Door Sagging Repair

[SpoCom2nr]

Door sagging issues seem to be more popular than I thought on all years of the Mercury Cougar. So I took the liberty of fixing my door as well, while taking nice pictures for the rest of the cougar family out there. :) I'll be writing the DIY... It'll probably take a few hours... Or so... But it should be worth it. So keep up with this thread...

[SpoCom2nr]

This repair is only good for doors that need new bushings.

If your door is sagging, there is a good chance you need new bushings. Also check to make sure your actual hinge isn't bent... This can cause a door sagg problem. To determine if you need new bushings, grab the most outer edge of the door. This may require sitting on the ground. Lift up and down on this part of the door. If you can shake it (don't be afraid to apply a lot of force with your body) and it has great free play my guess is you need new bushings. My door was really lose. Take a look visually as well. Just because you door might not have a lot of free play like mine did does not mean that bushings won't work for you..

CAUTION: ONLY PERFORM THE ABOVE TEST WITH THE DOOR FULLY ASSEMBLED. DOING SO WITH PARTS REMOVED CAN CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE DOOR AS WELL AS PERSONAL INJURY.

Note: The door that will be repaired in this scenario is the DRIVER‘S SIDE. The hinge that will be repaired is the BOTTOM HINGE. I am not responsible for typo’s or errors. However, if you’d like to correct me on something, I will edit this post to the best of my ability. Although this repair is very simple according to me and should be for you as well, I am also not responsible for damage caused by this repair.

Note: I only had to repair one door hinge… But I would think it’d be easiest if you did one door hinge at a time. Not only is this great if you plan on doing the job yourself, but it’s easier to line things up as well…

Tools Needed:

*New bushings (2 for each hinge) which can be found at your auto-parts store. Look for bushings labeled “Dodge/Ford/Mercury”.
(You will know which bushings to use because when you go to try them in the hinge on our car there are only two in the package that will fit. There are also many other bushings in the pack but they are different styles and sizes for different cars from Dodge, Ford & Mercury, and won't fit in the Cougar door hinge.)
*WD-40(Or similar product that lubricates and breaks free stuck/frozen parts)
*Cotton towel (This will be used to wipe the hinge and door after you spray the WD-40; May get a little messy)
*Jack (To lift and hold the door up while the hinge is disconnected)
*Block of wood or similar item (If jack does not go high enough)
*Cotton or micro-fiber rag (Place between the jack face or face of the wood to prevent ruining the paint job on the door)
*Hammer (This will be used to hammer the pin out; May also be needed to hammer the new bushings in their holes)
*Sand Paper; I rough type (Used to sand down the hinge and holes where the new door hinge bushings will go).
*Size 14mm (I think it was this size) wrench to take the bolts out on the drivers door;
Note: I did not have to remove the bolt holding the other half of the hinge to the body of the car.

Step One:

Supporting the door with the jack; If you are using the jack without a block of wood, place the cotton or micro-fiber rag on it’s face. However if the jack does not go high enough with these two items alone you will need a block of wood or similar item. Place the block of wood on the face of the jack… The cotton or micro-fiber rag will go on top of the wood. You are now ready to raise the jack. The jack should be raised until it touches the bottom of the door and lifts it up about 1/8th of an inch I would like to say.

Step Two:

Spray the entire hinge off with WD-40 (or similar product). Let sit for about 10 minutes. This will allow some of the rust to be broken free allowing the bolt to come out easier.


Note: Spraying the hinge off with WD-40 could get really messy. Use the cotton towel to wipe off any spills or splatters… The WD-40 WILL NOT eat your paint.

Step Three:

Remove the two bolts that go into the door that hold half the hinge in place. This requires using the size 14mm wrench. These bolts need to be kept. They will be re-used of course. Spray the bolts down with WD-40. You can see where I took the bolts out... You can see one of the two the holes now (Left side of picture next to pin).

http://img369.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10459/10459983/10459983_b2c504421210642296_m.jpg

Step Four:

There is a c-clip that holds the pin in place… Unless yours fell off, this has to come off so that we can hammer the pin out. This c-clip needs to be kept. It will also be reused.

