Those with new top and door rubber...

[Tom Vogel]

Have you had any problem getting your top to seat like it did before you put in all new rubber? Just got the top back from the painter, and what a Bi..h. I had to use ratchet straps from the top pillar (good thing the glass isnt in it yet) and go around the top of the winshield frame to the other top pillar. Then I ratcheted the sraps to bring the top forward the darn near 1/2" I needed to get the holes to line up. Now the passenger side door sits a little high.
What do I do here, wait until the rubber shrinks or settles in?

[jaros44sr]

Can you leave it in the sun or heated garage, try to soften up the rubber. Good luck, one of the best looking trucks on the boards

[cleszkie]

I have ended up shaving down the thickness of the rubber "triangles" that bolt to the top corners of the windshield frame in order to get a good fit. Be very careful ratchet strapping stuff down and then installing the bolts. The force that the bolts will be under once the straps are released can be enough to crack the top where it bolts through the sun visors. The fiberglass will fail when the bolts are trying to pull the metal backing plates through the top. Ask me how I know.

[AHowe88]

Wow, I was actually fighting the same issue last night with my buddy. I have all new seals, and I think I may need to cut them down. We are going to try putting a heat gun on it first. But. like you, I need almost another 1/2".

[warbucket]

Thanks for the heads up, I just got done painting my top and I'm working on door seals and door assembly. Let us know how you make out.

[Tom Vogel]

[QUOTE=cleszkie;6350846]I have ended up shaving down the thickness of the rubber "triangles" that bolt to the top corners of the windshield frame in order to get a good fit. QUOTE]

How did you shave them down? Im kind of surprised because the triangles are pretty soft really, just not squisshy enough I guess. Did you just keep shaving untill you were able to line up the bed rail bolts and get the front top rubber to touch the winshield frame?

[GuyO]

New seals suck. I think the only real "fix" is to mount the top and leave it on for a period of time. My top still "fits" weird after it came back from paint and I used all new seals. It takes me sometimes about 45 minutes to put it on and align the holes and bolt it down!

[Chulisohombre]

The a pillar sags after time with the top off or worn out seals. I put mine on and did the ratchet strap deal through the rear with a 2x4 pulling the top in. It pushes the a pillar Back into place so it can be bolted in. Just have to watch as it can cause the a pillar to stress and crack if it gets too much force on it I left the straps On and cranked it a lil at a time over a week and it slowly pulled into place. I bolted up the visor mounts up top first then pullout In til it lined up the rest of the bolts. Mine is not A perfect Blazer nor has good Paint so if yours does it might be better to shave down the seal as was stated if your doors line up good as it sits. I used longer bolts grade 8 stainless so they wouldn't rust back through the top as well. I have 2 on each side that broke off and can't get out that will eventually need something done with as well. 40 year old
Metal doesn't help.

[Dale99]

I havent done my top-windshield one yet. But I have done around the door windows, and they dont even touch the glass

[AHowe88]

I finally got mine on last night. I used a grinding wheel to take a bit of rubber off, which is too bad, as it is going to look like crap when the top is off. It was still a very tight fit so I heated them up and gently pushed it on with a forklift.

[Chulisohombre]

You can align the top of the door in slightly to get it tighter. How dies the outer door align with your fender and quarter panel?i have my upper door seals but haven't put them in yet. Need to do some repair on the top before putting that on.

[Chulisohombre]

Originally Posted by AHowe88

I finally got mine on last night. I used a grinding wheel to take a bit of rubber off, which is too bad, as it is going to look like crap when the top is off. It was still a very tight fit so I heated them up and gently pushed it on with a forklift.

The ones I got we're really soft and squished in pretty good and I just slowly cranked them down til the bolt holes lined up after a few days to pull the a piller back into place. Some seals may be softer than others. I think I got mine from lmc truck.

[Chulisohombre]

Another thing that I noticed is that you have to make sure you bottom out the screws holding the seal to the window frame. If not it also pushes the top away from the frame so it doesn't lock in tight. Not saying that is your issue but on mine it was. Also had to put in new ear on one side with new bolts and bolt keepers to get rid of the old rusted ones that stripped off when I took off what was left of the original seal.

[AHowe88]

I replaced mine with NOS, so I am surprised the fit was as tough as it was.

My drivers door is now not closing well either, it is always something!

[Chulisohombre]

You're going to have to play with the hinges to get it right. It's a pain but with some fiddling you can get it closer. Also mind the striker position as it controls the rear door position and seal too. I had to use spacers to get mine to close correct.

[cleszkie]

[quote=Tom Vogel;6351564]

Originally Posted by cleszkie

I have ended up shaving down the thickness of the rubber "triangles" that bolt to the top corners of the windshield frame in order to get a good fit. QUOTE]

How did you shave them down? Im kind of surprised because the triangles are pretty soft really, just not squisshy enough I guess. Did you just keep shaving untill you were able to line up the bed rail bolts and get the front top rubber to touch the winshield frame?

I used a flap disk on my angle grinder and took off a little at a time until i was satisfied with the fit. You need to leave some compression of the seal or else it won't seal. if you want to maintain the proper look of the seal when the top is off, you must separate the rubber from the meatl backing and shave the backside of the rubber, Then re-attach it to the metal backing. Good luck.

[AHowe88]

[quote=cleszkie;6354167]

Originally Posted by Tom Vogel

I used a flap disk on my angle grinder and took off a little at a time until i was satisfied with the fit. You need to leave some compression of the seal or else it won't seal. if you want to maintain the proper look of the seal when the top is off, you must separate the rubber from the meatl backing and shave the backside of the rubber, Then re-attach it to the metal backing. Good luck.

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? Great post.