Weatherstrip Nightmare

[Beatcoaster]

So I just got finished painting my entire interior last night and I pull out my brand new door weatherstrips from LMC to install today. I start on the passenger side, get all the adhesive on there, get the strip on, let it cure, it's on nice and tight, looks better than out of the factory - I'm super excited....and then...I go to shut the door, and can't even get to the safety latch click. It is clearly way too thick and is binding up in the front, so I adjust the doors out as far as they will go and fix that problem but the alignment is way off. I go to shut the door again and now it gets really close to the second, final latch point, but even hitting it with my ass hard, it doesn't shut...I adjust the striker plate all the way out and it finally closes and latches, but the door looks like it is about to fall off, cause eveything is adjusted so far out. After 2 more hours of adjusting I still cannot get it to close easily and correctly, so I get pissed and start cutting out the hard pieces in the corner and back edge of the weatherstrip...Still not perfect, and the door is still adjusted way too far out. So at this point, after 4 hours or work, I have destroyed my passenger weatherstrip by cutting pieces out, it looks like crap, I have adhesive showing, and my excitement level is crushed....

Does anyone have any ideas for me? Are there other sources for weather strip that fits like the old stuff did(aka perfect?!?!). I really want to adjust my doors back in also cause it all looks so wrong right now...

*sigh* ~Dejected in Washington

[bad6772]

They always fit tight for a while....I have heard some take as much as a year to Compress.....What I always do is take a heat gun to the seal its self....Get it good and hot but not to the point of melting......Then close the door as is and leave it over night......Adjust as needed.....Also before installing or adding my adhesive I lay it out in the sun for a few hours....Or throw it in the Microwave for a few mins.......Always works for me....Its really not poor fitting.....But just that of being new.......

[rico7769]

Try putting it in hot bath water. It'll loosen it up just like putting it in the sun. Once its shut, let it rest and it should get you marginally close with little adjustments to be made.

Steve

[1970cstblazer]

Those w-strips are not the same composition as the original GM. I used the LMC strips on my '72, and for the first couple of months, the doors shut alittle tight, but they have relaxed a lot and shut fine.

I would recommend GM strips if they are available.

[big_al_71]

When we redid mine we put them in hot water for a little while then out in the sun, installed them and the door was a little harder to close but it did close. Let the truck sit out in the sun with the doors closed and the weatherstipr will break in nicely.

[americanmusc1e]

we used Classic Industries and didn't have to adjust the door at all, it just shut a little tight

[LockDoc]

-
Get '86-'96 Dodge Dakota weatherstrips. They are the slip on instead of the glue on and they fit great. You have to cut about 3" off of the length.

LockDoc

[Beatcoaster]

Well, since I destroyed the LMC passenger side and my door would not even shut due to the hard corner piece and thickened back edge it was apparent I needed a different product altogether. I just ordered the slip on ones from GMC Pauls, and I will heat these up and do all the tricks you guys have suggested(except for sitting in the sun - haven't seen that yellow orb in months). Time to go scrape off the adhesive and repaint, thanks a bunch for the info guys, helpful as always. Anyone want a LMC driver side piece for cheap?

[71 super]

I used precision pieces on my 71, and unless the window was cracked the doors would not shut tightly, without really slamming it. This is using all new GM NOS latches, rebuilt hinges etc. They have just now started to shut without being slammed- truck is not driven much - 500 miles since 2001

[70Custom10Nut]

Sorry to hear about the trouble, but I was about to order the same thing for mine. Now I'm getting real leery about ordering things for price and convenience. Cnut

[LockDoc]

-
Also be aware that when the doors are tight that the door locks probably won't work. There is too much of a bind on the latches and it won't allow the lock actuators to engage.

LockDoc

[ebfabman]

With the weather strip removed, close the door. From the inside check the gap between the door and sheet metal lip the weather strip goes on. make sure its about the same all the way around the door opening (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch). Adjust where necessary. Install the weather strip and check again. Get a long strip of strong paper a few inches wide. Masking paper or butcher paper works good. With the door open, lay the paper across the weather strip so that when you close the door, one end is inside and the other end is outside. You will want to be able to pull the paper, with a small amount of force, across the weather strip without it tearing. It should pull "snug". You don't want it to tear (door adjusted too tight) or pull with little or no resistance (door adjusted too loose) Do this several places around the door to check its adjustment. Take your time, adjust as needed. Good luck.

[ebfabman]

A few other things. You should get the "up down" adjustment of the door made first so that the lines of the cab and door look good. Then make your adjustments on the "in out" of the door and at the lip the weather strip goes on. That way you're not going around in circles. Another thing I like to do is take the striker off the cab while you are making adjustments. This way you can "feel" how the door closes. You don't want a "binding" feel when its almost closed. Most times you will have to average every adjustment. After you are OK with the way everything feels, then reinstall the striker and adjust it so you don't have to slam the door to get it to latch properly.

