Drift Punch the right tool?

[Whiskeymike]

In a Jeep door hinge is an aluminum sleeve that get's pushed in and protects the hinge from taking the doors on and off and I'm looking to push them out. Is a "Drift" punch the right tool for the job in popping them out? I imagine a wide variety of tools could be used, but what's the right tool?

Anyone have a good source to inexpensive, relatively disposable punches that don't require a full set to be purchased? I need a bunch of them for a group purchase.

Also, is it best to get one the size of the hinge hole so it makes contact with the entire sleeve circumference? Or undersized is fine and just grab a third around the edge and move it a bit with each tap?

 

[larry_g]

It sounds to me like your sleeve would need a pin punch to remove. Drift punches are tapered and pin punches are straight to catch the whole outside circumference of the sleeve. Best bet would be to turn a stepped punch so that the sleeve would be supported inside and not be crushed.

I don't buy cheap tools so I cannot direct you to a vendor.

Quick and dirty would be to find a bolt that is a good fit to the inside of the sleeve and turn the diameter of the head to the OD of the sleeve minus a few thou. To turn the head can be as easy as chucking the bolt in a hand drill and turning it against a grinder till reduced to size.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[rlitman]

How tight are these bushings? The first thing I'd try is to use a soft faced deadblow hammer and a wooden dowel.

 

[abvw]

A small deep socket works wonderfully.

 

[Whiskeymike]

How tight are these bushings? The first thing I'd try is to use a soft faced deadblow hammer and a wooden dowel.

Not incredibly tight, but they can get a bit corroded or chafed, occasionally making them a bit of a bear.

Pin punch might be the right shape. I'm looking to make a bunch of kits. So I could turn them on a lathe, but didn't want to spend the labor if I could find something reliable that would work for the removal of 8 sleeves and be tossed in the scrap bin.

 

[2oolhound]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but trying to engineer something that will need to be disposed of after 8 uses seems futile. It only serves the purpose of enabling you to resell the kit every time the job needs doing. However the fact that sometimes the pins get corroded in means the tool has to be good enough for those circumstances. If designed obsolescence is the plan, it will need to start deteriorating after the 1st use and be fairly useless after the 8th because it's unlikely you can make one that self destrucks after the 8th pin. With these different conditions of the pins this will be very difficult to engineer.

I agree a roll pin punch is the best design but it would probably be cheaper to make quality ones that are not disposable and will last a life time. Who throws tools away anyway? If you go this disposable route please get them made off shore so we don't give North American manufacturing a bad name.

 

[Whiskeymike]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but trying to engineer something that will need to be disposed of after 8 uses seems futile. It only serves the purpose of enabling you to resell the kit every time the job needs doing. However the fact that sometimes the pins get corroded in means the tool has to be good enough for those circumstances. If designed obsolescence is the plan, it will need to start deteriorating after the 1st use and be fairly useless after the 8th because it's unlikely you can make one that self destrucks after the 8th pin. With these different conditions of the pins this will be very difficult to engineer.

I agree a roll pin punch is the best design but it would probably be cheaper to make quality ones that are not disposable and will last a life time. Who throws tools away anyway? If you go this disposable route please get them made off shore so we don't give North American manufacturing a bad name.

I appreciate the sentiment, but you are over thinking it. I'm not trying to engineer garbage. Just looking to figure out the right tool as most folks that buy these sleeves most likely won't have the right tool. And I said disposable as I didn't want a Snap On or Matco $25 recommendation, as the customer won't likely use it afterwards. At least not for what it's intended.

Tekton has a nice one, made in the USA, on the market for $6. I sent them a note asking about options to buy in large quantity. We'll see what they say.