Rollin400s
Newbie
Hopefully this post helps the next person who owns a 2000-2001 GMT400 OBS K3500 or K3500 and wants to replace their door hinge bushings. Why you ask? Well, apparently there was a mid 2000 year rolling production change to the bushings and hinge. The newer bushings are thin steel with a teflon insert and the OD of them are smaller than the OD of the bushings for 88-99 years. In turn the bushing holes on the door hinges are smaller which do not accommodate the bushing that were used on GMT400 trucks for 11 years. I found this out by destroying a bushing trying to press it in with a bolt, nut, and washers.
In an internet search I found very little information on this except for a post on this site where the person talked to a GM parts guy who gave the info above about the production change and one other post on another forum where the OP said the bushings he bought didn't fit and he wrecked the bushings trying to get them in. The service manual has a bulletin that describes Severe Service Kit (GM P/N 15025840) which talks about a Teflon bushing insert but it was discontinued in 2009 and no pictures of it exist on the internet. Searching for the correct replacement bushings results in nothing being found except for the common bushing found on the 88-98 trucks. It seems they used this specific bushing for only a year until the complete change over to GMT800 and this results in zero support for this unique door hinge bushing.
Solution: Drill out the hinges to support the insertion of the commonly found replacement bushings for the 88-99 model trucks
I won't go into the process of removing and re-installing the door as that is covered in numerous posts and videos. What I will say about it is that I was able to do it by myself with only a floor jack with a towel on top to support the door until the pins were removed and I picked up the door off the jack and set it on the ground laying against the bed of the truck. The reverse is true for re-installing it.
I ordered a set of bushings off of Ebay that came with enough for all 4 hinges and didn't come with pins because I chose to re-use mine after making them straight again with a vice and a hand sledge hammer.
There are two different sized holes in each hinge. The smaller is approximately 31/64 and the larger is 17/32. You will need drills of this size to drill out your hinges.
Kick in the balls #1 is that you have to do this in the first place instead of being able to just buy the correct replacement bushing.
Kick in the balls #2 is that most sets of drills go up to 1/2" and the 17/32" size you need is right over that. I even have a set a large drills but those sizes start at 9/16" so are larger than I needed. There's a gap of drill sizes not found in common sets so you will likely have to buy that one single 17/32" drill. I found mine at Grainger supply for $20, ordered it online and went to pick it up later that day at their showroom.
Kick in the balls #3 is the large holes are located on the bottom of the top hinge on the truck and the top of the bottom hinge on the door with only 9 inches in between the two. You can't fit a regular drill between the hinges so you need an angle drill which will accommodate the 1/2" shank on the 17/32" drill. Harbor Freight carries a variety of angle drills both in electric and pneumatic but guess what drill chuck they all have? 3/8" which won't take the 1/2" shank. You of course can buy right angle drills at other stores that have 1/2" chucks on them but you won't find one under several hundred dollars. My solution was to buy the 3/8" chuck pneumatic angle drill and also buy a 1/2" chuck pneumatic regular drill and with a little modification to the angle drill body the 1/2" chuck fit right on it.
So you have your bushings, you have the right size drills, you have an angle drill to fit between the brackets. Remove the existing bushings and drill the holes out to the appropriate size for the replacement bushings. I personally used the bolt/nut/washer method to press the bushings into the holes instead of beating them in with a hammer although the large hole ones slid right in and only had to press in the smaller ones.
My door now closes without having to slam it shut. Good luck if you find yourself having to do this.
In an internet search I found very little information on this except for a post on this site where the person talked to a GM parts guy who gave the info above about the production change and one other post on another forum where the OP said the bushings he bought didn't fit and he wrecked the bushings trying to get them in. The service manual has a bulletin that describes Severe Service Kit (GM P/N 15025840) which talks about a Teflon bushing insert but it was discontinued in 2009 and no pictures of it exist on the internet. Searching for the correct replacement bushings results in nothing being found except for the common bushing found on the 88-98 trucks. It seems they used this specific bushing for only a year until the complete change over to GMT800 and this results in zero support for this unique door hinge bushing.
Solution: Drill out the hinges to support the insertion of the commonly found replacement bushings for the 88-99 model trucks
I won't go into the process of removing and re-installing the door as that is covered in numerous posts and videos. What I will say about it is that I was able to do it by myself with only a floor jack with a towel on top to support the door until the pins were removed and I picked up the door off the jack and set it on the ground laying against the bed of the truck. The reverse is true for re-installing it.
I ordered a set of bushings off of Ebay that came with enough for all 4 hinges and didn't come with pins because I chose to re-use mine after making them straight again with a vice and a hand sledge hammer.
There are two different sized holes in each hinge. The smaller is approximately 31/64 and the larger is 17/32. You will need drills of this size to drill out your hinges.
Kick in the balls #1 is that you have to do this in the first place instead of being able to just buy the correct replacement bushing.
Kick in the balls #2 is that most sets of drills go up to 1/2" and the 17/32" size you need is right over that. I even have a set a large drills but those sizes start at 9/16" so are larger than I needed. There's a gap of drill sizes not found in common sets so you will likely have to buy that one single 17/32" drill. I found mine at Grainger supply for $20, ordered it online and went to pick it up later that day at their showroom.
Kick in the balls #3 is the large holes are located on the bottom of the top hinge on the truck and the top of the bottom hinge on the door with only 9 inches in between the two. You can't fit a regular drill between the hinges so you need an angle drill which will accommodate the 1/2" shank on the 17/32" drill. Harbor Freight carries a variety of angle drills both in electric and pneumatic but guess what drill chuck they all have? 3/8" which won't take the 1/2" shank. You of course can buy right angle drills at other stores that have 1/2" chucks on them but you won't find one under several hundred dollars. My solution was to buy the 3/8" chuck pneumatic angle drill and also buy a 1/2" chuck pneumatic regular drill and with a little modification to the angle drill body the 1/2" chuck fit right on it.
So you have your bushings, you have the right size drills, you have an angle drill to fit between the brackets. Remove the existing bushings and drill the holes out to the appropriate size for the replacement bushings. I personally used the bolt/nut/washer method to press the bushings into the holes instead of beating them in with a hammer although the large hole ones slid right in and only had to press in the smaller ones.
My door now closes without having to slam it shut. Good luck if you find yourself having to do this.
