Best lubrication for door hinges/hood/trunk latches? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

97&02camryleI4 · 03-24-2005, 02:34 AM

I searched for this but couldn't find anything with "grease" or "lubricate hinges" and also looked in my Haynes and said something about using a few drips of light oil or lock lubricant. Also, spray-on graphite lubricant for the door and trunk locks.

I was looking in autozone for these type of grease/lubricants but didn't really find any except for "Mobil 1 Multi-purpose Lube" and it was synthetic or something like that. Is that good for door hinges? Everytime I open the rear passenger doors, they always groan and have a lot of resistance on them because there's literally no lube on the center support arm thing. I sprayed some wd40 on there a while ago but it doesn't last and it only attract more dirt. I want something that will last and keep the hinges lubed even if water touches it. Thanks for any tips.

88 LE · 03-24-2005, 03:10 AM

Try marine lithium grease. A lot of members here use it to grease up their polyurethane swaybar bushings.

Or 3 in 1 oil (its a light oil).

dna59 · 03-24-2005, 05:56 AM

I've been using lithium grease but for some reason the squeeks always come back (door). Is there a difference between that and marine lithium or are they the same?

***BLUEMEANIE*** · 03-24-2005, 10:26 AM

dna59 and 97&02camryleI4 - Marine = marine grade (i.e. boats). All lithium grease is water proof, marine grade is just thicker, holds up longer and usually comes in a tube or a tub. The regular stuff available in a spray can is fine for door hinges and hood/trunk latches. you just gotta hit it every once in a while. I used marine grade on my sway bars and never heard a squeak form them.
If the squeak in your door keeps comming back you may have too much grime and build up on the hinge. Try drenching it with WD40, wipe it down till its clean and then reapply the lithium grease to a clean surface. Be sure to get as much grime out and fresh grease between all the moving parts as you can.

jhbhatia · 03-24-2005, 10:59 AM

i just use the lubricant from walmart, its like 96c a can, and i use it everything, my garagedoor opener, by fence hindges, car door hinges...

AustSV21 · 03-25-2005, 01:48 AM

i used WD40 for my doors, also used it for the boot because it was creaking, worked perfectly

Go the WD40

dna59 · 03-25-2005, 07:51 AM

I use WD40 for everything haha. That's a great all around lubricant. I've even heard that when it get's cold and your body joints hurt, you spray WD40 on the area. Can't say I've tried it though

AznVR4 · 03-25-2005, 10:25 AM

Lol WD-40 is the Best, one time late at night i went to the gas station to fill up my car and when i went back into the car, the door hinge was frozed up or something, my door would not close, i tried to use a screw driver to pop the hinge back out but it didnt work, then i used wd-40 and it did the trick. i thihnk the reason why it was stuck was because water prob got in there and froze up.

97&02camryleI4 · 03-25-2005, 10:29 AM

I just cleaned up the hinges yesterday with WD40 as bluemeanie suggested. Boy were they dirty and there were black crust all over. Cleaned it a couple of times while opening/closing the door to clean the inside latch. Then applied marine lithium grease (paste). I tried the spray type but it wasn't thick enough. Seemed very watery so I just used a tub of lithium paste. Opened and closed the doors a couple of times and reapplied. Now they work like brand new. Hope they last a while. Thanks everyone for your inputs.

EDIT: I did try using WD40 before but it didn't really work that well since it kind of dries out over time. It collected a lot of dust and dirt in the latches so maybe that's why there was so much resistance when opening the doors.