Replacing rusty door hinges. Anyone tried it?

mikefishes

mikefishes

New member
I've been noticing that the door hinges and the hood hinges are "bubbling" from rust under the paint. It would seem like a simple enough project to order some replacement hinges, shoot the in a black rustoleum and replace them. However, I can't tell if the were painted after they were assembled. Has anyone replaced theirs? Was it a pain ?
 
The hinges are made from aluminum. The bubbling is not rust, it is caused by dissimilar metals in contact with each other. Aluminum hinges and sheet metal doors.
 
Moochie said:
The hinges are made from aluminum. The bubbling is not rust, it is caused by dissimilar metals in contact with each other. Aluminum hinges and sheet metal doors.
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Good to know! With that being said, what do I do to rectify the problem?
 
Moochie said:
The hinges are made from aluminum. The bubbling is not rust, it is caused by dissimilar metals in contact with each other. Aluminum hinges and sheet metal doors.
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I didn't know about this...is it a problem, or just something you can live (or not) with?
 
Some people have had luck with the dealership fixing this. My hinges have a little bit of bubbling, not enough to bother me. I guess it depends on how bad it is.
 
Moochie said:
The hinges are made from aluminum. The bubbling is not rust, it is caused by dissimilar metals in contact with each other. Aluminum hinges and sheet metal doors.
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Moochie, you just BLEW MY MIND. Wow. I always wondered how something could rust underneath the paint. My last JK had the bubbling hinges too.
 
Are you certain the hinges are aluminum? I really don't think they are. Also, the JK is painted with the hinges already in place, so I don't think it's galvanic corrosion but rather good old water seeping underneath the hinge and rotting from the inside. Im going to go take a magnet to the hinge and check though...
 
wayoflife said:
The black hinges actually look kinda nice :cool:
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Agreed, Probably going to do that with mine whan I get it.

BTW, if the hinges are aluminum, the bubbling is not rust and actually a form of electrolysis called "Galvanic Corrosion ". Mixing metals does this, and essentially it is caused an electric charge between the metals causing "corrosion". Think of a battery without the acid. This is why you should always put anti-seize on your spark plugs when they go into an aluminum head, as the corrosion will eventually lock them in place and you'll tear out the threads of the head if you try to get them out due to the softness of aluminum to the steel. For these, if they are aluminum, as long as there is a paint/primer layer between them they should be ok, but if at the factory there was a scratch on the primer, and the metals contact, or they failed to coat the bolts with anti-seize the aluminum may start "bubbles" under the paint.

PS> Didn't see that the Galvinic was mentioned above as I was still typing myy responce..
 
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wvjeepin said:
They are galvanized steel. Not aluminum at least on my jk
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Thats what I thought. The door catch is aluminum, but the hinges are not. They are also painted ON the jeep (according to the video I have seen of Jeep's paint process) so underneath is very little protection. I would pay an extra $3000 for a Wrangler with an aluminum body.
 
NFRs2000NYC said:
Thats what I thought. The door catch is aluminum, but the hinges are not. They are also painted ON the jeep (according to the video I have seen of Jeep's paint process) so underneath is very little protection. I would pay an extra $3000 for a Wrangler with an aluminum body.
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Pretty sure mine are but, not positive. There is some info floating around on the Internet that 2007 / 2008 wranglers have aluminum hinges. I've not tested them.
 
Mine was bubbling too, the one right under the mirror, driver side....I bought a new hinge and had it painted professionally to match.
 
Moochie said:
Pretty sure mine are but, not positive. There is some info floating around on the Internet that 2007 / 2008 wranglers have aluminum hinges. I've not tested them.
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Simple test....go grab a magnet and see if it sticks. If yes, steel. If not, aluminum.
 
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