Glide-Pro™ Hinge Wear

Glide-Pro™ Hinge Wear

Powerbrace Corporation's Glide-Pro™ heavy-duty hinges are designed with a patented key bearing made of impact­-modified nylon. These hinges are designed with top-quality materials so they could well outlast the life of your trailer.

Download Glide-Pro™ Hinge Wear Technical Bulletin

Glide-Pro Hinge Advantages

Glide-Pro extruded aluminum hinges have a flanged (keyed) bearing to slide in place, eliminating any metal-on-metal contact. Glide-Pro steel hinges have the same bearing but without the key, again extending wear by eliminating the metal-on-metal contact. A Glide-Pro hinge has several advantages:

  • Eliminates need for washers
  • Speeds up assembly
  • Easier to install
  • Wears less over time
  • Carries a lifetime replacement warranty on the bearing
  • Reduces corrosion
  • Maintains proper door alignment
  • Insures easy door opening and closing
pin with bushings
Glide-Pro™ Hinge Pin

Glide-Pro hinge pin shows no wear after 60,000 test cycles. The other hinge pin shows a great amount of wear after the same number of cycles.

pin with washers
Other hinge pin

Glide-Pro hinges Provide Fast and Easy Installation

Because no washers are needed, the Glide-Pro hinges can be installed quickly and easily. Our engineers have tested installing the Glide-Pro hinges side-by-side with traditional-style hinges to find the following results:

  • Glide-Pro hinges are installed more than twice as fast
  • The person installing the Glide-Pro hinges can wear gloves and accomplish the task just as quickly
  • No small parts needed to be handled or lined up for installation

Glide-Pro Hinge Testing

We have made many side-by-side tests of Glide-Pro hinges with other models on our cycle test machine, comparing them to steel hinges, steel hinges with a brass bushing, and standard aluminum. Tests show the Glide-Pro hinges in near-mint condition, while the other styles show wear that will cause door sag and corrosion.  Other tests on the hinge cycle machine indicated the following wear on the steel hinge with brass bushing and steel hinge with no bushings:

  • Galvanizing worn away on large sections of hinge I.D.
  • Stepped section on hinge butt worn by bottom washer
  • Cad plating worn off top and bottom of washer
  • Grooves worn into the pin

By contrast, the Glide-Pro hinge with patented key bearing made of impact-modified nylon showed:

  • No indications of wear on the barrel
  • No galvanizing worn through
  • No heavy wear areas on top or bottom bearings
  • No deep grooves or galling on the pin

What Are the Most Important Facts about Glide-Pro Hinges?

They are more than twice as fast to install as hinges with washers, wear less over time, maintain proper door alignment, and allow easy door opening and closing.

We'll test Your Hinges

Powerbrace Corporation will be happy to run tests on your hinges and our Glide-Pro hinges on the same cycle test machine. We will send both hinges from the test back to you, and you can compare for yourself exactly how much wear they both indicate.

Simply send your hinges to the Powerbrace Customer Service Department with a request for a side-by-side Glide-Pro test We'll perform the test and send both hinges to you.

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