Page 1 of 1
I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 5:42 pm
by dcfbf
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.
Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 6:12 pm
by dcfbf
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.
Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2025 7:28 pm
by TPFanatic
The entire lid is swappable.
Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2025 12:40 pm
by Glaurung-quena
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.
Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2025 1:54 pm
by dcfbf
Thanks I'll do it when I get the parts
Re: I thought 4:3 T61 were supposed to have good hinges
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2025 7:38 am
by ajkula66
For the sake of fairness, let's not forget how old these things are either...