Metro Moulded

[turbotim2]

Several years ago I bought a weatherstrip kit from LMC. It came with all of the weather stripping including doors, windows, tailgate, liftgate and vents. All of it installed well and is quality.
This winter I finally finished and installed the top and doors. I was nervous about the doors closing because of all of the past threads on here about it. Well I could get the left door closed by really slamming it. The right door would not latch all the way, only the first latch.
So I ordered the Metro Moulded pieces and got them yesterday. In a side by side comparison of the two, the MM piece was thicker and harder than the LMC piece. I installed one on the right door this morning and the door doesn't even come close to latching even on the first latch. Not really happy that I just wasted $170.
Anyone interested in a new left and slightly used right lower door weather stripping?

 

[DirtDonk]

Well that's a bummer on multiple levels. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.
The fact that Metro is making them again would have made many here happy. Except for that little tidbit you provided that they're now worse even than the others!
Crap...

Paul

 

[stupidboy]

Wow, 170.00$

 

[turbotim2]

Yeah, now I am not sure what to do to get my doors to close. It seems like the area that is really holding them up is the front, vertical section. The hinges are adjusted as far out as they go.

 

[chuckji]

I bought the Metro seals a year or so ago. Installed one side and couldn’t close the door, similar to you. Been struggling with what to do ever since.
I recently bought the Dennis Carpenter lower seals (the more expensive “OEM” version) from JBG and was able to compare them to the one leftover Metro. Both are very soft rubber, but the DC’s are a bit thinner in the door sill area. Also, if I recall correctly, the Metro had a little smaller rubber block that mounts at the top of the B-pillar.
In my case, I just wanted the end pieces that mount to the body at the A and B-pillars as I was going the Amazon door seal route. Check out that option here:
Post in thread 'Who makes the Very Best door rubber??'
https://classicbroncos.com/forums/threads/who-makes-the-very-best-door-rubber.307934/post-3349702
It’s a little work to modify and fit these but now both my doors close pretty easily.

 

[56f100bbw]

The Weatherstripping I got on my bronco drivers door came out pretty good it’s hollow soft but not perfect yet the door does close ok a little tight but I just did it brand name is precision replacement parts

 

[DirtDonk]

You've touched on two of the more common points of contention with door seals. The top of the A pillar and the sill area.
The sill area is just so narrow a gap anyway, but some Broncos are even tighter than others. The factory seals were practically made of air! Get the good modern rubber seals and even as soft as they are, if you have almost not gap there they are going to hold the door out.
The A-pillar is another inconsistent area. There is a metal/brass/plastic/whatever they used block of support molded inside the rubber on most seals. And the seal material itself is very "solid" for lack of a better word. Depending on how your gap is laid out, the door just can't always compress that block of rubber.
If you gently start to close the door and you start to feel resistance to closing while the latch is still four or five inches outside of the body and striker post, there's a very good chance the door is already hitting the A-pillar block.

I have the opposite problem on both of the doors on my '68. The blocks are actually too small and when the door is fully closed there are big gaps in the front corners where the window frames meet the door meet the body. Whistle monster!
Cracking open the wing vent stops the whistling, but it would be nice to have a corner there that is fully encased in rubber seal when the door is closed. Nobody makes a seal like that at least that I have seen so far.

I have those Amazon seals still in their bags and was hoping to have them done by the time the Roundup came around. Been too busy so far and it's been raining every day I have a chance. Still a couple of weeks though!

Paul

 

[turbotim2]

Today I decided to modify the LMC piece by cutting some of the rubber out along the A pillar section. Using a razor, I sliced out the inside, doorside of the weather stripping (if that makes any sense). I think I had read that someone here had done this years ago. I reinstalled it and you can't see where I cut it at all. The door shuts all the way now so pretty happy about that!

 

[DirtDonk]

Yes, for awhile that was a common (and very necessary!) method. More often they needed to cut one layer out of the floor/threshold/sill area as well.
For the vertical section of the A-pillar you can often manipulate the metal body seam that the gasket wraps around. Pushing it inward towards the passenger compartment lessens the tension on the seal when the door closes.

Did you have to cut down the big block too? Or just the vertical section?
Either way, glad it closes easier now. More work, but worth it in the end!

Paul

 

[papy]

i also ordered the metro seals a few years ago and noticed they were harder than the ones that were on my bronco which were also new from another vendor. Metro claimed that they have the softest seals on the market which is not true IMO. I am sure glad i went with slowleakes amazon seals - one of the best upgrades so far and easy to install

that is two sets of metro seals for sale on this page ; )

 

[DirtDonk]

I have a set of ours and a set of the Precision got from another vendor. Have not tried either yet, and I don't remember what brand (also relatively new) is currently on the '68 so I'll have to go back and look up the receipts to see if it's in there.

It's been a struggle from our standpoint for 10 years or more now. You find one vendor A has seals hard as a rock, and another vendor B has super soft and supple seals. So you start buying from vendor B and then by the second or third order you're seeing that more and more are coming too hard. So you go to Vendor C who has great fitting seals. A few months later and they're hard as a rock again.
I was beginning to think that they were all buying from the same single manufacturer and that manufacturer could not keep the recipe straight for some reason.

Hence our trade for new, or money back warranty on our door seals. We check, but we don't check every single one on a known tight door, so they do slip out there once in awhile. Sometimes more often, sometimes all good for months and multiple orders.
But I can't stress enough to test-fit any vendor's offerings first, before you glue them in. Not because we won't take them back after (pretty sure we don't give you grief about being glued and/or torn out by the roots!) but to reduce your stress and frustration level by a factor of eleventy-seven.

Paul

 

[Slowleak]

Part of the problem with reproductions seals is the density of the rubber but the major issue is the design. They are simply not like the originals and do not seal as well. The picture below shows an original seal. You can see that it has an almost square shape where it contacts the window frame. That seals a lot better and reduces wind noise. The Amazon seals, with the windlace that presses on, are this identical shape.