BILLET SUICIDE HINGE INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS

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1 BILLET SUICIDE HINGE INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS Note Before Installing Installing suicide hinges is a very involved project. These instructions are general in nature because every car and every install will be different. The person installing the hinges needs to be experienced with metal working, fabrication, welding, and paint preparation. It is important to install the hinges with the full weight of the vehicle on the suspension so that body alignment and door gaps don t change. Vehicle Preparation Start by removing the interior panels, door glass, door latch, and striker pin. Be sure to protect nearby glass, paint, and upholstery to avoid being burned when grinding and welding. Do not take the door off the factory hinges yet

2 Choosing A Location For The Hinge Carefully analyze the shape of your car s door, door frame, and body structure and choose the best place to mount the hinge. Place the mounts so the pivot point of the hinge are as close to the outer body skin as possible. Usually as far back as possible leaving enough room for the radius of the arc of the hinge clear the door opening works the best. If you have more than one hinge per door, it is critical to have the pivot pins lined up exactly with each other. Misalignment will cause the hinges to bind and the door will either be hard to open or not open at all, possibly causing damage to the hinges, body or door. Make sure that your hinge location will not interfere with the window tracks or any moving parts inside the door.

3 Installing The Hinge The steel flange Mounting Plates are intended to be welded to the inside of the body structure. Depending on the vehicle, it is sometimes necessary to recess the Mounting Plate and Flanges into the door jamb. The steel plates may need to be cut and modified to fit your application. Use the Mounting Plate as a template to trace the hole to be cut into the door jamb. Carefully cut the hole for the Mounting Plate. A tight fit is very important. Cutting the hole a little too small and final fitting with a file works well. Tack weld the Mounting Plate to the door jamb and bolt the hinge into place. Close the door and tack weld the door s mounting plate into position After you have the new hinge pockets securely tack welded into the jamb of the cab, and the door in its exact location, remove the pins in the factory hinges. DO NOT REMOVE THE HINGES YET, JUST THE PINS! The old hinges will help you prop the door in its original location and will help with final alignment. After the door is fastened in place you are ready to test it out. Swing the door open and closed to check for binding or clearance issues. You may notice that the door will drop about a 3/8 to a ½ inch when it slides off the factory hinge. This is happening because the inner door skin and door jamb is flexing. The door and the jamb structure must be reinforced to take the added stress of the door weight in both the closed and open positions. Determine which spots in the door and door jamb are weak and reinforce them with sheet metal.

4 After all door and jamb reinforcing is complete, you are ready to fully weld the hinge mounting plates into place. Wherever possible, weld the mount plates to the structure and not to the outer body skin. The factory hinges can also be removed now. Latching It is now the time to figure out where you want the new latch to be located. Directly in the center of the old hinges usually works well, unless something is in the way or the door s shape won t allow it. You don't want anything to cause problems with the operation of the new latch. Tack the latch plate into position and measure to figure out where the striker gets located. Cut a hole large enough for the striker to move freely and tack it into place. Test out the latch mechanism and make any adjustments to the strike pin that may be necessary. The strike pin is able to move around in every direction at least a half an inch, so getting it dialed in so the door shuts smoothly is pretty easy.

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