Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Tech Folder is up

Here's a how-to to improve the performance of the door seals. Comes from a previous thread about a wind noise problem in a member's truck:

"Ok, I just did the driver's door and it makes a huge difference. You have to use surgical tubing because the other types of tube (vinyl and poly) are too stiff. In the winter they would harden completely and potentially damage the seal. The surgical tubing stays pliable. I got a roll of 50 feet from Amazon for $40. Amazon.com: 50 ft Roll 3/8 Surgical Tubing: Sports & Outdoors You could get this stuff from many other places including Home Depot or Lowes.

Installation is really easy. You remove the plastic step plate that covers the gap between the body and the carpet. Pull straight up and the plastic tabs release and expose a bunch of wiring. You will see the door seal seam in the bottom center of the door frame. I place a mark on the door frame with a marker where the seam is. Makes it much easier to reinstall in the exact same place. Then you simply pull the seal straight up and off the tab of the door frame. When you straighten the entire thing out, it's quite long. I didn't measure exactly but it's about 12 - 13 feet end to end.

You will need to be liberal with some type of lubrication. I used a silicone spray. Note the ventilation holes in the door seal about every four inches. I squirted some silicone through every other hole to make sure the entire length of the inner seal had enough of the slippery stuff. Then you run the fish tape through the entire length and attach the surgical tubing to the fish tape that protrudes out the other end. I cleaned the silicone off the end of the fish tape attached the surgical tubing with electricians tape.

At this point if you can get someone to help you it's great. They pull the fish tape back through while you feed in the surgical tubing and spray silicone as it goes in. If everything is slick enough, it takes about a minute to pull the tubing through. If you don't have enough lube, it will get stuck and you'll have to withdraw the tubing and add more spray in the vent holes. Pretty easy. Cut off the surgical tubing flush with the door seal and re-install on the door. Re-install the step plate and close the door. Notice now the "wobble" is gone and it shuts like a Mercedes. Solid.

The first door might take you 20 minutes, the next three more like 10 minutes each. This DOOR SEAL MOD is a piece of cake and worthy little project. It not only makes the doors close more confidently, but also removes any possibility of wind noise or door rattling when going over bumps in the road. You never have to worry about the surgical tubing breaking down over time as it is completely hidden inside the factory door seal. No UV exposure there."

The full thread is here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ind-noise.html