DIY Heavy Duty Hinges

[shu2kill]

Well, last week i made an over the spare cargo rack, and, as everybody knows (and i didnt until i made it), the hinges on the JK's tailgate are designed to hold the stock tire. Any more weight than that, and they start rattling.

So, when i posted my rack, some people told me it would be better to install Heavy Duty hinges. I started looking for them, as i didnt even knew those existed, and saw several starting at around $150. It seemed a lot for what i thought i could do myself.

And thats what i did. These are not exactly homemade, as I have access to a press brake. But other than that, i basically used a drill press and an angle grinder. It took me the best part of today, and of course these are not finished. I just finished enough to make them work. I still need to make them pretty.

Overall I spent about $25 in materials. The first $18 were for the 10 ft section of rectangular tube. I looked for 2.5" x 1", but all i could find was 3" x 2", so i used that one. And rest was for the bolts.

I didnt take a lot of pictures of the process, but its pretty straigh forward. Bend the 3" x 3/16" plate to form a C channel, and use the old hinge to mark and drill the holes.



At first i thought about using bushings, similar to the Gr8top hinge. But i decided it was overkill, and a 5/8" bolt would be enough.





This is what i have so far. I tested it on the road, and it feels strong. Tomorrow i will test it on a dirt road and see what happens.





Here the door was hanging low, but we adjusted it and now it opens and closes easily and smooth.



If they pass the rattle test, i will remove them to finish cutting them, drill another big hole in them similar to the Gr8top one, and paint them.

With the price of these, and the relatively easy process of making yourself, I wonder why i have not seen any homemade versions of these?? Maybe theres something i am missing??

 

[NatersXJ6]

Most people with the skills to build that probably make a bumper mount tire carrier and get the weight off their tailgate entirely. Even with those hinges you may eventually tear the mounting plate through the body at the hinge or tear the tailgate itself apart at your other mounts.

 

[shu2kill]

Yes, a rear bumper is next on the list. However i need more spare time that what i have right now to make one. I will start drawing it and hopefully I can make it sooner rather than later. The way the rack is made, i can easily cut it and weld it to the tire carrier without a problem.

 

[jscherb]

Most people with the skills to build that probably make a bumper mount tire carrier and get the weight off their tailgate entirely. Even with those hinges you may eventually tear the mounting plate through the body at the hinge or tear the tailgate itself apart at your other mounts.

The tub of the JK is reinforced very well at the hinge points. There are a number of tailgate reinforcement/HD hinge solutions on the market that rely on that reinforcement, such as the MORryde HD hinges+ tailgate reinforcement system and the Teraflex HD hinge, all of which have been on the market and trouble-free for a number of years.

The next thing shu2kill needs to think about is reinforcing the tailgate itself, the flex induced by the leverage of his rack is likely to cause some of the spot welds in the tailgate to break. The HD hinges will reduce the flex a bit because they're stiffer than the factory hinges, but they probably won't reduce it enough to prevent tailgate spot weld damage. He can either build a bumper/swing-away carrier as he's written, or build a reinforcement for the tailgate either can prevent tailgate spot weld breakage.

 

[shu2kill]

Thats correct Jscherb, i was thinking about welding or bolting the rack to the hinge, similar to the teraflex, and several others. This way the rack weight would be on the hinge itself. That would be a faster option that the entire bumper and tire carrier. I would really like a rear bumper, but besides not having enough time to make it, i tow a lot, and i would like to keep my stock hitch receiver. I could make a bumper that doesnt interfers with the receiver, but i have not looked to deep into it.

 

[jscherb]

These hinges are homemade too. I made them with different geometry than the factory hinges, the hinge pin is moved about 1" to the right of where the factory hinge pin is. This makes them "wide swing" hinges, and they provide 1" more clearance between the spare and the tail light when the tailgate is fully open which allows more room to mount things on the hinges such as a jerry can.

Compared to a factory hinge, you can see the difference in hinge pin location:

 

[shu2kill]

These hinges are homemade too. I made them with different geometry than the factory hinges, the hinge pin is moved about 1" to the right of where the factory hinge pin is. This makes them "wide swing" hinges, and they provide 1" more clearance between the spare and the tail light when the tailgate is fully open which allows more room to mount things on the hinges such as a jerry can.

Compared to a factory hinge, you can see the difference in hinge pin location:

Werent you the one who designed the ones sold by Gr8top?? I believe i was a post in another forum from a couple years ago, where you were anouncing these coming to the market soon.

 

[shu2kill]

The next thing shu2kill needs to think about is reinforcing the tailgate itself, the flex induced by the leverage of his rack is likely to cause some of the spot welds in the tailgate to break. The HD hinges will reduce the flex a bit because they're stiffer than the factory hinges, but they probably won't reduce it enough to prevent tailgate spot weld damage. He can either build a bumper/swing-away carrier as he's written, or build a reinforcement for the tailgate either can prevent tailgate spot weld breakage.

Thats what i did yesterday. I welded some 1" tubing to the rack mount, which bolts to the hinges.




Then, i welded a support for the rack. This made it really solid, and now a lot of weight is taken by the hinges directly and not only by the door. And since i had that space there, i made a shovel mount.

 

[jscherb]

Werent you the one who designed the ones sold by Gr8top?? I believe i was a post in another forum from a couple years ago, where you were anouncing these coming to the market soon.

Yes, I designed the TJ HD/wide swing hinges and the JK HD hinges, as well as the JK HD/wide swing hinges. The TJ hinges are manufactured by MORryde and sold by them and others, including Gr8Tops. The JK HD hinges are also manufactured by MORryde and sold by many retailers. The JK HD/Wide Swing hinges have not been put in production because I don't think there's enough demand for them to make production worthwhile.