Step Five:

It is now time to hammer the pin out. You will have to come from underneath it and hammer up or towards the sky. Don’t be afraid to whack it. Also, don’t be afraid to use a lot of WD-40 if you determine necessary.

Step Six:

Once you get the pin out, you should be able to remove half the hinge… This is the part that was connected to the drivers door. It will need to be cleaned as well as the other part of the hinge connected to the body. Both parts that need to be cleaned:

http://img288.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460149/10460149_a167f70d1210642827_m.jpg

http://img319.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460191/10460191_a35ea83c1210642978_m.jpg

Step Seven:

Observe how the old door bushings were place in the hinge. The new ones will go in the same way. Discard the old bushings. Clean the door hinge parts… Spray with WD-40 and sand all the rust with sand paper. This is necessary or the new door hinge bushings may not fit. Here is a pic of an old worn bushing vs. a new one:

http://img297.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460117/10460117_2c1bf7d91210642740_m.jpg

Step Eight:

Insert the new door bushings into the part of the hinge that was connected to the drivers side door. You may need to knock them in with the hammer.

http://img362.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460217/10460217_630097841210643041_m.jpg

http://img365.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460058/10460058_3980e34a1210642570_m.jpg

Step Ten:

Time to put the part of the hinge that we took out back into the hinge assembly. Line up the holes and drive the pin through from the top so it goes down through the holes… You will need the hammer to hit the pin in. Make sure it seats all the way in. You will then need to replace the c-clip back on the pin…

http://img288.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460149/10460149_a167f70d1210642827_m.jpg

Step Eleven:

You will now be screwing the hinge back in for good. Start both screws… And screw them in by alternating back and forth between the two. This is just extra insurance I use to make sure you don’t cross thread the screws. It also makes getting the bolts in easier.

http://img278.rockyou.com/imagehost/10/10460/10460296/10460296_0e9e0a621210643286_m.jpg

Step Twelve:

Observe the finish. Your door should line up flush with the rest of the car… :bowdown::

If you notice any errors or found steps that make this easier, place let everyone know.

[Frosty]

Wow, good write up. This looks very easy.

*crosses fingers* I hope this is all I need to do.

[Professor Nimnul]

Cool! Awesome thread!

But you wrote: "Look for bushings labeled “Dodge/Ford/Mercury”."

Any additional info - not sure about their size...

[SpoCom2nr]

Cool! Awesome thread!

But you wrote: "Look for bushings labeled “Dodge/Ford/Mercury”."

Any additional info - not sure about their size...

Well when you go to the parts store... And look for the bushings they will have "Dodge/Ford/Mercury" printed on them. In the pack there are two bushings which are good for one hinge on our car... You will know which bushings to use because when you go to try them in the hinge on our car there are only two in the package that will fit. There are also many other bushings in the pack but they are different styles and sizes for different cars from Dodge, Ford & Mercury, and won't fit in the cougar door hinge. I think it's stupid they do it this way, but that's the only way I found it packaged.

So in other words: If you are doing one hinge... You need one pack... Two bushings are in one pack for one hinge.

If you are doing two hinges, than you need two packs... Etc...

Unless you find a packaging different than the one I found.

And there are two hinges on each door. So if you wanted to do both doors completely it shouldn't cost you no more than 28 bucks... This is actually pretty good I think.

Each pack cost around 6-7 bucks... Maybe less depending on where you go.

As a closing note, I did notice one thing... When I went to advance auto parts, they didn't have them... And when I went to autozone, they only had like two packs... So you may have to shop around auto parts stores... Or find a way to buy them online (worse case scenario)... But it's better to pay 6 bucks for bushings than around 25 bucks for a new hinge. So I recommend trying this first...

Thanks for the tip. I also edited the how to. =)

[SpoCom2nr]

Wow, good write up. This looks very easy.

*crosses fingers* I hope this is all I need to do.

This repair is very easy... I gurantee you can do it! ;)

[Honzo]

good news!
i played with my door today and found I DO have some play in the door so i will try the bushing method...

bad news... where can i find these? I called advance and they didn't have em, and the dealership told me i needed to buy the whole hinge which was like $40...