2022 Winnebago View 24V. The absence of tips & tricks for repairing seized hinge pins on the entrance door to a View is baffling. Am I the only one who has had the pleasure [sarcasm intended] of experiencing this problem?
Anyway, what should have been a 30 minute routine repair took two (2) solid days to fix. When originally researching to purchase a View, I vaguely recalled a YouTuber who mentioned in passing the possibility of the entrance door hinges seizing because of the use of dissimilar metals [aluminum hinges, steel hinge pin].
Fast forward to several weeks ago. On a trip, the coach door seemed to be "binding". It did not seem to open or close as smoothly as normal. So, this past weekend, I set about finding and curing the problem. What should have been: remove two (2) Torx screws, clean the hinge pin, spray lubricant into the hinge, replace the hinge on the pin and reattach the Torx screws [times six]: is distinctly
NOT what I found. Two (2) of the hinges had indeed seized onto the pin. The good news? With a Vice Grip and a ton of force, I was able to barely move the hinge back & forth. The bad news? The hinge was
not moving on the pin - the entire pin was moving in the fixed assembly.
Long story short - no amount of Liquid Wrench aiding in loosening the pin from the assembly. No amount of wiggling the hinge back and forth aided in loosening the pin. Even a fair dose of BiFFI [brute force and f***ing ignorance] was worthless. So, out came the torch.
Super heating the entire hinge assembly, wiggling the hinge with the Vice Grip and repeating this procedure at least a dozen times finally allowed me to remove the entire pin with the hinge securely stuck on the end.
Next to the bench vice. The entire pin was now securely fixed in the vice. The Vice grip was attached to the hinge. The hinge was again super heated with the torch and wiggled back & forth. Five minutes of doing this on each hinge finally separated the two.
Preparing to reinstall. The hinge pin was vigorously wiped with a copper scouring pad. What appeared to be white, aluminum dust came off the pin. The interior of the hinge was drilled out with a snug-fitting bit. Copious amounts of a lubricant/corrosion inhibitor [name forgotten] was sprayed into the hinge, placed on the pin and re-secured with the Torx screws.
Lessons learned. 1) Don't wait for the door to start binding. Remove and lube the hinges routinely [perhaps weekly
]. 2) I had considered replacing the center hinge and installing a friction hinge. Not happening!! The natural resistance of a friction hinge might have further delayed discovering the seizing problem. My understanding of waiting too long to cure the seizing is to have the hinge shear off the pin. I suppose that's one way of easily removing those parts. Good luck.
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