Door Hinge Alternative

[ArtisticAdam]

I’m looking for input on an alternative for the door hings  (both the doors and galley hatch). I’m not a big fan of the wood hinges. Has anyone attempted this? Or any input from people who have assembled the wood hinges, in your opinion will either of these types of hinges work?

Bimini Hinge: If I used these hinges I would likely replace the pin with a locking security pin instead.

Or 4″ stainless steel oval hinge: I like this option because the bolt posts will be hidden on the inside of the shell under the headliner.

[rovineye]

I think they might be a bit too restrictive to movement. The slop in the wood door hinge pins kind of allow the door to move and seal against the gasket as you close it and these may bind up. Maybe one the gasket is compressed a few times it won’t be an issue, or not at all from the start, but that would be my concern.

 

The galley hatch hinges, when hatch is closed, are a bit beyond 180 degrees, and can’t tell if these can go beyond horizontal. Worst case you could add a pad to bring hatch side level.

[ArtisticAdam]

Rovineye, I can understand your concern with using hinges that may be too restrictive. The Bimini hinge however looks like it has enough play in it. If it needs some more wiggle room I could always machine down the pin a little.

The galley hatch geometry does have me scratching my head. I’m also considering using a hydraulic assist hinge for the galley hatch. The problem with this is the gutter and hatch stiffener may be in the way.

 

[faithie999]

I wouldn’t try to over-engineer the galley hatch lift system (speaking as an engineer who always likes to over-engineer everything).  CLC supplies 20# pistons.  I and many others have discovered that in cooler temps, the 20# pistons don’t exert quite enough force (as predicted by the ideal gas law, with pressure proportional to temperature in a fixed volume) so I replaced one of the 20#-ers with a 30# piston.  that solved the problem.

 

[western_flyer]

I thought about just duplicating the supplied wooden hinges out of aluminum bar stock for wear and security.  I’ve thought better of it and will go with the supplied CLC hinges. I’m thinking of inserting bushings into hinges to act as thrust bearings to keep the hinge parts from grinding into each other, which has been documented on this forum.

I would think something as simple as nylon radial/flange bushing would work great. For a price one could substitute bronze but I don’t see the load bearing such as to warrant the expense.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-sleeve-bearings/=1bvulk4

There are some nylon bearings listed for about $1 each.

 

As for security, I think we need to remember the teardrop is made out of 4mm plywood. If a determined thief wanted to break in it might be better if he used a hammer to the hinges than bashing a hole into the trailer skin.

 

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