Universal door seals vs expensive moulded ones ?

[candymancan]

So i really do not want to spend lile 300$ on two door seals. Bjs is overpriced.. but so are thr others that sell them.

Is a universal door seal really that bad ? Couldnt you cut thrm as the right angles and glue em together or at the very least cut em perfectly and have them pushed on to where it forms the <> Sharp angles together.

Just hella expensive for the right ones.


Im about to order carpet. And i need two seals for the j10.. cant afford carpet and moulded door seals. So its either Both with universal seals. Or one or the other

[candymancan]

Oh and which if these three shades do you guys like ? They all look nice.. id say the lighter one is probably closer to factory though. And the darker one is closer to the paint job. I like the middle one personally but i cant decided

[Srdayflyer]

well i can say from experiance stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny isnt worth the time or money, i went with the cheap as S am H ill I n T exas seals and when i first drove the vehicle the wind noise due to poor fit was terrible, they leaked when it rained , so i replaced them with the molded ones and what a difference a few more dollars made. just letting you know i bought 2 sets when i could have bought the molded ones first and used the money spent on the cheaper set on other parts jut hat i know but its your project and pocket book

[kjandb]

I have both and haven't noticed a difference. I drilled a few small holes to let the air escape. Here's what I used on 3 of my doors:

Door Rubber Strip Horizontal Bulb Trim Seal weatherstrip Automotive (30 Feet) https://a.co/d/6OxrHfd

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[letank]

Oh and which if these three shades do you guys like ? They all look nice.. id say the lighter one is probably closer to factory though. And the darker one is closer to the paint job. I like the middle one personally but i cant decided

I would go dark, so you can't see the grease stains... that your shoes have picked up in parking lots...

[SJTD]

Low volume custom stuff is expensive. Be glad it's available at all instead of bitching about the price. I wish someone made the windshield rubber that doesn't take the metal trim.

While you've got the rubber off make sure your hinges are good and the doors are aligned. Easier to do without fighting the seals. Especially new stiff ones.

[seventynine]

I went the universal cheap way once…the doors never shut right without a lot of effort. I’d spend the extra bux for the factory fit ones.

[candymancan]

I got my universal door seals on.. they fit just fine ?

To get them to fit better take a mallet and smack those metal lips back a little.. i did this on my 90 to get a better seal on my old gaskets.. cept i pushed em foward.

Pushing em back a little.. both doors close i gatta use a bit of force but still only need one hand. Can close it inside fine too.. after 3 days its getting much much easier. ?

The 90 degree corner olup there is seal and fine too. So i dunno ? Costed me 25$ versus 150$ easy money saved. Thank god too no more noise i can actually hear now..

[SJTD]

You know, Jeep was knot known for consistent quality control back then.

One wonders if it would be wise to go along the mounting flange with the mallet all the way around before installing the gasket and make sure it's parallel to the door??? Whether you're using the generic or the fitted seals.

[candymancan]

Thats basically what i did.. I pulled the seal out in certain sections.. and tried to close the door.. to find which sections were keeping it from closing.. then i pounded thise back a few mm.. and closed the door again and kept doing that until i could slam it shut with 1 hand firmly.

A week later the door now closes fairly normally now that its (squished) itself

[Harry Dawg]

I went with a universal set from Black Horse Racing (Amazon brand).

Fit was OK, but as others mentioned they leak a little and wind noise on the passenger side is pretty loud.

Maybe I'll try drilling a hole to improve fitment.

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[AtlantaDan]

There's a phrase I've heard in the past and adopted as my own: "The poor man pays twice". This is one such case. I bought the cheap universal seals and had lots of wind noise and water leaks. Gritted my teeth and installed the BJ's seals and its a night and day difference in quality and fit. The doors seal so tightly that I have to crack a window when my daughter gets in the passenger seat or her door is hard to close.

Get the good stuff.

[Srdayflyer]

I agree, i did just that, bought cheap 1st, then bought the good stuff. wind noise, water leaks soggy carpet not worth the effort going cheap

[candymancan]

I have no windnoise so i dunno and the doors close fairly easy now

[backroadin']

Man, I bought a 77 j10 way back as a parts rig for my wagoneer - it too was a levi's edition with the same purple paint!! I initially liked the middle color too, but I think the lighter one would blend in, or flow with interior better - for lack of a better way to put it. If you could get a floor mat sized sample it would help visualize better how it would all look. Also remember - dark hides the stains, but light hides the dirt.

As for the door seals, rockauto has a bunch of different profiles under the universal parts section - listed under trim molding/trim seal. https://www.rockauto.com/en/tools/body+ ... al,1000202
They list the dimensions which is helpful if you have your originals to match up.
The issue with universal seals isn't the joining of the the ends as much as wrong dimensions/thickness/softness IMO. The crutial pinch area at least on my 73 is the rear section from the bottom up past the latch area to the bottom of the window. It is tighter there than anywhere else - by alot. Too thick of a seal can't compress enough to close the door easily. However, the bottom and to some extent the top areas have a much wider clearance, so the seal bulb needs to be large enough to fill that. For the tight areas, the actual diameter of the bulb isn't as crucial as the compressed measurement - which is all about the thickness of the rubber and the windlace that goes on the pinch weld. I'm betting that the factory seals are made of thinner rubber and have thinner windlace to compensate for the narrow area up along the door latch area. Just a guess.