THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

i bought the "door pinz" (from www.knuckledown.us) a while ago but never installed them, now its so hot here that i'm going to give driving without doors a try.

how do you remove the stock hinge pins?

i did some light tapping from below- nothing (maybe paint holding them in)… are they threaded into the lower knuckle of the leaf of the hinge? the pins have a flat edge and a groove on top- is that for a tool to remove them?

As I remember, the pins do just drive out, but with a fair amount of difficulty. The groove on top leads into a lubrication channel I believe. On mine it was all painted shut, of course. In the course of driving the pins out, I managed to misalign the hinges ever so slightly, so reinstalling the doors is a PIA. The fix is loosening the hinges, I guess, although I've never gotten around to that.

I'd try PB Blaster and patience. Maybe others can offer a trick.

yep they just tap out. Once again if the maintenance schedule is followed they come out rather easy. The slot is indeed for lubrication of the hinge. A well lubed hinge comes out without much difficulty so a penetrating oil should loosen things up a bit.

I ground the point off a 16 penny nail and pounded up from the bottom. Might need some oil to loosen.

Thanks for the tips, I was wondering the same thing. Looking forward to getting the doors off tonight! If I pioneer any new shortcuts or am struck by divine intervention in any way I'll post up.

tx Dave

thanks- that did it…
with a little more force they all came out.

and now i see that the groove does lead to a lubrication channel, which is cut into the pin in a spiral (amazing!).

I don't really have a close up of these, but you can see the
removable pins that I use to be able to take the doors off
whenever. Good to remove them when doing wheeling
in the desert or ease of entry during maintenance.

http://s400.photobucket.com/albums/pp88 ... 3362-1.jpg

There is also the old trick of using heat. To avoid paint damage http://real4x4forums.com/PinzgauerBBS/p ... =17&t=6394# try a heat gun instead of a torch. Often if the heat is applied quickly the exterior will expand before the pin ... then drive it out as per Krick3tt's suggestion.

Is Knuckledown still in business?

I literally removed them all in less than a minute with the aid of a air hammer..quick,easy no worries about frozen pins as they will quickly break free.

Ive looked at these pins many times but couldnt justify the cost. Are they not a standard sized safety pin that we could source from grainger or the like?

Knuckledown made these and other cool fabricated pieces for Pinzgauers but they might have fallen off the radar screen as there's a limited number of folks who are seeking these parts. Anything I ever got from them in the past was well made and reasonably prices for what it's worth.

Audio

http://www.mcmaster.com/#pins/=cmpknu

I think they are around $2, and for the ease of removal less than $10 is a bargain.

EDIT: Mine are 1/4 x 2 3/4 Get usable length by measuring your hinge.

Exactly! Any idea of the diameter and length needed?

If anyone is struggling with there pin removal, I have a hinge pin press that takes them out effortlessly, It is kinda like a modified C clamp specifically made to drive them out.