[lyrikz]

Im right down the street from you, i will come over and laugh at you with your gullwing doors. ahaha.. IM going to be going through this SAME thing here pretty soon. Love to see what the outcome is. Keep your head up.

[tim21391]

was it cold when u put it on... like the guy stated above getting it hot works alot.. if that didnt work.. i ordered mine from manestruckparts.com last year and it worked fine for me

[Beatcoaster]

I appreciate the comments from all, and once the GMC Pauls units get here I will take them all into account, but again, the issue seems to be with the LMC product not allowing for any compression in certain areas ofthe strip.

Ebfabman - I have everything adjusted out as far as it will go and the door still did not close properly with weatherstrip attached, therefore there are no adjustments that can be made further. Without new weather strip and previously before I started rehabbing the interior the doors works flawlessly with the existing weather strip. The up/down has been untouched and it appears the door levels are the same as they were when it left the factory which I can see via paint marks around the washers now. I have found the problem lies with the rubber 45 corner up front which is virtually rock hard and the back upper corner(above the striker plate) that has another chunk of rubber hose inside it, making it thick and difficult to compress also. Both of these points are clearly wear areas and have been reinforced on LMC's weatherstrip(which made sense and I was actually excited about when I opened the box). I have a feeling that my cab and doors have been untouched throughout their years and perhaps my tolerances are quite tight in comparison to some of the other trucks out there? Since I had no cab rust aside from the inner kickpanels, perhaps things are still a little too inline for these thick aftermarket parts?

Last night I removed the weatherstrip I had butchered and set to removing all the adhesive(omfg!!) and am now repriming and painting my jams - weather permitting...At least with the clip on style I will have the ability to remove them and adjust them if necessary...

Lyrikz - With everything adjusted out, they might as well be gullwings...talk about aerodynamic nightmares that will just catch all the road water/dirt/wind possible right now - it looks retarded...Give me a PM in a week or so and you can come see my progress and hopefully this issue with be squashed by then...

Thanks again everyone

[Beatcoaster]

It was cold, 50ish, but that rigid corner was the deal breaker and was what lead me to try a different product altogether. I hate throwing money at something as stupid as weather strip but there was no way it would work even with my adjustments all the way out in "gullwing mode"

[Grapdawg]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

-
Get '86-'96 Dodge Dakota weatherstrips. They are the slip on instead of the glue on and they fit great. You have to cut about 3" off of the length.

LockDoc

yep just went to the pull yer own parts salvage yard today, got some from a Dakota and just as he said works great and with a extra 3 inchs. All for $8. Thanks for the info.

[mbgmike]

Originally Posted by ebfabman

With the weather strip removed, close the door. From the inside check the gap between the door and sheet metal lip the weather strip goes on. make sure its about the same all the way around the door opening (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch). Adjust where necessary. Install the weather strip and check again. Get a long strip of strong paper a few inches wide. Masking paper or butcher paper works good. With the door open, lay the paper across the weather strip so that when you close the door, one end is inside and the other end is outside. You will want to be able to pull the paper, with a small amount of force, across the weather strip without it tearing. It should pull "snug". You don't want it to tear (door adjusted too tight) or pull with little or no resistance (door adjusted too loose) Do this several places around the door to check its adjustment. Take your time, adjust as needed. Good luck.

We use a dollar bill

[americanmusc1e]

I can't remember, I think we stretched mine when we put it on but I'm not 100 percent sure on that

[Musclerodz]

We use Metro seals and they work perfect first time just like every other vehicle we install Metro seals on. The bad part is they don't hardly make anything else for 67-72 trucks

[C10Sim]

I just received my from GMC Pauls (push on's), and Im having the same problem. A better route would probably be to consider getting used one's like the guy from the previous post , beacuse they have been broken in already.

Just my 2 cents!

[stllookn]

I installed some from the Truck and Car Shop and they were tight but lossened up. What I really hated was gluing them in...what a pain!!!! I will go LocDoc's route and get some clip-on's from the Pull-A-Part! I love the price!

[Beatcoaster]

Had a couple great days to finish the interior painting and I put on the GMC Pauls strips tonight. Yes the doors are tight, but they fit good, looks better than the glue on nightmare, and once they loosen up they should be perfect. Unlike the bumbs at LMC and Brothers who seem to enjoy making people wait weeks for their parts to arrive, I got these mid of last week, 3 days after I ordered them. They went on without a hitch and the doors both close with a "butt bump". Every night I will heat them up and close the doors to hopefully speed up the break in process!! Thanks to all for the advice! I will shoot some photos and post em up tomorrow.