Thinking about internal door hinges

[nwbhoss]

I know guys have tried this before but I have not seen any info on how well they worked after it was done. I think hood hinges off a older full sized truck would be very cool over counter weights and I am seriously considering it for my 500 gallon reverse flow build. My smoker has 2 doors and I am sure they dont weight much more than a 72 Ford hood. 

So does anyone have any experience with this and care to share on how well it works? 

 

[daveomak]

The heat will screw up the springs, maybe.....  then the door won't open....   Also they will take up a lot of room...   BUT...  go for it....  new ideas are worth a try.....

 

[drewed]

I doubt that a normal smoker temp would be any hotter than the under hood temps of an old ford in the middle of summer.

Spring steel is hardened at ~1500*  and tempered at 700*.  If you keep it under 700* you should be fine.  You will have to do some careful ballancing to the spring rates, or perhaps install latches to keep the doors closed, but that might be cool too - a remote pull lever to "pop" the hood on the smoker.....

 

[smokinhawgbbq]

Drewed, The 2000 up Chevy hood springs I have been using for years would hold up your doors no problem,and aren't affected by heat, I've used them o high temp grills,and ovens with no problems. I just doubled a set to hold up a door that weighs over 125 lbs, and a five year old could handle the door.they scissor closed,and are only about 8 inches long and can be mounted so they tuck up into the curve of your tank out of the way when closed

Mike

spring support.jpg

• smokinhawgbbq
• Apr 21, 2016

pig blasted.jpg

• smokinhawgbbq
• Apr 21, 2016

 

[daveomak]

Those hinges are cool.....  never seen that done before....  Live and learn.... 

 

[nwbhoss]

Drewed, The 2000 up Chevy hood springs I have been using for years would hold up your doors no problem,and aren't affected by heat, I've used them o high temp grills,and ovens with no problems. I just doubled a set to hold up a door that weighs over 125 lbs, and a five year old could handle the door.they scissor closed,and are only about 8 inches long and can be mounted so they tuck up into the curve of your tank out of the way when closed


Mike

spring support.jpg

• smokinhawgbbq
• Apr 21, 2016

pig blasted.jpg

• smokinhawgbbq
• Apr 21, 2016

That is exactly what I was hoping to hear and see!!! Thank you very much for the info I am definitely doing this! I was pretty sold on the idea before I made the post and now I am completely convinced. With my doors tacked shut and aligned right now I can locate the hinges and have them placed in the right spot before I cut the tacks and add the door edge trim.

 

[nwbhoss]

I doubt that a normal smoker temp would be any hotter than the under hood temps of an old ford in the middle of summer.



perhaps install latches to keep the doors closed, but that might be cool too - a remote pull lever to "pop" the hood on the smoker.....

This is a great idea as well! I am now thinking a hood latch to hold the door closed and doubled hinges and pull the latch release and "pop" the door releases and an easy pull to open! I can't wait to get on it!!

 

[nwbhoss]

Now I need to hit my local wrecking yard and find 8 hinges!

 

[HalfSmoked]

OK whose going to patent this? Cool idea guys some real thought put in this.

 

[smokinhawgbbq]

newbhoss, you should only need 2 springs per door,one on each side,if not enough you can add 2 more with a tube spacer between them, they have to be mounted the way in my picture to fold upwards,the offset arm on the tank side,the straight arm on the door to fold properly,that door was almost half of a 120 gallon propane pig that was 1/4 inch thick,and weighed 125lbs. the springs new are about 15 bucks each new from chevy or GMC. Ijust use toggle latches from Harbor freight to hold the doors closed 6 bucks each. Theactual hinges are outside the door like normal,the springs are just to open the door and hold it up.

Mike

 

[smokinhawgbbq]

 
Those hinges are cool.....  never seen that done before....  Live and learn.... 

DAVE, those are just to open and hold the door,the hinges are on the outside like normal, chevy sell the hinge springs as a separate part,so you don't have to buy the whole hinge assembly, just the assist springs.

