My '81 F-150 sounds like its going through a wind tunnel out on the expressway. I know the weather stripping around the doors is kind of flattened down. Isn't this stuff from the dealer really exspensive? What is a cheap fix for this giant sucking sound?

1981 F-150 2WD STYLESIDE P/U
4.9L 1 BBL CARB
C6 AUTO
2.73:1 LIMITED SLIP REAR AXLE
STABILIZER BARS FRONT & REAR
6100 LB GVWR PACKAGE
ORIGINAL OWNER
193,000 PLUS MILES
100% STOCK & UNREBUILT
BUILT FORD TOUGH!!!

 

You should be able to find this weather striping from any autoparts store. If not do down to the junk yard and grab some off a fairly new truck!

 

Might also try JC Whitney, I'm not sure about the quality but they do have all the door/window seals.

 

My '81 also has major wind noise, when compared to my '88. When I priced them, I believe the Ford dlr. want approx. $160.00 or $200.00 for new door gaskets. As I paid only $300. for the truck itself, w/ Glastite cap, this was not an option. I yanked some out of an '85 at the 'yard, which had softer rubber, and I noticed the cross-section was definitly molded to be wider on the newer gaskets.

The improvement was disappointingly minimal. However, can you see daylight right out the door gasket, ahead of the wing window? I could, at least w/ the orig. gasket. Daylight is, of course, bad news.

Here's a tip I got from an old "Cadillac man" I worked with, and it helped. Take a dollar bill and slam it in the door. Notice how much tension it takes to pull it out, all the way around the perimeter of the door. Now, go to those areas where it comes out too easy, pull the gasket away, and "build up" the welded seam the gasket fits on, so it's "taller" (no need to make it wider, but it'll happen anyway.) Now reinstall the gasket, rechecking w/ the dollar bill. It will fit tighter, i.e., less wind noise.

Try this and let me know. It fixed my "daylight" problem.

 

Thanks for the "dollar bill tip" bigsix! I will try that for sure as soon as this weather takes a warmer turn.

I don't think i have daylight showing yet, but its got to be close to it. Sounds like the door is rubbing on the frame from the rubber being so flattened out when i hit bumps.

1981 F-150 2WD STYLESIDE P/U
4.9L 1 BBL CARB
C6 AUTO
2.73:1 LIMITED SLIP REAR AXLE
STABILIZER BARS FRONT & REAR
6100 LB GVWR PACKAGE
ORIGINAL OWNER
193,450 PLUS MILES
100% STOCK & UNREBUILT
BUILT FORD TOUGH!!!

 

Hood:

You're welcome for the "dollar bill tip." As I say, it wasn't mine, but it worked, so I'm happy to pass it on.

Something I forgot to mention: The latch posts your door latches latch onto are moveable, as you probably know, and the first thing I did, which did help the wind noise some also, was to move these in. I believe they may be a torx head, but I know I've used a close-sized allen wrench on them (yeah, I admit it! Lol) Check 'em out, it's one or the other.

Anyway, on all my trucks, and my buddies' '88 F250, I've had to move them in. On mine, it was to reduce wind noise, but on my friends, it was b/c the damn doors were rattling, just like yours are. In my experience, once they're in tight enough, the door skin is actually sunken in 1/8" or 3/16" (or more?) from the cab skin at the "B pillar." This probably means all these trucks actually needed new gaskets, as it looks a little funny w/ the door in like that, but it helps seal them up. Just don't go crazy so the door is under too much tension to latch properly.

To move the posts, you just loosen them like any other bolt, but only enough so you can slide them. If you unwind 'em too much, you might lose the nut inside the B-pillar, as it might fall out of whatever clip holds it in place. Loosen, slide, tighten, and try the fit. Try not to change the height of the posts, as this changes the vertical alignment of the trailing edge of the door. Unless, of course, they're already out of alignment, due to worn hinges, collision, etc....

Properly aligned, when you latch and release the door handle from outside, the door itself doesn't jump up or down when coming off the latch post.

One more thing, on my '88 there's thin, grey plastic collars over these posts, and they can get chewed through from wear or misaligned doors, and presumably ad approx. 1/8" slop to the latched door, i.e., enough to make yours rattle. The collars spin around, so check all the way around it for wear. To replace these, you must remove the latchpost and the funny "L" shaped bracket that's through-bollted by the latchpost, but unwinding it all the way, so just be careful not to knock the nut loose inside the B-pillar.

If all this is review for everybody, I apologize. Since I had to figure it out myself, as it wasn't in any of my manuals, I thought others might appreciate a few pointers.