Scissor Hinge for Chevy Truck Installation Tips & Tricks

Our universal hinge set suits hoods, tilting bed floors and any large opening panel. They are simple parts, but the mounting position decides how well the bed opens. These scissor hinge installation tips come from our own builds, so read them before you drill the first hole. First, sort out left from right. Then set the mounting height and the gap, and the rest is bolt tension.

Scissor hinge installation tips

• There is a left and right hinge. The direction of the bolt heads and assembly of the hinges is different from passenger side to driver side. We recommend bolt heads facing outward of the box — this also makes the LS appear in the proper direction.
• Tighten or loosen each bolt to the desired function of the hinge. If your gas struts overpower the bed, tighten the bolts a bit to slow the opening down. Don’t over-tighten though, as it can prematurely wear the bushing out and they won’t operate smoothly.
• When mounting, don’t leave more than 4-⁠5″ of overhang ahead of the hinge. The hinges work best as close to the front as possible, because that keeps everything tight — more overhang than that and the floor can contact or drag when opening.
• Mount the hinges at 90 degrees when the bed is fully closed. They can close past 90, but that is not how they work best — at the bottom they should be nice and straight, at 90 degrees.

Paint, powder coat and the rear gap

• If disassembling the hinges for paint or powder coat, take lots of good assembled photos of each hinge — they’re different from passenger side to driver side.
• If powder coating, do so with some spare 3/8″ hardware in the holes, as tolerances are super tight and if powder coat gets into the hardware holes, they may not fit the 3/8″ bolts.
• Leave a ~1/2″ gap at the back of the tilt bed frame to allow it to hinge out and away as the bed opens — the hinges articulate in a curved motion, slightly moving the floor away as it opens.
• If you have any issues at all, reach out to us! If you happen to melt the bushing or run into any trouble, we’re here to help or get you replacement pieces. Good luck with your install and thanks again for your order and support!

Sizing the gas struts

The hinges only guide the bed. The gas struts do the lifting, so size them to the weight of the floor and the mounting angle. Our gas spring calculator works out the force you need from the bed weight and the pivot distance. If the struts overpower the bed, tighten the hinge bolts a little rather than fighting the bed by hand. Also, the billet aluminum version of the hinge uses the same mounting rules.

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