by VANagain Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:09 am
Here's some info about the Steele Rubber door weatherstripping I've installed. They are preformed and the fit is good. One tip is to dry fit them first, so you get a feel for how much you may need to stretch it as you go when you are gluing them in. You don't want to start at one end and get to the other and find you have too much slack or not enough to make it to the next corner.
Here's one complaint. They reinforce each corner by inserting a solid "L" of rubber. I'd say the corners will never come apart, which is good, but this makes the corner harder to compress than the rest. I'd rather have the entire thing be hollow. As it is, it's hard to close the cargo doors. The top and bottom corners don't want to go all the way in. And the corners don't feel like they're going to "break in" and get softer any time soon.
On the cargo doors, the rubber on left-hand one (without the outer door handle) does not go all the way around, as Don pointed out. This is how they came from the factory. But I'd say Steele made this one a little short. It wants to fit as shown in this first photo, but that leaves an opening when the two doors are shut. I can stretch the rubber an extra inch and get it to reach over the door's outer edge. That's how they come stock, right? And the rivet holds the end in place. You'll notice their hole doesn't line up. I guess I'll drill another hole. The rubber will cover the old hole.
This way makes for a pretty snug fit when you close the doors, especially with the solid corner on the other door meeting up with this flap on this door. But that's how it's supposed to be, right?
