet, not the dealer like I bought my first few a couple years back. Good to get some of these in advance, like 10-12 or so. They break pretty easy, even with the door panel removal tool I broke 6 this time around.

FYI, there are a total of 20 red push connectors on the rear gate door panel, and a small phillips head screw in bottom of the cupped out trim that creates the trim for the rear gate interior door handle. That and the 6 phillip screws for the sub-woofer speaker screen cover, and the 4-6 screws for the speaker housing that are under that screen is all that holds those pieces to the rear gate. The push connectors are around the outside all the way around the door panel.

Rear Gate Red Push Connectors for door panel http://www.rovahfarm.com/DiscoIBodyChassis.htm

 

great job- Same happened to me while sideways on a trail: opened the back door and BAM! torqued the hinges... went back home, drilled out rivets, removed bolts and hinges altogether; hammered the hinges flat- put it all back together and was seriously better fit than new.

 

I would of normally drilled out the rivets, but with the gate still attached, I did not have a close quarter drill to get a good angle to drill out the rivets, so Dremel cutting wheel was called in for the tasks. Were you able to use a regular pop-rivet tool or are these rivets so large that they require a larger than normal rivet tool? The center pin of the rivet seemed to be pretty beefy, but not sure. I have a rivet tool and a good collection of rivets, but thought the rivet seemed bigger than anything I may have, but will have to take a closer look. I may have what I need already sitting in the garage.

Russ, how long since you have been in Lexington?

 

Sounds like a 1/4" rivet, Harbor Freight has a reasonably priced 1/4" rivet tool.

 

Hey there Tony, not sure what size I used- had an assortment set from Northern Tool- I will check in AM. I've been paroled from Lexington since '92! HA still make it back for commissioning, parades, etc. once in a while. I'm from Miami, so FL is now home!

 

I finished in Blacksburg in '86, give me a shout if you get back this way and have an hour or two to kill I will pick you up and run a couple trails near Lexington.

 

My hinges were bent once. I just removed them from the door and bent them back to form in a vise. Still working good since.