Hi gang. Can the door be mounted and lined up before door seal is applied. I have not ordered the door seals and rubbers stuff yet, but I wanted to get one of the doors out of the way and mounted.
54 F-750
Thanks.

 

My truck was painted in 1999. The doors were put on by my body man. That winter I put the door weatherstripping on. I took my doors off to put them on. I know it is easier with the doors off. I do not know if it is possible to do with them on, however.

 

We put the seals on with the doors mounted, so it can be done. If I had it to do over again I would definitely put the seals on before mounting the doors. It was a challenge to apply the glue and put the seals in place with the doors mounted.


Grant

 

Like most of the other comments, it is easier with the door off. I replaced mine when door was on and made a heck of a mess, and that is putting it mildly.

Ended up taking them off and putting another new set on to clean it all up.
They are a bit finicky to set up but if you put them on for a while to get out of way it may be better to remove for seal install again later.

Good luck

 

Thanks 53tonner, perks 56 and Abe

 

I tried seal installation on a '56 after fitting the doors. I quickly realized it was easier to remove the doors and install the seals.

 

Thanks raytasch

 

Install and align the doors, drill alignment holes in the hinges, remove the doors to install weatherstripping, rehang doors and align using alignment holes. This is a simple task once the initial alignment is complete and the alignment holes are in place. Plus, once this is done, any time you need to remove the doors you can do so knowing that reinstalling them is an easy process.

 

Charlie, great idea. Do you drill alignment holes on the hinge to door, or hinge to cab or both

 

With the door mounted and properly aligned, pick a spot somewhere in the area between the mounting bolts on the hinge and drill a 1/8 inch hole through the hinge and the door mounting nut plate. Do this on both the jamb side and the door side of the hinge. On the jamb side you will want to drill the hole on the outer flange where it is easier to access, I drill two holes one in the upper flange and another in the lower just to be sure that the hinge is mounted in the exact position. With the two-hole method the hinge can be tightened up on the jamb side leaving you free to work the door side. When re-installing the door, use an ice pick to align the holes in the hinge...I start by installing the hinge in the jamb and then sliding the door onto the hinge. The ice pick works well to find the holes and bring them into alignment but after that happens you can replace the ice pick with a 1/8 inch drill bit to hold it while you are tightening the bolts. I align the upper and lower hinge using the holes/drill bits and then tighten the hinge bolts on the door side. As long as you don't get the hinges swapped this system will last for the life of the truck...BTW, I also stamp the hinges with "LT", "LL", "RT", "RL" just to be sure that they DON'T get swapped. Good luck...

 

Thanks Charlie. Excellent piece of info. Will do as I procede.

 

I recently replaced mine on the truck. The front edge is a bear and if you've got it all apart anyway, or have recently had your doors off, I don't think I'd recommend doing them on the truck!

I used 3M weatherstrip adhesive (aka - gorilla snot) and getting that in the right place on the leading edge of the door was challenging...and messy. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably use rubber cement there and brush it on with an acid brush or something similar. But removing the doors is a better option.

 

Thanks Flat Earnie

 

I put my seals on with the doors on the vehicle. I used 1/2" 3M adhesive double stick tape which is used for moldings and other automotive applications. It has been six month and it is holding up well. Also it was easy. I would do it again.


Scott in Texas

 

Thanks ssg1957