Door Seal Mod

genie144

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This is nothing new and has been covered before... I am posting this just to provide information for those that may not know. Feel free to add any additional information you might have.

Purpose: The door seal on the trucks deteriorates over time from repeated opening/closing, heat, and humidity. This allows a significant amount of road and wind noise to enter the cabin. The mod uses the factory seal to create a better/tighter seal.

Material Needed:

Tubing
  • Poly-Vinyl
  • Surgical Latex
  • Plastic
  • Anything Else

Thickness: 1/4"OD-3/8"OD

Lubricant:
  • Baby Powder
  • Dawn Soap
  • Use your imagination :eek:

Electrical Fish Line

Second set of hands

The type and thickness of material used will depend on your personal taste and environment.

Surgical Tubing:
Pros: Pliable - easy to shut door.
Cons: Pliable - prone to dry out and crack in hot dry climates.

Poly-Vinyl:
Pros: Stiff - easy to lubricate - not prone to fatigue
Cons: Difficult to shut door

Plastic:
Pros: Is there any????
Cons: Brittle, easily cracked/broken

Quantity:
  • Crew Cab - ~55 Linear Feet
  • Extended Cab - ~40 Linear Feet
  • Regular Cab - ~28 Linear Feet

Thickness: The thickness I would recommend is based on material type. If you select surgical tubing I would do a 3/8" OD tubing to get the best/tightest seal possible from the flimsy material. If you do poly-vinyl, I would recommend 1/4" OD as the 3/8" OD makes shutting the doors VERY difficult.

Lubrication: It is not necessary to use lubrication, but as with most things in life a little goes a long way... I have used dawn and baby powder. If using latex - use the baby powder. The latex absorbs the soap and it takes quite a bit to do any good. I recommend baby powder it is easy and ends up leaving the truck smelling better. ADDITIONAL NOTE - compressed air can be used to help push tube through seal when bound up (pstroke96).

The process is pretty straight forward:

  • Remove Door Seal
  • Put Fish line through Seal
  • Tape tube to fish line
  • Have second set of hands pull through seal
  • Use 1 hand to lubricate tube and other to help push
  • Wipe down area for door seal
  • Reinstall Door Seal
  • Repeat

As far as the second set of hands. It is possible to do this yourself, however a second set of hands makes it painless and quick. My oldest daughter (2 years old) helped me with the first door seal and it took ~10 minutes. My wife helped with the remaining 3 doors and it took ~25 minutes.

I have a baseline dB reading of the truck before and after using both my iPhone and an actual dB meter. I need to consolidate the readings into some useful data and will post later. At first blush, I am guessing that there is a ~1-2 dB reduction. I can tell you that the difference is obvious. I used 1/4" poly in my 1996 and was happy with the results. I did 3/8" poly-vinyl in my 2002 and that tubing is big and thick (yes that is what she said :rolleyes: ). It is a much better seal, however the doors are too difficult to shut. I am going to give it a few weeks and see if the tubing softens up with the heat and becomes easier to open/close. If it doesn't, I will buy some 1/4" for the passenger doors and see what that does. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to take any pictures but will post some this weekend.

Sam
 
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genie144

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Tubing is readily available from Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc in the plumbing section. Also available from Grainger, McMaster, Mouser, etc.


Sam
 

Pstroke96

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i did this to my truck. the total cost was only like 8 bucks. i bought 2 20 foot rolls and used about 12 per door on my obs. . i used compressed air to aid pushing it through the seal. i pushed it as far as i could until it bound up, then blew air into the end of the tubing and it slid right through. i dont have a decibel reading on the difference but there is a very noticeable difference.
i used 1/4 vinyl tubing and after about a week you didnt have to slam the doors to shut them anymore
 
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Tom S

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I used the foam that is in the used as caulking backer. It is just tricky to get into the weather stripe without breaking. Think lots of lube.
 

genie144

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Just to follow up on my material selection. The poly-vinyl is softening in the doors that I use all of the time. The driver door no longer has to be slammed but does require extra force. The back doors that don't get used are still just as tough as install. I will be leaving it as is and expect over time that it will soften. Also one additional note - I bought the poly vinyl from Lowes and paid ~$19 with tax for the 65 feet.

Sam
 

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