RE: [SilverStreak] Hinges for Silver Streak

["Ralph Cooke" <rcooke@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Eddie, 

One thing to consider when replacing hinges.  The rivets that hold the
hinges onto the trailer and door are 3/16 Pop rivets.  I had the
rivets pull loose from the top hinge on the trailer.  Who ever
replaced the hinges the last time, used Aluminum shank pop rivets.  I
will use Steel shank pop rivets when I replace my old hinges with the
new Stainless Steel ones.  I will include about 40 steel shank 3/16"
pop rivets with each set of new Stainless Steel hinges.  As I use an
Air operated pop rivet gun, it is easy to set the steel shank rivets.


When I replaced the door after the broken hinges, I drilled a 1/4 Inch
hole through the top and bottom of the hinge plate into some small
shallow sliding door cabinets.  I placed two 4" long by 1/4 inch
Stainless Steel bolts through the hinge plate and used 1/4" fender
washers and 1/4" lock nuts to secure the bolts.  I did that on both
hinges, and was able to utilize the door normally, and then drive 140
miles over rough roads with no problems.  Because the holes in the
plate buried in the trailer that the pop rivets go into are worn a
bit, due to many hinge changes, I plan on adding the 1/4" bolts to
both new Stainless Steel hinges, as insurance against loosing up of
the pop rivets due to oversized holes in the steel plate inside the
trailer wall.

When you replace your hinges be sure to check the fit of the pop
rivets in the steel plate in the trailer wall.  The rivets should be a
snug fit.  If the rivets are loose before you tighten them with the
pop rivet gun, you may want to drill out the holes so you can utilize
1/4" Pop rivets, or add the 1/4" stainless bolts as I am doing.  Just
another thing for you to worry about.  I'm just full of what ifs LOL.

Regards,

Ralph