Improved Door Seals

[VWNate1]

I forget , there are Dodge (Dakota maybe?) door seals that are better than the OEM '67 ~ '72 crappo seals .

Please re post what model and year they are to be found on .

TIA ,

[FirstOwner69]

86-96 Dodge Dakota.

[VWNate1]

THANK YOU ! .

Off to Steele Rubber Co. I go........

[joewell80]

I never heard about the Dakota door seals, Do they fit really well on a C10?

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by joewell80

I never heard about the Dakota door seals, Do they fit really well on a C10?

They fit pretty well and don't require glue. Like most they take a while to break in.

Manitowoc, huh? I lived there for 5 years many, many years ago.

[VWNate1]

They have a metal lining so they hold better to the pinchweld .

I have ordered up a pair and will report back when I get them installed .

[Steve Hafner]

. . . .

After three years of SLAMMING the doors, maybe I should try those !!!

[jmader]

Interesting. Subscribed to hear the results.

[Steve Cole]

I thought it was the Durango door seals. Probably could use either one.

[PanelDeland]

I have a drivers side Dakota seal on mine. Very tight. I wanted something cheap and easy until I could do rockers. I also wanted the ability to remove/replace until everything was done and working the way I wanted. I'm living with it but it is quite a bit thicker than the original.

[thepenguin99]

Originally Posted by Steve Cole

I thought it was the Durango door seals. Probably could use either one.

Durango door seals won't work. They are a completely different animal. I actually looked at them when I was looking for door seals on my truck. Ended up using 88-98 chevy truck seals which work halfway decent but they are too wide and I have to slam my doors more than I would like. Will probably try some dakota ones later.

[litew8]

Our doors were engineered to be SLAMMED! It's a TRUCK

Originally Posted by Steve Hafner

. . . .

After three years of SLAMMING the doors, maybe I should try those !!!

[FirstOwner69]

Just to clear up any confusion about these seals AND the originals.

In the 45 years I've had my truck, the doors have always required a fair amount of effort/slamming to close. This was true to a somewhat lesser extent even after the original seals were mashed to almost nothing. To some degree litew8 is correct. The doors never did close with minimal effort and a nice solid satisfying thunk. My Dakota seals are from the junkyard. So, they are fairly well broken in. They fit great, but it does require a fair amount of effort to close the doors... almost like the originals.

Maybe my truck was an outlier and others always closed beautifully. Maybe...

[Rod Run]

So what is the actual advantage of changing the seals to there, other than not needing adhesive?

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

So what is the actual advantage of changing the seals to there, other than not needing adhesive?

I did it because they were dirt cheap from the junkyard, everyone was complaining about all the new repro seals out there, they don't require adhesive and they've received fairly positive reviews in other threads. Was worth a try. To me, the clip on feature is a big positive, and, as I said, the originals weren't great either. If I ever hear great reviews of some reproductions, I may try them.

[Lee H]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

So what is the actual advantage of changing the seals to there, other than not needing adhesive?

Ease of installation, about 5 minutes per side, and no glue. I tried the no glue clip-ons, both the dodge and the repop that some vendors sell. They are thicker than the glue-ons and often require the door to be adjusted. On my truck, to get the door to close easily, even after many months, a lot of adjustment was needed. I went back to the glue-ons, boy what a mess, but they fit great, seal well, and the door gaps are correct. I know some folks that have the clip-ons and they fit well.

[Bigdav160]

I tried the Dakota seals (new) and could never get my door to shut. I gave up on them.

[RenoKeene]

I have posted this before but it apparently didn't take.
The problem isn't the seals its the pinch weld they sit on. Before you put new seals on bend the pinch weld in just a tad with a paddle-nose set of vicegrips or a 2x and hammer.
A very small adjustment is all it takes. With the push on type seal (Dodge) you can even fine tune the adjustment to your liking.

[Rod Run]

Originally Posted by Lee H

Ease of installation, about 5 minutes per side, and no glue. I tried the no glue clip-ons, both the dodge and the repop that some vendors sell. They are thicker than the glue-ons and often require the door to be adjusted. On my truck, to get the door to close easily, even after many months, a lot of adjustment was needed. I went back to the glue-ons, boy what a mess, but they fit great, seal well, and the door gaps are correct.

So you're saying that the correct ones are a mess, but they fit great and seal well... or you're saying that the Dakota ones seal great and fit well?

when I get tot his point (after the new year), I have no problem messing with adhesive, if that's the better fitting seal. I don't take the easy way out, just to save a bit of work, if that's not the best way.

Thank you everyone, for the good advice...... or is it the more confusion? I'm not sure

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

I have posted this before but it apparently didn't take.
The problem isn't the seals its the pinch weld they sit on. Before you put new seals on bend the pinch weld in just a tad with a paddle-nose set of vicegrips or a 2x and hammer.
A very small adjustment is all it takes. With the push on type seal (Dodge) you can even fine tune the adjustment to your liking.

Ding ding winner.

[Steve Hafner]

Originally Posted by litew8

Our doors were engineered to be SLAMMED! It's a TRUCK

Back in the late seventies, my friend who had a 68 50th anniversary, INSISTED that we close the door with a " gentle, finger, PUSH " until it went - click !!! ( of course, it was less then ten years old then and had the original door seals !!! )

[jocko]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

I have posted this before but it apparently didn't take.
The problem isn't the seals its the pinch weld they sit on. Before you put new seals on bend the pinch weld in just a tad with a paddle-nose set of vicegrips or a 2x and hammer.
A very small adjustment is all it takes. With the push on type seal (Dodge) you can even fine tune the adjustment to your liking.

I did this and it helped a good bit. The one area where there's not much room to bend em inward is right near the a/c vent - and that's one spot where mine really needed it. Still - I didn't miss your post and I followed your advice and it was VERY helpful - thank you! I used GMC Pauls. High High quality no-glue-type seals, but they were so fat my doors are still jacked up no matter how much I adjust the hinges, pinch weld, etc. So, I'm letting father time do his thing.

[71 super]

I have the push on seals from Paul's and my doors on the 68 shut very well, wish I had used them on the other trucks and will use again in future.

[litew8]

Originally Posted by Steve Hafner

Back in the late seventies, my friend who had a 68 50th anniversary, INSISTED that we close the door with a " gentle, finger, PUSH " until it went - click !!! ( of course, it was less then ten years old then and had the original door seals !!! )

I'd like to see that! When old (before restoring), mine never closed without effort, and I prefer it that way I think some of the reason for a solid shut - cabin pressure. As for the mess of glue on type, I don't get it. Sure, it isn't the nicest stuff to work with, but with 2 people it isn't bad at all if you take your time.

[mechanicalman]

Wanted to subscribe to this thread.