Door seals

[Brian VT]

I was thinking about buying new door seals to try to get the noise down in the cab.
They mostly look good and seem to be working fine. They're not dried out. A couple spots are flattened but still soft and seem to be sealing.
There's a couple small chunks missing here and there but he main problem is the upper rear of the passenger door.
You can see lots of daylight through one spot about 6" long and about 3" down from the top of the door.
The top back corner and the whole top of the door seems to be sealing well. And from the bottom corner up to this leak seems good. The rubber where it seals well is flattened a bit but still soft. The rubber where the leak is isn't flattened. It seems like it's as good as when it left the factory. Nice and round. I read about inserting hose into the old seals but I don't think that would make it stand any prouder than it already is so it still wouldn't seal. It would just make the sealed parts tighter.
The door fits and works perfectly and there's no play in the hinges or bushings throughout the swing of the door.

Would new seals be the same dimensions and not fill this gap? Or can you suggest any other options that wouldn't look hacked?

 

[franklin2]

If you are talking about the outside door seal and not the window seal, I have slipped some 12 gauge or 10 gauge wire in behind the seal to make it stick out more and seal better. You can't see the wire after you tuck it in there.

I haven't done this trick to one of these trucks, but have done it to many others. I am assuming it would work just as well.

 

[Brian VT]

Yes. The outside door seal.
I had read about threading 1/4" clear hose inside the hollow seals to make them round again after they had been flattened over time. But mine is still round in this area.
How is the wire used?

 

[Old Goat]

Your truck being 35 years old, the rubber has dried out and not as plyable as when new. if it is flattened out, it will not seal.

I bought aftermarket (New OEM are probably NLA) think it was from Bronco Grave Yard. The brand was Precision.
No matter where you buy them, probably all down the sameCHI-COM assembly line with different names.

The problem I had, was the door will not shut and compress the new rubber. the edge of the door sticks out about 1/4".
I let it ride for about 5 months thinking it would eventually compress. One day I was at PNP, and checking every truck in the yard to check on the seals.
Came across a 03 or 04 F350, one of those door and a half things.
The seal looked pretty good, so pulled both sides.

Get home, throw them in the bath tub and scrub them and hang to dry.
I think the seals on our trucks is 144", and the PNP one 177".
Measured to find center, and started pushing it on working my way around. At the bottom they will over lap. I cut them by the back edge of the seat instead of where you get in and out.
I had to adjust the door to align it a bit, and for the most part, works ok.

I went online and ordered another new set, but for a 2004.
I put one new one on the Passenger side, and having the same problem with the edge of the door sticking out....*** ??? EDIT: OH NO, wadaef
I do need to adjust this door, I`ll get to it....

One think I noticed with this new one compared to the older 04 seal. The old one is just a round seal that squishes down. The new one they did an up grade, and there is a wall down the center to stiffen it. Maybe there was a problem with them from the Factory?....IDK.
On the part that pushes onto the pinch weld, on the inside part is a flap of rubber, probably to fit over some trim?.... I cut it off with a Razor Blade knife. original to our trucks don`t have it.

I have read on some threads where some guys run some fish tape through the tube, and pull through some surgical tubing to beef up the old dry seals. Works good for some and not others.

Another thing, check your Door Hinge Pin Bushings. If they are worn the door will sag and make it difficult to close the door.
And then you are slamming it
The Dorman kit is crap, but that is another thread....happy slammin


Goat

 

[franklin2]

Yes. The outside door seal.
I had read about threading 1/4" clear hose inside the hollow seals to make them round again after they had been flattened over time. But mine is still round in this area.
How is the wire used?

Grab the rubber and see if there is a cavity behind it. That is where I stuff the wire in and it pushes the seal out slightly.

 

[Austin86250]

I went to lmc and bought all new door seals weather stripping both cab and door window channel seal and the other window seal I didn’t realize my weather stripping was making noise until I replaced it

 

[Brian VT]

Did the LMC stuff seem "taller" than your original?
Like I said, where my leak is the seal is not deformed or flattened. It looks like it's never had anything pushing on it. I don't want to buy new seals if the new one isn't going to fill this gap.
Maybe I could bother you to measure how much yours stands out from the metal?

 

[Austin86250]

yes, i can measure the standout from the pinch weld
ill get back to you later today

 

[Brian VT]

Nice. Thank you.

 

[hacked89]

I had to bend all my pinch welds towards the cab in different areas after putting on the LMC seals because the door wouldn’t shut right after install due to height differences.

 

[Brian VT]

Ugh.
Well, to be clear about my predicament, the spot I'm talking about has the seal on the cab body just below where the top rear corner of the passenger door closes onto.

 

[catbird7]

Consider EPDM sponge foam cord inside of your existing door perimeter seal. Seems to be the popular method for resealing the door after new hinge pins are installed. Existing seal needs to be removed from the truck, then use a shop vac to "suck" a small string thru the hollow seal. Use baby powder as a lubricant to pull the sponge seal thru.

 

[Brian VT]

That's a solution I hadn't read yet. Thanks.
Sounds similar to threading flexible clear tubing through.
My concern is that this seal doesn't look to be deformed at all. It's very round.
I can't imagine that threading something through it will increase it's diameter unless the foam cord or hose is big enough to stretch the seal and increase it's diameter. Is that the goal with these methods or are they mostly to revive flattened seals?

 

[catbird7]

You can find it in various diameters at building supply stores such as Lowe's. Sometimes they call it "backer rod". 3/8" diameter seems to be the recommended size. Very inexpensive.

 

[Brian VT]

You can find it in various diameters at building supply stores such as Lowe's. Sometimes they call it "backer rod". 3/8" diameter seems to be the recommended size. Very inexpensive.

I bought some 5/8" Poly Foam Caulk Saver today. Not 3/8".
I pulled it through the center of the rubber door seal hoping it would make it stand more proud and meet the door and make some seal.
Nope. Still lots of daylight showing through there. :-(