New door weather stripping

Hi all I just installed a new cab weather strip on drivers side this evening. Seems as though even after adjusting the striker to close relatively easy,the door sticks out way too far. So I adjusted it back and it's hard to shut and still sticks out about 1/4"   however the hinge area and the top of the door seem flush.
 Am I going to have to adjust the door hinges? If so I'm in trouble.
 Regards Randy

Randy - Give it a few days.  It takes a while for the material to soften up, and heat helps.  It is supposed to be up to 95 most of next week, so that should help.

Hi Gary, I was thinking that it might settle in but wasn't sure. I'll give it a week or two.
 Thanks

I've been waiting for my new door seals to settle, and it's been over 2 months already.  It's pretty frustrating.

Getting ready to do the same on Brutus.  Just a note.  When Brutus was new, the doors were very hard to close when the windows were up, if you put just a little crack in the window, the doors would close fine.  Not sure if that is the problem, but is worth a try.   With all new rubber, your cab has become air tight again.  give it time and crack the window.  We had to do this for years with Brutus until the weatherstrip began to fail.  As time went on, they did get a bit easier to close, but you had to really slam it.  crack the window just a bit

I installed new door seals a few months ago and the doors were extremely difficult to close afterwards. I didn't adjust anything, I just slammed the doors. If you open one of the windows a little bit the doors will close easier. Now, my driver's door has gotten much better. I wouldn't say that it closes easily, but it did improve greatly since the install of the new seal. My passenger door is still really difficult to close and needs to be slammed, windows open or not. I think the new seals need to have some "miles" put on them...I dunno. Some people say that putting baby powder or something similar on the new seals helps.

Ok thanks.

 Baby powder?  Is that the new vinegar   thanks for responding sir.

 Oh wow I hope my Chinese Cheapies don't take that long, having said that the cheapo strips will probably collapse in 6mo.  

BeagleRock wrote

Baby powder?  Is that the new vinegar   thanks for responding sir.

Well, I read some comments from guys that restore cars, and they claimed that the issue is that the rubber is sticky...or "grabby" and doesn't want to "flow"? into the compressed position easily until it breaks in. I guess the powder is supposed to help it flatten out better. I haven't tried it personally, but it was on my to-do list.

66gtk wrote

I've been waiting for my new door seals to settle, and it's been over 2 months already.  It's pretty frustrating.

My passenger door is the harder door to close and also sticks out a little and my weather seals have been installed since Nov. 2019!
Being my truck is a driver and not a show truck so what if it sticks out just a little.
Dave ----

I meant to follow up on this thread a few weeks ago.

I talked to a body guy that has done a lot of work on old Ford trucks, and he said what he does with frustrating door seals is take a block of wood...piece of 2x4 or whatever, and with a hammer, beats (or taps, if you prefer lol) on the steel lip on the cab to push it inwards a little bit. He said it is usually one or two stubborn spots that cause the issue, not the entire perimeter of the door.

I know in my case, with the driver's side at least, the tight area is along the cab below the A-pillar along where the door hinges are. All along the top of my door, the seal is barely touching, so that's not an issue.

I might try bending that lip inwards a bit, see if it helps.

I was taught to use a dollar bill to find the tight spots.  It'll slide through most places but when you find "that spot" you'll know it and then you can adjust the lip.

It is tedious as the bill doesn't like to slide sideways so you are constantly opening the door to re-position it, but it does work.

On the original '84 I owned this summer it still had original seals.  Along the door hinge side there were little holes molded in the seal every foot or so.  I had suspected this was to "relieve" pressure as it closed to facilitate closing easily.  My replacements did not have any of these holes.  I've been tempted to drill some, but I don't want to destroy my new seals.  I'm still working to break them in properly.  Going really slow!!!  It's frustrating.

When Brutus was new, the doors were hard to close, you had to put a crack in the window.  with all new weatherstripping and seals that cab is pretty much air tight.   I changed out the weatherstrip about a month or so ago and is just like it was when it was new, but is getting better and better.  I never really did pay attention to any holes, i'm going ot have to look and see, but i dont recall seeing any on them