Help with door adjustment after new door seal install

[jocko]

installed GMCPaul's nice no-glue door seals. Love em. However, door won't shut to the second latch without HEAVILY slamming the door. Understand door latch adjustment may be necessary after installing new seals, however, I've moved my cab-side latch catch as far outward as it will go and I still have to slam. I don't need to slam it as hard, but still unacceptably much - and now the rear of the door isn't flush with the cab when I do get it to latch. I know lotsa folks have done this - so appreciate your help. What am I missin?

[Ridgeclimber]

I just did the same. I was hoping it would ease up abit with some time and a few good hot days. A body man friend of mine suggest adjusting the door out abit and also lubing up the rubber with vasaline or silicone spray. I'll give that a try next.

[Hawghauler]

I think the worst problem with these new seals is that they need to break in. I installed my driver's side seal and have to slam it pretty hard to get the door to close all the way. It's best to install these in the summer heat, as they will break in faster. I installed mine in winter, and it's just now starting to close easier. As the summer heat increases, I expect it to get better. I haven't installed the passenger side yet for this reason. If you use the search feature on this site, you'll find this to be a common problem with all new seals. Unfortunately it also stops you from locking the door when it's under so much pressure. You just have to wait and use it like it is until it breaks in. Hurry up summer!

[67swb72klb]

the gm parts were the same way it takes a bit of time to get the doors to shut rite
try rolling a window down some

[cdowns]

i heat the door seals up with my heat gun to have them seal properly

[Blazerowner]

I just installed mine here is an email gmc Paul's sent me about the issue.

Hi, Kirk
In regards to our push-on door seals approximately 95 % of our customers have absolutely Zero problems with them. The other 5% about half experience minor difficulties in closing their doors initially and others have major difficulties in closing the doors initially, but they do improve within a few months’ time normally.

Many have reported that applying Armor All helps greatly in allowing them to close the doors others report they used a silicone lube on the seals to achieve the same results. Why these seals work perfectly on the majority of 67-72's yet cause difficulties on a few trucks we can't always explain. Some trucks we've discovered have had repair work to the cab or doors that wasn't always done correctly that will not present a problem until new door weather strip is installed which then highlight’s the door gap problem where the inner door meets the cab opening.

Most notorious problem is door hinge or latch adjustment, improperly installed rockers, kick panels, front or rear door pillar or sill plates installed incorrectly causing the binding ( If rocker, kick panel or floor work repair was done in past definitely check to see if the front pillar are twisted slightly many fail to brace properly for this repair and they twist in or out when the adjacent metal is cut out and repaired ). Things as minor as the weather strip lip being bent outward slightly can cause this.

If your doors not perfectly centered in the opening front to rear or top to bottom then this will lead to the door binding when closing. The door when installed should be adjusted to the inner door opening then adjustments should be made to fenders to achieve as even as possible body lines and gaps. Instead quite often folks adjust the doors to the front & rear gaps where it meets fender in front & cab in back.
In Example- If they then install door to far forward to get that perfect gap on the outside at fender & cab where door meets them then it causes binding in the front, if they adjust it rear ward then it binds in the rear. But if they adjust the door to the inner opening itself then move fender forward or back to achieve a even gap this is correct and there’s no binding.

Many previous owners will adjust either the door hinges or door latch inward when the original door seals were not sealing fully anymore and thus they need adjusted back out when new door seals are installed by a later owner of the truck.

We have also found that several customers discovered a large portion of the problem is the new door bumpers are far firmer than GM originally made them and when the door bumpers are installed with the weather strip it causes great difficulty in closing the doors, when the door bumpers are removed the doors close easily. Those customers have found that trimming the door bumper ends by approx. 1/8" allowed the doors to close as they should.

Some find the problem is they butted both ends together tightly under the door sill plates or even glued the ends together, this should never be done. GM recommends that under the door sill plate you should cut the bulbous portion of the sill at a angle on either end so that where the bulb portion meets it forms a V shape. This allows the air that is in the bulb portion of the door seal a way to escape easily. If the ends are butted tightly together then the air has nowhere to go easily causing difficulty in closing of the doors.

If you go through and examine these things I've mentioned you'll more than likely find that one of the above mentioned things will fix the difficulty you are currently incurring with these. The door seals do settle in with time allowing much easier closing of the doors within a few months of installation. This breaking in time was less of a problem when the vehicles were built new as it took 1-3 months from vehicle completion to delivery to the dealerships for sale which allowed factory seals when the trucks were new to have time to break in before the trucks were sold.

