snopercod
Well Known Member
I had one of the "lugs" (I don't know the proper name), crack off on one of my gear door hinges. I understand that RVs use lots of these MS20001-P5 extruded aluminum hinges so I'm posting this for discussion:
You will notice that the throats in these old hinges have almost no radius at the corners - I estimate .005" max, and all edges are sharp. It's my belief that a fatigue crack started in the sharp corner where the actuator arm bolts on (the dirty area in the photo). The replacement hinge stock which just arrived from ACS has a nice radius in those corners - I estimate .020" - but the edges are still sharp. So I just ordered some Craytex wheels which I intend to use in my Dremel to break all those sharp edges to eliminate stress risers.
Comments or suggestions?
![inqwfT.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.com%2Fv2%2F800x600q90%2F924%2FinqwfT.jpg&hash=dc0aa9eed91ecf2f57115e1b558378e3)
You will notice that the throats in these old hinges have almost no radius at the corners - I estimate .005" max, and all edges are sharp. It's my belief that a fatigue crack started in the sharp corner where the actuator arm bolts on (the dirty area in the photo). The replacement hinge stock which just arrived from ACS has a nice radius in those corners - I estimate .020" - but the edges are still sharp. So I just ordered some Craytex wheels which I intend to use in my Dremel to break all those sharp edges to eliminate stress risers.
Comments or suggestions?