Security Door Hinges - Front and Rear - Options/Experiences?

[landroversforever]

The build is slowly approaching the time when I need to build up the body. My old hinges front and rear were totally shagged, I think the fronts went with the old doors and the rear door ones too. So I'm in the market for a new set of hinges and with the rate at which puma defender doors go walkies I want to minimise the chances. Whatever set I go for, I'm planning on the security plates on the inside too. 

So which hinges have people got experiences of? any I've missed from this list?

Front Hinges: In no order

• GORE Products. They also do a tapered version where the door side narrows.
   
   
• TMD
  
   
• Optimill - Exposed bolts at the hinge side, but can't be removed from the bulkhead without rotating the hinge so door side needs removing first.
  
   
• ATE Machining
  

 

Rear Hinges:

• Optimill
  
   
• Gore Products
  
   
• Offroad Monkies - Non starter as the bolts are exposed.
  

 

Bonnet Hinges:

Less important to me as I'm planning on replacing the early 90/110 bonnet lock and I'll not be running a desirable puma bonnet but thought I'd put some options down here.

• Optimill
  
   
• Design and Development Engineering
  
   
• ATE Machining
  
   
• GORE Products
  

 

So the front door and back door hinges I'm most interested in. Who's used what and how did you find them? Any I've missed I'll add to the post as people reply! 

Thanks in advance! 

 

[mickeyw]

I think the later Defender hinges with the plastic thrust washers are generally a bit better made than the older type. I suspect as long as you buy genuine parts they will be reasonable quality. I've seen some shocking stuff elsewhere.

The Optimill hinges are too expensive IMO. I appreciate they're built to a better quality and probably relatively low volume.  I fear the price just makes them more attractive to the bling brigade. Good luck to them selling them. I don't know anyone that has fitted this type of hinge and cannot comment on their function and durability. I just know that I don't need to spend that much on a door hinge.

The inner protection plates look like  they should be a good simple solution to the door theft problem, but again I have no knowledge of whether they've foiled an attempted unauthorised removal.

Normally when dealing with older door hinges I've had to drill out the door pillar bolts, then find the sodding cage nuts let go, and all manner of expletives are required to get the things apart.

I'd have thought a clever dead lock at  front and rear edges of the doors would be something you could engineer 😁. Think about the way uPVC window lock bolts work.

[landroversforever]

Even the later hinges wear out. All of the hinges I've got here of the later type (came attached to various doors) are fubar. 

When you factor in the cost of the Puma doors, sticking a set of expensive hinges on there to help stop them walking is a small price to pay. A brand new door from LR with all the bits is around the £1200 mark, per door . Trouble with a deadlock over a hinge is that it's not visible.

So whilst the optimill ones are a bit more bling than I'd like I'm leaning towards them for their security benefits. That said I do prefer the look of standard (late type) hinges so the ATE ones are up there too. Just need to find out what their security stuff is like. 

[MichaelE]

I've got GORE bonnet and rear [safari] door hinges. Absolute works of art. Should be mounted on the living room wall. Almost a shame to fit them

[oneandtwo]

I have design and development bonnet hinges on both my defenders, not to stop the bonnet being pinched but to prevent the bonnet from rattling in it’s original hinge bushes which used to drive me mad!

[oneandtwo]

3 hours ago, mickeyw said:

Normally when dealing with older door hinges I've had to drill out the door pillar bolts, then find the sodding cage nuts let go, and all manner of expletives are required to get the things apart.

 

You don’t want to be doing that to a 2015 Defender... they deleted the cage nuts from the bulkhead pillars!

[mickeyw]

4 hours ago, oneandtwo said:

You don’t want to be doing that to a 2015 Defender... they deleted the cage nuts from the bulkhead pillars!

I guess that's good and bad.

The cages nuts were a menace, however it seems the new design (what did they start using in the later models?) have aided theft!

[oneandtwo]

They went back to a single caged threaded plate for the last couple of months, exactly the same as the series 2 had. Why I don’t know, but if you strip the thread or have to cut the hinge off in future then it makes it a whole lot more difficult than just knocking the cage nut through and replacing it

[FridgeFreezer]

Serious question Ross - are you parking the truck outside often?

If it's mostly garaged I'd suggest that on the odd occasion you leave it outside a mudded-up off-roader with a few dents & stickers may not be so attractive to the light-fingered types looking for shiny Puma doors to flog on.

Also half of those hinges just look awful and the prices are insanity.

[Bowie69]

14 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

a mudded-up off-roader with a few dents & stickers

Are you seriously suggesting he may drive it in the mud?

[FridgeFreezer]

1 hour ago, Bowie69 said:

Are you seriously suggesting he may drive it in the mud?

...only if it ever leaves the workshop

[landroversforever]

4 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Serious question Ross - are you parking the truck outside often?

If it's mostly garaged I'd suggest that on the odd occasion you leave it outside a mudded-up off-roader with a few dents & stickers may not be so attractive to the light-fingered types looking for shiny Puma doors to flog on.

Also half of those hinges just look awful and the prices are insanity.

They're a lot of money I know. And some are a bit blingy to look at its worth it. 