Those that have difficulties with our push-on door weather strips generally have even greater problems in closing the doors using the original style glue on door weather strips that are exactly like original GM and those that use them generally switch to this version because they allow the door to close more easily than the glue on version did because of it being a softer seal.

Some have advised they were able to eliminate the break in period by closing door and applying heat with a heat gun to quicken the process of molding to the opening by softening them with heat while compressed helping to better mold them to the current door gap.

With so many variables involved its hard to say exactly which of the above things it may be without examining the truck in person, so I tried to cover the majority of problems we know of that cause difficulty with door closing using new seals. I feel you will find upon further examination that one of the above suggestions or problem areas is causing your current difficulties.
If you find your problem to be different please let us know so that we can help others in determining theirs better.
My Very Best Regards
Paul Jr @ GMCPauls
Online Catalog- http://www.gmcpauls.com
1947-Current Chevrolet & GMC Truck Restoration Parts
GMCPauls Truck Parts
505 Adams Drive
Rockville, IN 47872
Fax: 773-442-0103

[Blazerowner]

Mine actually start to hit the seal at the front of the door when I start closing it causing it to bind. It seems that it's possible the door was adjusted years ago to get a better seal with the old wore out seals.

[jocko]

thanks very much for the input guys. At least misery loves company I guess. Blazerowner, thanks for sharing Paul's tips, will go thru that list. I send him a pm and didn't hear back for awhile, so perhaps his box is full. My door fit, gaps, etc was perfect before I installed these, now it is pretty much horrible. If I leave it unlocked, I might as well leave a "take me" sign on it, ha. I get plenty of heat around here, I'm in the desert, will try the armor all/silicone, but I have a physical-it's-in-the-friggin-way of shutting the door problem on both sides. Have checked and double checked to make sure the seal is properly installed and it is. So, guess I'm gonna have to monkey with the hinges. Have to be honest, although my old seals were pretty shot, if this stuff doesn't flatten out in a few months, they're coming off the truck. Seems such a common complaint, seems they'd be made at least a LITTLE thinner in order to not have such a long break-in period. Pretty frustrating. The quality of the seals is awesome. Maybe if I run them through Delta planer and shave a few thou off... Ha.. Just kidding. Again, thanks for all the ideas and input guys, much appreciated. Any more ideas very welcome, keep em comin.

[Blazerowner]

My lines are pretty good as well but I think it's possible they were adjusted since my old seals were pretty wore. He does mention in the email that buyers have more problems with the stock glue on type. Where do yours hit first as you close the door? I have to slam the crap out of the door to make it latch fully.

[jocko]

kirk, my problem is similar - the door clearly hits the rubber seal in the front at the bend in the A-pillar first (just above the left side a/c vent where the door bends). If I just lightly swing the door shut from full open - it won't even hit metal to metal on the latch, it's that bad. The seal looks perfectly installed, smooth lines, no excess anywhere. I'm thinking that fwd hinge adjustment might be the key here. Wishin I had enough time to sit down and really stare at it and scratch my head for a few hours, too busy runnin around like a chicken with my head cut off these days it seems! Ha. Yep, hard slam to even get it close, have stopped trying for now, don't want to break my glass. It's already floppin around in the channel (i.e. next project).

[Blazerowner]

Same problem here. So to update on mine I installed my passenger side first and today I went out and wiped it down with armor all. This side had sit for two days in direct sun light so it's had time to get some heat. Today when I close the door I do notice it's a little easier to close than day one. Not a night and day difference but definitely a change. The driver side I was much more thorough using the mallet to install it. I mean it's really on there. I installed it yesterday and it's been in the heat half of yesterday and part of today. Well it's almost an easy close. I barely have to slam it to get it to shut. It also has armor all. I think the heat has helped with both. The driver side was harder to close when I put it on yesterday so just a couple days in the heat has loosened them up. I'm debating adjusting the doors as I know that can be a challenge. My body lines are pretty good as is and if they loosen up more I don't see the point.

[leftybass209]

I have the exact problem you are describing Jocko. Have had mine on for a month with little improvement. If I lightly close my door the front edge with the hinges rests on the rubber leaving the rear edge about 6-12 inches away from contact. Since mine is still a project I just leave the doors closed as long as possible. I admit they have become a bit better, but a couple inches closer to closing is still a long way off. All the slamming can't be good on the latch mechanism or striker plate.

[hamjet]

I just installed them on my green 69, they are also hard to shut but if I slam the doors they do shut. atleast when the doors are shut it sure does make it quieter going down the road.

