Just realized a zip tie trick for leveling door hangers

I was struggling to get a car door hanger leveled right on a 6 stop job last week and the old guy I was with showed me to loop a zip tie through the bottom bolt hole to use as a temporary support. It freed up my hands to check the gap and make adjustments without fighting the weight the whole time. Has anyone else tried something like that or got a better way to hold them steady?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_ross25d ago

Oh man, I gotta say, that zip tie trick is clever but you're describing it wrong. You don't loop it through the bolt hole. You actually wrap the zip tie around the door frame pinch weld and then through the hanger bracket. If you put it through the bolt hole you'll just strip the threads or snap the tie when you try to torque it. The real trick is using the zip tie as a third hand clamped to the pinch weld, not as a load bearing bolt replacement. I've seen guys try that bolt hole method and it always ends up with the hanger sagging or the zip tie snapping halfway through the job. Just a friendly heads up before you mess up a nice paint job on a customer's car.

lopez.simon25d ago

Nah, I've done the bolt hole trick plenty of times and it worked fine for me.

ray36324d ago

Yo @max_ross is totally right on this one! I've seen guys try the bolt hole method and it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Had a buddy last month try it on a Toyota Camry and the zip tie snapped before he even got the hanger off, dropped the whole muffler on his foot. The pinch weld clamp trick is the way to go, I do it all the time on Subarus and it holds solid. Seriously, if you're doing it through the bolt hole you're just asking for trouble when that plastic gives out mid-job.