Precision division bar felts

[57taskforce]

I started to put my doors back together and I ran into a snag, the front metal edge on my lower window frames (frame the window is set in with the setting tape) Was too long and dug into the brand new division felt, shredding the lower 1/3 or so of the felt over a few Up and down attempts to figure out what the issue was. It ended up on both windows the felt is about 1/4 inch too deep. I trimmed the front of the window frames back about 3/8 of an inch or so and it is fine now. I put it together for the time being but will replace the one division bar felt. My question is has anyone else ran into this? I’ve read a lot about the precision seals being great quality which they seem to be, but I’ve never read anything like this before. Here’s a few pictures of what I had to do to the frame I didn’t think to take any of the felt but I did take a picture of the pile of thread It pulled from the felt. Luckily I checked the drivers side and trimmed it down before installation.

Top is before, middle is after the trim, bottom is the pile of thread.

[Fbks_Cruiser]

I had a similar issue. I don’t recall what brand the felts were, I got them from GMCPaul about a year ago. I did the passenger side first and noticed that the end of the window sash snagged the felt and tore it up a little the first time I rolled the window up. (I noticed it on the first trial so didn’t tear up the felt too bad.) I was able to melt the loose strands of the felt with a lighter and I filed the sharp corners off of the window sash. That was enough to solve my problem. On the driver side I filed the sharp corners off of the sash before I installed the new felt.
It does seem as though the new felts are pretty snug. The passenger window goes up and down easily. The driver side is pretty tight. I’m wondering if a little silicon spray might ease it a bit. I guess eventually it will wear in or seat better?

[57taskforce]

Glad I’m not the only one, you’d think by now id be used to test fitting aftermarket parts before I put everything together. Mine was so bad it would only go up 1/8 turn before it bound everything up. It honestly took a little digging before I figured out what was going on.

[Fbks_Cruiser]

It looks like your sash was pretty far forward on the glass. If I recall from the assembly manual it should be about 3/4 inch from the back edge of the glass. On mine, that also put it about 3/4 inch from the front.

[57taskforce]

That’s interesting because my windows actually came from two different trucks. When I bought it I presume the passenger side was original but the whole driver door had been replaced and had a clear glass instead of soft ray. I replaced both doors and used the original passenger glass and a drivers soft ray glass from a 72 C10. Point to all that is I wonder why two different trucks would have the same issue? Lots can happen in 50 years for sure. Its possible the windows were reset into the sashes at some point or another, maybe incorrectly.

[toolboxchev]

The one thing I have noticed in putting these old trucks back together is nothing is perfect. Nothing. and far from it.

Its one of the reasons I have loved these vehicles, they can operate so far out of any specification and still run is amazing.

So when putting anything back together I have found myself going over things 2 times.

Especially with the body.

[1971Stepside]

Thanks for the heads up on this one.

[slikside]

Sub’d. Good info!

[57taskforce]

No problem guys, glad I could help. I know it sure pissed me off that my new drivers side felt got trashed so quickly. If I can help other avoid it, I definitely will.

[4thgencreamsicle]

Happened to me today. It was only one of the many issues I ran into. Mine came from Brother’s Trucks in early 2020. Not sure where they source theirs from.

I’ll definitely get that metal trimmed back and smooth before replacing the division bar felts.