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New door seals seem to be too thick

Jfryjfry

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2017
Messages
502
We got our bronco back from the paint shop and I am reassembling things and running into various issues. Most I can figure out but I was hoping to tap the wisdom here.

I provided the shop with the new door seals / weatherstripping but they never opened the bag. They got new striker plates and rehung the doors. They lined up great wth no seal. I just installed the seal in the pass side and the door needs to be forcefully slammed to shut all the way but is being pushed out on the rear bottom due to the thickness of the seal.

In related questions.... do you use an adhesive for the part that goes over the lip? And how do you keep the two bottom corners in the corners? They keep pulling up as nothing is holding them down.

I can post pics if it would help. Thanks in advance!
 

bronconut73

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
9,916
I will let the fellas respond but this is an age-old problem with our Broncos.

For a while there was a company that still exist named Metro super soft seals I think that was their name anyways they used to make seals for early Broncos but they don't anymore as I understand it now. They apparently fit well and we're soft enough to allow the doors to shut easily and stay well fitted to the body in other words they didn't push the door out.

It has become such an issue that wild horses offers a money back or return and replace guarantee on their door seals. That's a really awesome thing about doing business with wild horses their customer service is in a class by itself. But that does not change the problem that even their seals sometimes have issues or either slightly too thick or maybe they're just too hard. This is the case across the industry it seems.
There are fancier name brands for seals like the company Steele. Their seals cost a bit more but I've never heard that they fit any better. What we seem to need is a thinner softer seal than what is currently generally available no matter which vendor you go with.

The old wisdom was to slam your door shut leave your Bronco in your hot garage and in one summer your doors will shut better and the seals will have relaxed. That doesn't seem to be working for anybody anymore.

I'm going to need seals soon too keep us posted on your success or lack thereof I'll be watching. Thank you for the effort and posting about it.
 

abn373

Contributor
Full Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
380
Loc.
Charleston, SC
I was never able to get the new door seals to allow my doors to close, and certainly a date in the passenger side is never going to get them closed from the inside.
Biggest waste of money ever. I just used no lower door seals for years and never had water come in, but doors would rattle like hell. The seals are now off and doors are chucked in the shed. Problem solved.
 

m_m70

Contributor
Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2001
Messages
1,460
Loc.
Pacifica, CA
unfortunately, like most everything Bronco aftermarket, the fitment sucks. and worse yet, not cheap.
what I ended up doing was taking a razor blade and splitting the seal in half where I had issues (mostly along the bottom and corners) and used adhesive where the push pins were once used. If your really careful and take your time, they'll look OK.
Just ordered from WH yesterday as I just repainted my rockers, post and pillars so we'll see...………..fingers crossed! %)
 

rjrobin2002

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
2,664
Shut the doors and leave them shut for several days helps. Plus a summer of heat and daily use helps also. I imagine a heat gun could be used to get them hot and soft, then shut the door for a night and recheck till you like it.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
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Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,355
...Just ordered from WH yesterday as I just repainted my rockers, post and pillars so we'll see...………..fingers crossed! %)

Thanks m_m. Appreciate it.
Definitely trial fit them first if you can. Just thinking that getting them all glued on to the new paint and then finding they're not to your liking would suck even more than just having them not fit right!

I have not heard of any complaints lately, but as I'm not in the inner circle of the complaint department very often right now, I may have missed some. But so far, so good (but still crossing fingers).

One area you can tell pretty much right away is if they're too stiff up in the upper front corner where the big blob of rubber with the metal/plastic reinforcing block is. Where the screw attaches it to the body in other words.

If you get it lined up and your door starts to resist closing while the latch is still six inches away from the striker (!) you may have run afoul of a stiff one.
If it gets to within an inch of the striker before you feel resistance, you're on the right track!
This wouldn't be such a problem if you could move the door rearward. But since that skews an otherwise perfect gap, it's not a feasible adjustment.
However, note your gaps and if your front gap is tighter than the rear gap, you have the option of shimming the hinges just to fix the gap. That may actually be enough to take some of the squeeze off of the weatherstrip.

Good luck.

Paul
 
OP
OP
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Jfryjfry

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2017
Messages
502
Thanks for all of your input. I’m quite relieved that this does not seem to be an issue caused by the shop. Ian sad that others have had the same problem but at least we are all in the poor-fitting boat.

I think I will start removing material to thin them up. Going for me is that we live in the desert (los Angeles) with minimal rain and this rig will not see mud.
 

Hopstr

Contributor
Jr. Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
144
I think Metro makes the super soft seals again now. They seem to be the way to go for our doors.
 

Rustytruck

Bronco Guru
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
10,875
When i bought my 1974 bronco back in 1977 the drivers door was a slammer and the passengers side was fine. The previous owner sent it back to the dealer 3 times to get it fixed. It never got fixed. People restoring the trucks make the problem worse with perfect door gaps. The bottom door gap is supposed to be wider on the bottom.
 

rydog1130

Sponsor/Vendor
Bronco Guru
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Jun 19, 2014
Messages
4,020
some one mentioned nick at northeastclassicfordparts.com has good seals too...I got mine from the graveyard. Passenger closes great, driver needs some persuasion...
 

Pa PITT

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
11,252
Loc.
Stephenville TEXAS
.. Back 12 years ago when I did my Bronc0. I installed my seals 1st & As I worked on my Bronco . Every night I made sure my doors were shut tight.
After I got it finished about a year later. Mine seemed to shut good fo a while . Now I don't even have seals on about 1/2 my doors.
 

delconick

Sr. Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
865
our door seals are the softest and best fitting that money can buy! give our seals a shot and i would bet your doors will shut great! we now have an upgraded version that is even better then our previously good seals! always trying to make them better!

northeastclassicfordparts.com
 

DirtDonk

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Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,355
Thanks Nick. Good to know.

And just to bring up another aspect of hard-to-close Bronco doors, it's not always the fault of the seals. Of course, if they worked fine before and now won't close with new seals, it's pretty obvious. But a good and gummed up latch-work inside will do it too.

After all these years the mechanisms can gum up, get bent (from slamming possibly) or just wear out. Even brand new ones that are not lubricated can sometimes resist that final latch position even.

I have fixed many hard to close Bronco doors (or hard to open) by cleaning and re-lubing the inner mechanisms.

So even though the seals are often the main culprit after a new install, don't ignore the obvious maintenance stuff.
Especially all you new Bronco owners out there, if you don't know the history of haven't been inside your doors yet.

Paul
 

rydog1130

Sponsor/Vendor
Bronco Guru
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Jun 19, 2014
Messages
4,020
our door seals are the softest and best fitting that money can buy! give our seals a shot and i would bet your doors will shut great! we now have an upgraded version that is even better then our previously good seals! always trying to make them better!

northeastclassicfordparts.com

I'm going to give them a try....im tired of slamming my driverside door
 

trailerjack

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Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Messages
1,376
Loc.
Central Texas
I used a heat gun and got them really soft and slammed the doors and left them. Had to do that three or four times before I feel like the results were ok.
 

fosgate150

Full Member
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
280
I used a heat gun and got them really soft and slammed the doors and left them. Had to do that three or four times before I feel like the results were ok.

I did the same thing with the heat gun. It has now been about a year since they were installed and mine still need a firm shut to close the door.
 

shaunmcc

Jr. Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2014
Messages
60
our door seals are the softest and best fitting that money can buy! give our seals a shot and i would bet your doors will shut great! we now have an upgraded version that is even better then our previously good seals! always trying to make them better!

northeastclassicfordparts.com

I bought a pair after seeing this thread. Made a huge difference. My doors close much easier now. Worth the money for sure.
 
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