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I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

T60/T61 Series
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dcfbf
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Joined: Wed May 01, 2024 7:28 pm
Location: Jurupa Valley, California

I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

#1 Post by dcfbf » Mon Dec 01, 2025 5:42 pm

I just opened up my 4:3 T61 and I found that the hinges were very loose (if I let it go from under 45 degrees it just falls)
It was already wobbling (I thought old hinge whatever) but this looseness is new.

I forgot where but I remember reading that the 4:3 T61 had hinges more similar to the T4x series and that they were not as prone to failure.

This is the first time I had a hinge fail on me (I've had failed hinges but have never seen hinge failure develop) so is this failure an isolated case or do 4:3 T61's just have failure prone hinges?

Can I just use a T60 lid in place of this?
I like the design much more anyways.
IBM: 760ED, 600E, 570, T23, X30, T40, G41, T43 14", T43 UXGA, R52 IPS SXGA+
Lenovo: X41t, T60p UXGA, T60 14", T61 4:3, T61 15.4", X61 IPS SXGA+, T500, X301, E40, X201t, W520, X220, T430, W541, T450s, P71, X1 Carbon 6, T480, T14 G3, X1 Carbon 12

Current Dailies: X61, T60p, W520, P71

dcfbf
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Posts: 96
Joined: Wed May 01, 2024 7:28 pm
Location: Jurupa Valley, California

Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

#2 Post by dcfbf » Mon Dec 01, 2025 6:12 pm

Sorry, I didn't research enough.
I was hasty in posting this.

But my question still stands if I can directly swap over a T60 lid without any other modifications.
I know that the motherboard swap is possible.
IBM: 760ED, 600E, 570, T23, X30, T40, G41, T43 14", T43 UXGA, R52 IPS SXGA+
Lenovo: X41t, T60p UXGA, T60 14", T61 4:3, T61 15.4", X61 IPS SXGA+, T500, X301, E40, X201t, W520, X220, T430, W541, T450s, P71, X1 Carbon 6, T480, T14 G3, X1 Carbon 12

Current Dailies: X61, T60p, W520, P71

TPFanatic
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Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

#3 Post by TPFanatic » Mon Dec 01, 2025 7:28 pm

The entire lid is swappable.

Glaurung-quena
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Location: Olean, NY

Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

#4 Post by Glaurung-quena » Tue Dec 02, 2025 12:40 pm

dcfbf wrote:
Mon Dec 01, 2025 5:42 pm
I just opened up my 4:3 T61 and I found that the hinges were very loose (if I let it go from under 45 degrees it just falls)
It was already wobbling (I thought old hinge whatever) but this looseness is new.

I forgot where but I remember reading that the 4:3 T61 had hinges more similar to the T4x series and that they were not as prone to failure.

This is the first time I had a hinge fail on me (I've had failed hinges but have never seen hinge failure develop) so is this failure an isolated case or do 4:3 T61's just have failure prone hinges?

Can I just use a T60 lid in place of this?
I like the design much more anyways.
My experience is that the 4:3 T61 often have slightly loose hinges, more so than the T60.

You can interchange the 14" T60 and T61 lids, but you will also need to interchange the keyboard bezels, as the cutout for the video cable is just slightly different.

dcfbf
Freshman Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed May 01, 2024 7:28 pm
Location: Jurupa Valley, California

Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

#5 Post by dcfbf » Tue Dec 02, 2025 1:54 pm

Thanks I'll do it when I get the parts
IBM: 760ED, 600E, 570, T23, X30, T40, G41, T43 14", T43 UXGA, R52 IPS SXGA+
Lenovo: X41t, T60p UXGA, T60 14", T61 4:3, T61 15.4", X61 IPS SXGA+, T500, X301, E40, X201t, W520, X220, T430, W541, T450s, P71, X1 Carbon 6, T480, T14 G3, X1 Carbon 12

Current Dailies: X61, T60p, W520, P71

ajkula66
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Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges

#6 Post by ajkula66 » Wed Dec 03, 2025 7:38 am

For the sake of fairness, let's not forget how old these things are either...
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

my music if anyone cares: https://www.youtube.com/@TheWaterMemory

PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

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