55.2-59 Door not closing after new seals

[62 Barnfind]

I am at the final fitment stage on my 57. My doors are body worked and fitted to the cab. I installed Precision door seals and now the doors don’t close right and stick out from the cab. I have the correct side installed on each door. I heard Rubber Steel has two different types for these trucks. Which ones would work good? I also heard the Soft seal has some. I had this problem on my 62 and Brothers truck push on seals fixed the problem. Any help would be great!

[_Ogre]

most of us use steele rubber for that reason. their door seals fit and compress better. even with steele rubber, the seals take time to fit to the truck.

these truck cabs flex and move a lot. as someone that has 36,000 miles on truk, i will say that if all your door gaps are that tight your doors will probably have chipped paint on them within a few miles and trips.

[e015475]

I put in a set of Soffseal door seals about a year ago on my '49, and I couldn't get the door to shut past the first click of the bear-claws (has Altman latches in it) so I took the Soffseals out.

I took some modeling clay and made some balls and stuck it on the doors about every foot where the seal meets the jamb, closed the door and then measured them.

The tightest clearance was about .150" and the biggest was about .350". The height of the Soffseal was about .700 inch.

So worst case, the Soffseal has to compress from .700" to .150" over about 18" on the latch side of the door jamb where there's the least amount of force to compress the seal. No wonder the door wouldn't close all the way.

I can't speak to your year of truck, but Steele sells two heights for my '49, so that's what I'm going to try next. They cost about 3x more than the Soffseals

There's all sorts of suggestions on the net on how to lubricate the seal so it compresses better. Most involve some sort of silicon spray for lubrication and one even suggested spraying the seal with PAM cooking spray, close the door and let it sit for a few days.

I wouldn't recommend any of those methods, especially if you ever plan on doing any painting

One method I would like to try is lubing the seal and jamb with cornstarch. I raided the kitchen for some cornstarch and my wife gave me a soft makeup brush to apply it with and I'll try it with the Steele seals when they arrive.

Hope this helps you some

[dsraven]

first, these trucks have a seal that looks like its on backwards when it is installed right way out. check that first. try the assembly manual for the how to. the assembly manual is a free download from the trifive site. google
55-59 chevrolet factory assembly manual
click the trifive site
download to a thumbdrive or whatever is easy for you to work with
after that if they are too tight call steele rubber or soffseal and see what they can do for you
did you need to reskin the doors or do door botoms etc? anything that would possibly reshape things sightly? hinge pillar work, step and rocker work, etc?

[dsraven]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...hgNerbXG4oM_J-

[NWA58]

Having issue with this currently. Altman latches and great fit but with Precision rubber installed the doors now won’t even reach the striker. Looked up the Steele and yes, they are $$$. The thin option is a very different profile. Might have to go this route though.

Has anyone had success with Precision on the door rubber? Precision worked great for front and rear glass after getting a front seal with the windshield that was yet another brand that was awful.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by 62 Barnfind

I am at the final fitment stage on my 57. My doors are body worked and fitted to the cab. I installed Precision door seals and now the doors don’t close right and stick out from the cab. I have the correct side installed on each door. I heard Rubber Steel has two different types for these trucks. Which ones would work good? I also heard the Soft seal has some. I had this problem on my 62 and Brothers truck push on seals fixed the problem. Any help would be great!

I tried Steel Rubber and had the damnest time getting my door closed so I went to Soff Seal and had no problem getting the door closed

[62 Barnfind]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. These are aftermarket doors and the only modifications are I had to recut my door gaps. I’ll get a new set of seals and readjust the door to try to get them to close right. Right now they open and close perfect without the seals.

[PDW HOTRODS]

I have had this problem on a number of trucks and even a few cars. If your not keeping your truck 100% original you can use a universal weatherstrip. Here is one from Summit racing I have used and it worked great, and it's hollow so it compresses more.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fcd-rs1031-50

Fairchild Industries Weatherstrip Seals RS1031-50

[MARTINSR]

Didn't read every post so I don't know if this was said but I have found that after putting new seals on any door they will often not close all the way. What I do is only close it to the "first latch" and leave it like that for days, then close it all the way. It takes a little time for the rubbers to change.
I have even moved the strikers out to give a little more room for a while. After this slow compression of the rubbers they will often be just fine.

Brian

[62 Barnfind]

Originally Posted by PDW HOTRODS

I have had this problem on a number of trucks and even a few cars. If your not keeping your truck 100% original you can use a universal weatherstrip. Here is one from Summit racing I have used and it worked great, and it's hollow so it compresses more.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fcd-rs1031-50

Fairchild Industries Weatherstrip Seals RS1031-50

Is 2each enough to do both doors?

[PDW HOTRODS]

1 roll of this is 50 feet so should be enough. There are other sizes also.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...tion/universal

[OKGMC4]

Another thread on this very subject...

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=825409

You're not the first person to take this journey!

[bosco]

Another thread with the same issue. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=846822

I used steele rubber (yes paid the $$$), but I believe it paid off. Doors close nicely after a few weeks, and closed completely after installation. Doors close even tighter now.