Stupid Trunk Hinge Question...

Discussion in 'Technical' started by topcat, Sep 27, 2010.

  1. topcat

    topcat Member

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    The lid is off at the mo, and I pushed the sprung side hinge down by hand then it suddenly went bang and is now stuck right down! Cant pull the bugger back up, it has locked in place and dont want to stick my head in there for too long as it packs a hell of a punch and don't wanna crack my head open :yikes:

    Anyone done the same and know how to unlock it so it lifts up again like normal? Nothing looks broken etc :huh:
     
  2. simple man

    simple man Member

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    On the left side,of the car,by the hinge you will see a rack with steps on it,and the end of the torsion spring sets in one of the steps. You will need to get a stout piece of pipe with an inner diameter as close as possible to the size of your spring. Carefully lift the end of the spring,it will be tough,and release it slowly,to take the tension off of the right side hinge bracket. You should be able to raise it up now. Holding it up,raise the pipe back up to the step and reset the spring. What happened,is you pushed the hinge bracket down too far and the spring overcentered. No biggie,your not the first one to have done this!:)
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2010
  3. darren

    darren Member

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    Oh no. I did the same thing. We had to remove the torsion spring to get things back in place. Take the spring off on the drivers side at the adjuster and go from there. Its a pain to do. If someone has a good pic of how it should look and fit it would help.
     
  4. 55crownvic

    55crownvic Member

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    A good pair of vice grips work really well also, make sure they snap TIGHT on the end of the "spring" . Dont forget the heavy gloves in case something slips!!!!!
     
  5. topcat

    topcat Member

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    Cheers guys- it feels positively locked in place so I thought I'd done something more than just overcentred it! Cant pull it out for ****! Will have a shot at what you said when next over there.
     
  6. Dave B

    Dave B I like Mavericks!

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    Everyone seems to do that.
     
  7. Maverick73

    Maverick73 Senior Member

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    When I installed a Grabber spoiler, I moved mine up by hand. You will need some muscle to get it up there.
     
  8. Jsarnold

    Jsarnold Senior Member

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    I used a 1/4" drive deep socket over the end of the spring with a 6" extension. Very easy.
     
  9. 67fstbk

    67fstbk Member

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    Big Giant DUHHHHH on this end. I just did the same thing. I'm going to have to move a laptop out to the shop so I can check here every time I screw something up. The walk is getting old. Thanks all for the advice, I'll go try not to injure myself here.

    Ok...I'm back and the torsion spring is released but this sucker is stuck. Some people describe removing the spring but there's no way I can see to do that as the spring is stuck to the rest of the mechanism. I'm clueless. I suppose I should take a photo.
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2012
  10. ESampson

    ESampson Member

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    i did that before..if you look in my trunk i took a 4Lb hammer to it. so the mounting places for them are pretty banged up, i got them sorta straight again. good thing the trunk stays closed.
     
  11. rthomas771

    rthomas771 Member

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    Here's a pic on what it suppose to look like when it goes back together. The lever doohickey fits between the spring and hinge. When the hinge over centers the spring gets on the wrong side of the doohickey.
     

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  12. 67fstbk

    67fstbk Member

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    Well I didn't need a 4 lb hammer finally. I did get it, just took some finesse. I also did figure out my original trunk lid was bent. I put a part car one on and it closes perfectly now.
     
  13. 7D2 Grabber

    7D2 Grabber Member

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    I know this is an old thread but it just happened to me. Since we love pictures, here's a few of what I did. The spring lever will have to be released all the way. A socket with a small extension works great. Too long of an extension won't let you release the lever all the way and will get caught up on sheet metal.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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