Mike

 

[nwbhoss]

 
newbhoss, you should only need 2 springs per door,one on each side,if not enough you can add 2 more with a tube spacer between them, they have to be mounted the way in my picture to fold upwards,the offset arm on the tank side,the straight arm on the door to fold properly,that door was almost half of a 120 gallon propane pig that was 1/4 inch thick,and weighed 125lbs. the springs new are about 15 bucks each new from chevy or GMC. Ijust use toggle latches from Harbor freight to hold the doors closed 6 bucks each. Theactual hinges are outside the door like normal,the springs are just to open the door and hold it up.

Mike

10-4 Mike I guess I should have said I was "thinking about internal springs in favor of counterbalance" I do realize I will still need exterior hinges for the door to pivot on thank for clarifying for me. My doors are heavy I would guess about 100lbs so I am thinking doubling up would be a good idea that way my wife could open it easily as well. I am also thinking that a car hood style latch to hold the door closed is going to happen. Ever since I started this project I was thinking along these lines. My smoker is in my shop next to my lift and every time I open the hood on my truck I would think why cant I make my smoker door work like this? 

With all the rework I have had to do correcting mistakes I made when I started I was worried about getting creative with the counterbalance and locks and having to redo more but now I feel confident it will work! 

Thanks for all the great ideas!!!!!!!! 

 

[nwbhoss]

I ordered hinges and I am going to check out my local wrecking yard for a good hood latch to use as locking/opening mechanism I am excided to see how this turns out I hope it works as well as I think it will. 

 

[pit of despair]

Wow!  I don't have any metal skills all the stuff I do is out of wood but this is really cool.

 

[smokinhawgbbq]

NWBhoss, If they are mounted with the spring facing front, and offset arm on the tank, they hold more pressure to hold the door in the open position, and tuck up towards the door, they can be swapped side for side with the spring towards the rear for less pressure,but you still have to keep the offset on the tank bracket so they will scissor closed, and not bind on themselves.

Mike

 

[nwbhoss]

NWBhoss, If they are mounted with the spring facing front, and offset arm on the tank, they hold more pressure to hold the door in the open position, and tuck up towards the door, they can be swapped side for side with the spring towards the rear for less pressure,but you still have to keep the offset on the tank bracket so they will scissor closed, and not bind on themselves.


Mike

10-4 and thank you VERY much for sharing this info!

 

[nwbhoss]

My hinges arrived yesterday so I am hoping to have at least one completed door this weekend!

 

[nwbhoss]

The springs are awesome!!!! I had to go with 2 on each side my doors were too heavy for just one and it opens nicely stays open and closes very lightly. With just one spring on each side it would not hold it in the open position and it was very heavy to lift open. I am VERY happy with this over a counterweight setup!

 

[smokinhawgbbq]

Glad they worked out for you!!

Mike

 

[nwbhoss]

Here is all the info I have on my springs 

The spring part numbers I found are C130508 for the drivers side and C130507 for the passenger side The number for a pair is C130507 PLK 

and a different number for what I believe is the same spring is C130503 PLK 

I have looked extensively into both numbers as the C130503 PLK are considerably cheaper than the C130507 PLK number but checking the vehicles they are used on (mostly trucks and suburbans etc) they appear to be the same hinge.

These are Chevrolet numbers I was concerned that the C130503 PLK was a smaller hinge or able to carry less load due to the cost difference but I could not find any info to back that up. I went thru Discountautoparts.com and got them for $58.17 for 4 of them. 

You have to dig through the site to find the right ones and the prices are all over the place for the same part. If you do a search using just the part number it will save you a ton of hunting. 

The best price I could find for the C130507 PLK (a pair of them R/H & L/H) was $94.68 not including shipping. 

This is the best info I have on the springs. 

After looking into all this stuff I think if a guy really wanted to do the math I bet a pair of scissor type hinges would work even better. they would not protrude as far into the cook chamber as the springs and would be a very clean install the only issue I see would be how much total upward travel you can get most hoods only swing I would guess about 25 degrees and that may not be enough to open your door high enough. You would not need any counterweights or hinges on the outside! That would be very cool in my opinion.