opened the drivers door & something went POP

[Ratical2]

Thanks Radical, Did all that Last Night! You know of all the tips in the different sections I don't recall ever seeing one about this particular problem, maybe it needs to be added. If I had known I definitely would have lubed it, but like you said earlier it seems like this piece just gets brittle & all the lube in the world might not help it. jmo

Don't get me wrong, I do believe the lube helps. If you look at the design of stay and spring. without lube, as you open the door, the stay drags on the spring, stretching it as it is depresses it. Then, as you close the door, without lube, the spring get compressed as it is being depressed before it released.
As a previous poster stated, it is a little more complicated and the lube does minimized the compression and stretching of the spring, but doesn't eliminate the problem caused by material composition and/or improper hardening.

 

[LifeIsGood]

I don't know how I missed this thread originally, but it definitely hit home with my viper. I've been noticing that the driver's door was harder to open/close, like it was hanging on something maybe. I cleaned up the hinges and applied the lithium grease...and voila...

Before...

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Cleaned-up...

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and White Lithium Grease applied...

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[Ratical2]

And the award for Best Pictures goes to..... LifeIsGood! Great Job!

 

[mattdillon]

And the award for Best Pictures goes to..... LifeIsGood! Great Job!

SEE, LifeIsGood you could have solved all this from the beginning! LOL! If you can't tell by those Pics, then you's just not gonna git it. jmo

 

[Fatboy 18]

And the award for Best Pictures goes to..... LifeIsGood! Great Job!

+1 Great shots

 

[mattdillon]

Well took my car to my body shop guy & told him to check & see how much it would be to fix the door (my little thingy broke off) & he showed me on his computer (part #5245109 door hinge) & it was $274, needless to say I'll be joining some of you on here that said they just learn to live with it(it just doesn't stay open, that no big deal), but door needed to be lifted just a lil' bit so I told him to do that & call me when it's ready & he also installed the trunk shock. I've already seen that & it's amazing how much difference it is not having to open & hold the trunk up when your hands are full. jmo

 

[Fatboy 18]

OK, here's my shots

So after removing the cover in front of the door and doing a bit of a clean up I found this!

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You can clearly see where the 'outer' sprung steel plate had cracked and broken away!

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This was the cracked part that had broken away and was lying at the bottom of the door in an upright position.

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Here's another pic of the damaged part

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So I carefully drilled out the rivet with the hinge still mounted on the car, If you do this beware of the front door edge, make sure you protect it
...this is what your left with.

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So there you are, the Inner sprung steel plate (top) and the 'outer' plate (bottom) removed from the car.

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[Ratical2]

Thanks for the pictures. Glad that your hinge piece didn't damage the door skin like mine. I really believe the Chrysler owes us owners a free re-engineered replacement hinges for such poor engineering. I won't be holding my breath, however. The material should never crack like that. When one breaks that's one thing. But the failure rate for this part appears to be quite significant.

 

[mattdillon]

Dang Fatboy, was you holding out on us. Awesome Pics, those look just like if they came off my car. Thanks for Sharing!

 

[Fatboy 18]

I thought I had posted those pics some time ago, but turns out I never did! Sorry

 

[mattdillon]

I thought I had posted those pics some time ago, but turns out I never did! Sorry

Hey better late than never, so your door is fine now! Be my luck the passenger door will be next(after seeing the clean pics they just look so fragile). I wonder if anybody's ever had BOTH of them break.

 

[nismobrown]

I went for a drive to buy beer 4 years ago in my old car 12000 mile 99 gts, opened my drivers door and heard a cracking noise.

what a nightmare , the door stuck open and would not close. ( the lug on the door went past the broken spring and locked behind it with no way of forcing it back without damaging the door) the broken part damaged the bottom of the door but I was lucky it could have been far worse.

I had a choice , drive home on our country roads with a 10 foot wide viper or ring my brother to rescue me with a cordless drill to remove the rivet.

what made it worse I had to drill it out outside the shop with an audience.

if my 97 gts hinge breaks I will leave it , it is damage to the door waiting to happen.

 

[mattdillon]

Wow, what a story. At least mine was in the garage, you just proved it could always be worst no matter the situation.

 

[Fatboy 18]

That's it then, we all need to now carry a cordless drill, Just in case!

 

[nismobrown]

That's it then, we all need to now carry a cordless drill, Just in case!

and a 8mm socket

 

[mattdillon]

OR, Just DON'T Run Out of BEER! Lol

 

[AHudson777]

Well took my car to my body shop guy & told him to check & see how much it would be to fix the door (my little thingy broke off) & he showed me on his computer (part #5245109 door hinge) & it was $274, needless to say I'll be joining some of you on here that said they just learn to live with it(it just doesn't stay open, that no big deal), but door needed to be lifted just a lil' bit so I told him to do that & call me when it's ready & he also installed the trunk shock. I've already seen that & it's amazing how much difference it is not having to open & hold the trunk up when your hands are full. jmo

I did that for a few months. Got sick of the door closing back on my leg, or me swinging it back out repeatedly. Then, another negative. An older gentleman friend of mine wanted to sit in the Viper. Said 'sure' of course, so as he's getting out, the door swings back toward him and he instinctively pushes it back open, since no 'stop', it hits my Pantera door, puts the only ding in it I have to this day.

At that moment, said nothing, but decided to get the door fixed. Glad I did. Just get a good used one (I bought two) and do it. Not that hard, promise.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Oh that's a terrible story Pantera's are fab cars, what colour is yours? We get a few turn up now and again at the Goodwood circuit

 

[AHudson777]

Oh that's a terrible story Pantera's are fab cars, what colour is yours? We get a few turn up now and again at the Goodwood circuit

Sorry to jump off topic for a sec -

It's 'Ford Dark Green', a rare color for the last year imported (1974). Has stealth adjustable suspension, virtually indetectable motor upgrades (not a bling fan), but 10" and 8" Euro Campys. Car is crazy fun, vintage thrilling. Johnny Woods is a big time UK Pantera guy, maybe he goes to Goodwood?

Thanks for your interest.

 

[mattdillon]

Fatboy, didn't you FIX yours, you just replaced the original piece that broke with a steel one!

 

[Fatboy 18]

No Ive not fixed it yet, Im hoping to find a Sprung steel manufacture and see if we could get some replacements made up No Idea on costings but Its one of those jobs on my list to get round to doing. I wonder if these sprung plates are used on other cars? If so I could go and raid a Salvage yard?

 

[gtex]

just discovered the same issue with my '97. was going to post pics but they look just like the one's above. sounds like we need a group rate fix

 

[Fatboy 18]

UPDATE, UPDATE Jonb is now selling a repair kit