[Blazerowner]

If mine don't improve with the sun I'll break out the heat gun. My old seals were flat as could be so the new ones make a big difference.

[Blazerowner]

Another update on mine. I adjusted the door at the latch where it bolts to the door to bring the door out away from the truck at the front. I did have a little adjustment as my doors were kicked in a little. This did help with closing them. The driver side is the best as I barely have to slam it. Pretty much just a hard shut. I think it will be fine with time as is. The passenger side is still a slam but not as hard. I think adjusting the door where the hing bolts to the body to slide the door away from the fender will help. I may try this but it's much harder to reach as I still have the stock fender paper flaps in the way.

[jocko]

Update. I've adjusted both doors out as far as possible at the door side of the door hinge. Had to0 move the driver's side back in a bit because it looked absolutely ridiculous how far out it was sticking. The driver's door is a LITTLE easier to shut. Passenger side door is completely unsat with the hinge adjusted out all the way. I've armor-alled, adjusted every latch, every hinge, etc to the max extent. Done every truck mentioned above. The only thing left is the sun. if that doesn't work, I'm pretty screwed.

I've learned this much - although it's an easy job to do, I will never, ever replace the old seals again unless mine are pretty much missing. I get it how the seals are new, etc - but I can just about guarantee trucks wouldn't have been allowed to leave the assembly line like this. The friggin doors won't shut - would you buy a new truck with nonsense like that? I wouldn't either. So, hard to imagine that these parts are exact replicas if so many people are having trouble. There really shouldn't be a requirement to sit in the sun for 3 months for your new seals to work. Perhaps the rubber is more rigid nowadays, or perhaps this stuff is just plain too thick/too big. All I know is my perfectly shutting doors now shut like complete crap. Sharing for those that are on the fence about this job. This job is easy, but the results can be very frustrating - as you can see throughout this thread. If my seals were so-so, I'd leave em - that's just my 2 cents. So much for that nice, solid clunk and ease of shutting the doors on these old trucks in my case. Ever wonder why stuff doesn't just OCCASIONALLY just work for a change? Ha, the joy of tinkering. It's all in good fun. But what a pain.

[JustLiveIt]

I bought the push on seals 6 years ago and I still have to slam the doors to get them shut. I am going back to the original glue on seals. I just ordered a set from GMC Pauls.

[RenoKeene]

Just a thought...might take a 2x4 and try to beat the pinch weld in just a bit. I do like GMC Paul but I have never heard of anyone installing new door seals without having this problem, including myself.

[Hugh Mongus]

Someone told me the push-on door seals from a certain era Dodge Dakota will fit our trucks perfectly. I have not personally verified this. It might be worth looking into if the others are binding.

[jocko]

Reno, that is a great idea - I might just give it a whack... Thanks Hugh, I've heard that also, somewhere on this board, but don't recall the era either. Might go there if all else fails. JustLivEIt JustScaredMe with his 6 year horror story! Yikes. Please let us know if have better success (door-closing-wise) with the glue-on seals.
Thanks for the help folks, I appreciate it.

[FirstOwner69]

According to LockDoc in a previous thread the Dakota years are 87-97. I put a set in my truck about 1-1/2 years ago. That's 2 very cold Wisconsin winters and a normal not too hot summer with the truck hardly ever in the sun. The driver door isn't too bad, but I still have to slam the passenger door. It is improving. With the windows down or a vent window open both are pretty good. It would probably be better if my 69 had the air relief vents in the door jamb like the 72s. However, they do fit and look great.

My originals were really flattened over the years. Remember, these truck doors never did close like today's doors do. Mine always took "a bit of effort" until the seals were really flattened.

[67swb72klb]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

Just a thought...might take a 2x4 and try to beat the pinch weld in just a bit. I do like GMC Paul but I have never heard of anyone installing new door seals without having this problem, including myself.

x2 before installing the seals check the gap and make it consistent it will minimize the problems with the door effort

[sboris]

X3. That inside front lip at the bottom is what 90% of my issue was. Combination of door adjustment, and tweaking that lip inward, created more gap to eliminate the "bind".

[jocko]

Yep, the forward edge of the door, about midway up (kinda even with the a/c vent) is my problem area. Time to get my big hammer after that thing... Just kidding - the 2x4 is much more appropriate.

[yote1234]

a little info!! I installed 2 NOS door to cab seals just fresh out of the sealed GM boxes and my passenger side is very tight as well... just as jocko explained! a swift slam is what it takes to fully close it! and its been over 3 weeks now.
h e l p !