It is likely to be parked outside sometimes. Depending on what happens in the workshop after this build it could be odd overnights at home, equally its obviously not going to be in the garage when I'm away with Shire etc. It will likely be driven to work fairly often too, but whilst the site is secure, obviously if I stop anywhere on the way home it's not.

[FridgeFreezer]

Makes me wonder if a clever chap building a truck couldn't come up with some more cunning way of securing the doors without blowing a pile of cash on blingy hinges

Is your bulkhead galvanised or fair game for some modification?

[landroversforever]

8 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Makes me wonder if a clever chap building a truck couldn't come up with some more cunning way of securing the doors without blowing a pile of cash on blingy hinges

Is your bulkhead galvanised or fair game for some modification?

Bulkhead isn't galvanised..... yet. It will be later down the line.

The aftermarket hinges are also a good thing as the standard hinges are awful. The later ones are better but still carp. They also make it a bit more obvious that there are measures present to stop the doors being nicked. .

[mickeyw]

3 minutes ago, landroversforever said:

Bulkhead isn't galvanised..... yet. It will be later down the line.

The aftermarket hinges are also a good thing as the standard hinges are awful. The later ones are better but still carp. They also make it a bit more obvious that there are measures present to stop the doors being nicked. .

Ross I'm not quite sure when you're planning to wear these hinges out. The originals aren't actually THAT awful. Sure they ain't brilliant, but they do a job as well as most other parts on a LR.
If you are that concerned about door theft, I'd suggest either drilling the heads out on the screws, or knock some ball bearings into the screw head sockets.

[Mo Murphy]

Hmm I agree with Mickey about genuine hinges, I put on new take off standard hinges in 2010. 11 years on they have no discernible play or slop and have had no maintenance other than a drop of oil twice a year.

Mo

[landroversforever]

I know the later hinges are supposed to be better, but all the ones I've had my hands on have been sloppy, even relatively new ones. So going aftermarket had benefits in both security and a lack of slop. 

[Junglie]

FWIW I'd maybe be looking at a decent aftermarket hinge (if the stock ones are so bad) and then as suggested using allen bolts to secure them and simply knocking a ball bearing into the socket. Obviously if you need to tighten them up or remove them you're screwed (forgive the pun) but that may be an acceptable risk/cost benefit? Especially as you can use power tools on them as you're not worried about noise etc...

Cheers,

Simon

[Badger110]

I thought these were an interesting idea if you went for standard hinges as you can’t pull the door off

 

https://www.optimill-uk.com/defender-door-hinge-security-kit.html

[Troll Hunter]

I seem to remember seeing some time ago a mod that fitted to the inside top of of the door that prevented the door from being removed by overlapping the steel windscreen frame.  Normal door opening was not affected as the security mod rotated away from the frame.  Sorry, but I can't remember where/when I saw this mod.  Perhaps somebody with a few more functioning memory cells can help.

Mike

[landroversforever]

4 hours ago, Troll Hunter said:

I seem to remember seeing some time ago a mod that fitted to the inside top of of the door that prevented the door from being removed by overlapping the steel windscreen frame.  Normal door opening was not affected as the security mod rotated away from the frame.  Sorry, but I can't remember where/when I saw this mod.  Perhaps somebody with a few more functioning memory cells can help.

Mike

Yeah I know the ones you mean. They go under the door side bolts on the inside and as the door closes they tuck behind the door seal on the bulkhead. My plan is to run them as well. 

[Mo Murphy]

I get the impression Ross, that standard hinges are just not shiny enough 🤣

Mo

[landroversforever]

Haha! Think of it as belt and braces . 

Ideally I'd want to paint the hinges body colour too rather than keep them in the anodised finish. 

[Retroanaconda]

I’ve had mixed results with genuine hinges. I fitted a take-off set to the 90 around ten years ago, this passenger lower hinge is one of those on removal a few weeks ago.

 

That door had got a bit stiff lately - now I know why.

This is the drivers side lower, which was replaced twice more in that time (it sees the most wear it seems). The current hinge dates from about 18 months ago, as you can see the rust has started in the wearing parts already. It should be pointed out that the painting was done by me with rattle cans, so probably not comparable to professional work.

 

They don’t do well corrosion-wise, and it hastens the demise of the plastic bushes that they run on. I’ve no doubt that some of the aftermarket offerings will provide a longer life, however they would need to look semi-original and be paintable in normal body colour to be of interest to me.

Despite the above, I will likely just replace with genuine hinges again as the vehicle will be living a life of luxury compared to its previous life. I reckon if I was getting three years out of a lower hinge before I should get 10-12 years in the future, which is an acceptable frequency for replacement.

[smallfry]

Sorry, but I do not see the point in paying so much for a door hinge. Seems an added attraction to me. None of them are battery powered angle grinder proof.

In order to remove a door, it has to be unlocked. Undoing the hinge bolts and pulling the front edge forward does not allow enough gap to get an arm in to unlock the door, not without damaging the door which sort of defeats the object if they are trying to sell it on.

Guess the door must be unlocked with slim jims first, so all the time the door can be unlocked, it is vunerable, so some sort of deadlock would be in order, like those used on vans nowadays, and hinge bolts like this type of thing. https://www.screwfix.com/p/smith-locke-hinge-bolts-bzp-2-pack/7948p