A couple of weeks ago, we had an unseasonably warm weekend. I took advantage of the warn weather to install a new set of door seals. I used a push-on style seal kit from Brothers. It appears to be a good quality product and it was easy to install. I am, however, struggling with door alignment with the new seal.
Removing the Original Seals
The original seals were glued in at the factory. The condition of the rubber varied quite a bit, depending on location. Along the bottom of the door openings, the seals were brittle, splitting, and crumbling. Along the tops and sides, the rubber was still pliable, but it was split in several spots. The seals came out in a million pieces and I had the scrape the glue off of the flanges. That was, by far, the hardest part of the process.
Installing the New Stuff
The new seals were easy to install. Generally speaking, you just press the seals over the flange. Here are a few tips for anyone who takes on this project.
- Start at the bottom of the door frame. If, someday, your seals shrink, it's much better to have a small gap at the threshold than somewhere along the sides or top of the door.
- Make sure the seal is fully seated on the flange. I used a dead-blow mallet to tap the seal down onto the flange.
- Take your time. Press a few inches of the seal onto the flange. Then, tap it down with the dead-blow to fully seat it on the flange. You want to make sure it's fully seated all the way around the door opening. It's much easier to seat the seal as you go. If you wait until the end to seat the whole seal, you'll never get it to seat fully.
- Cut the seal a little bit longer than you think it needs to be. When you get all the way around to your starting point, Add a 1/4"-3/8" BEFORE you cut the end of the seal to length. It's better for the seal to be a little bit too long than a little bit too short
- Align the ends of the seal. The Brothers seals come with a short "connector" piece that slips inside the outer portion of the seal. This helps align the two ends of the seal and adds a little bit of insurance against a gap in the seal.
Troubles with Door Alignment - Hard Closing door
Now that I have fresh new door seals, the doors won't close! Actually, the passenger door is just about perfect. It seals up nice and tight and the door closes with just a little bit of effort. The driver door, on the other hand, is WAY too tight. It closed beautifully, with the old worn out seal. With the new seal, it takes a tremendous amount of force to compress the seal enough to latch the door. I loosened the door strike and adjusted it as far out as it will go. The rear edge of the door now sits about 1/8" proud of the cab and I still have to slam the door for it to latch. I don't think it is a vertical alignment issue. There hinges are tight and the door doesn't sag. The gap at the rear of the door is too tight, but I can't move the door forward without getting into the fender. When I get around to the body work, I can/will loosen the fender and adjust it forward. That should give some extra clearance to adjust the door forward too. In the meantime, I'm open to suggestions on correcting the hard closing door.
As always, I appreciate any advice you all can pass along.
Thanks.
John