I work for CA State Parks and the other day during an off-road chase one of our patrol vehicle's doors fell off. The truck was a 95' GMC Sonoma and the freakin' hinge was fastened to the truck with appoxy or glue. I drive a 96' chevy blazer and I do my fair share of off-roading to gain access to different spots in the backcountry but never for pleasure. Once our state rig went to crap I inspected my blazer and found the same crappy setup. I noticed that when the driver or passanger door swings open and hits the stopping point on the hinge it starts to break the bond and will slowley get worse with time. My bond is about half way broken and i never even considered this as a pottential problem. Just wanted to let y'all know before you loose your door on a trail ride or even worse the interstate.

Your door may have been glued on.... but mine's welded. Erm, perhaps years of bouncing off-road has just take it's toll on the weld? None of these trucks leave the factory with the doors held on with epoxy. That's just plain silly.

I'm fully capable of telling the difference between a weld and a glue job and there aint any welds on my ride or the GMC. What year is your truck? Maybe thats the model I'll shop for next time but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Same model year as your Sonoma. They ah, paint over the welds so they *look* and *feel* like some sort of hard plastic, but they are metal...trust me. That grey (or rusty) looking stuff you see when the joint has seperated - is steel. But, you know what? If you really think your doors have been glued on, talk to the dealership you got it from, or take your argument to either GM or the NHTSA. They love to hear things like this. You might even start a rash or recalls for all you know.

I am positive mine are glued cause the "grey rusty metal" is somewhat soft and spongey, i did notice their was a rectangular setting that was welded to the body and the hinge was glued to that. Everything appears welded when intact but once you rip off the door w/ the hinge still attached you can observe the problem. They paint over the whole thing, it's impossible to notice when it is still solid.

Take a picture and post it up

no digital camera, sorry

It has got to be some Good-ass glue to last ten years on a truck door hinge? I checked my door hinges and my glue is still holding strong as weld. :screwy:

What about the agency you work for?Say its for a research project

I work for CA State Parks and the other day during an off-road chase one of our patrol vehicle's doors fell off. The truck was a 95' GMC Sonoma and the freakin' hinge was fastened to the truck with appoxy or glue... ...I noticed that when the driver or passanger door swings open and hits the stopping point on the hinge it starts to break the bond and will slowley get worse with time. My bond is about half way broken...

Just go to your dealer parts counter and ask them for "GM heavy duty offroad door hinge epoxy" and you can fix it yourself. Make sure it's the offroad type, the regular stuff won't hold up as long.

Just go to your dealer parts counter and ask them for "GM heavy duty offroad door hinge epoxy" and you can fix it yourself. Make sure it's the offroad type, the regular stuff won't hold up as long.

Hehe.

Oi, and I thought I was subtle. :evillol:

No offence but are you or the people in your department heavy? I seen a lot of trucks were the doors are shot due to a heavy person. 99% of the time a heavy person will use the door for balance / lifting to get in and out of a truck.

Don't laugh about the glue. They are starting to use glue on a lot of the newer cars to put body panels on. They say the glue is stronger than any weld you can put to the metal. I don't know if they would use it on door hindges though, and 96 is too early of a year. They started using glue with in the last two years or so.

the did not ever use glue yeah maby on fenders but im sorry to tell u they are welded on the amount of force u have to put in to a door to berak it off is crazy some one prolly just opened the door and backed in to a pole and just to clear it up they dont use glue

Maybe theres some sealer on top of the hinge to stop water and dirt from collecting there and rusting the shxx out of them? I'll check my dads 99 tonight to see if its like his.

Just remember, Airplanes have the wings attached to the fusealage with tape now, so I'll take glued-on doors over a "Duct-Tape" plane any day.
(Although I doubt that the doors are glued on my '97- I hate flying)

I once worked with a guy who stripped the threads on the end of his steering column shaft where the steering wheel is held on by a nut. He kept messing it up while trying to rethread it, making it smaller and smaller. He finally broke it off completely. He then "fixed" it by attaching the wheel with JB weld! I don't know if he ever had it break loose but I sure as hell never rode in the car!

(EDIT: for those who might not know, JB weld is a two part epoxy)

I once worked with a guy who stripped the threads on the end of his steering column shaft where the steering wheel is held on by a nut. He kept messing it up while trying to rethread it, making it smaller and smaller. He finally broke it off completely. He then "fixed" it by attaching the wheel with JB weld! I don't know if he ever had it break loose but I sure as hell never rode in the car!

(EDIT: for those who might not know, JB weld is a two part epoxy)
Oh my god that's just great.. LMAO!! What Town an state does this guy live in, so if I see a car just barreling down on me I'll know it's the guy who put his steering wheel on with JB weld glue... :iceslolan :iceslolan :iceslolan

go to ur local gm dealer ship go to the body shop and ask for a estmate to get ur doors glued on they will probally ask if ur joking