Troopy little rear door a pain to close (1 Viewer)

[PhillipJFrye]

Happy new year, one and all. Here's to the zombie apocalypse ending sooner rather than later....

I've got a left rear door (the small door) on my 2003 troopy that closes, but with a pretty ridiculous amount of force/pressure needed. Latch and hinges all line up ok, it seems to be the new oem weatherstripping I installed is filling up and blocking the hinge side gap, as if the weatherstripping is a bit too thick. But it's oem. I thought it might just be a little breaking in period but it's been a while now. If anyone has encountered this seemingly simple but stubborn problem, I'd love to hear any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[nonstopbike]

I'd think some break-in time is needed, with the doors closed to motivate that new weatherstripping a bit flatter. If you know that you've installed it as flush as possible to the body/rail, then it may just be a matter of patience.

My experience in weatherstripping comes from other vehicles/makes, but i'd imagine similar results of 'willingness' to close easier from the door with use.

There are some other threads in here specific to new weatherstripping too.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

I'd think some break-in time is needed, with the doors closed to motivate that new weatherstripping a bit flatter. If you know that you've installed it as flush as possible to the body/rail, then it may just be a matter of patience.

My experience in weatherstripping comes from other vehicles/makes, but i'd imagine similar results of 'willingness' to close easier from the door with use.

There are some other threads in here specific to new weatherstripping too.

thanks for the reply... i don't know. it's been about 6 months or more. the rubber is tucked into its channel, plastic clips in place elsewhere, should work just fine. it's a weird one.

 

[nonstopbike]

@PhillipJFrye , yeah, 6mos seems plenty of time for that situation to have settled. you may need further inquiry/insight to this issue from the board.

Sounds like you did the replacement correctly, any chance the adhesive came undone in some spots? May need to look at the mechanical adjustment of the door hinges/etc to get this cleared up. Doors and hinges may have sagged/settled to the old weatherstripping.

 

[janyyc]

I have the same issue with my Troopy... 2000 which was all original from Australia with ~60K. Just have to shut the door more firmly than others, otherwise the weatherstripping holds it back. Likewise everything aligns perfectly well. I’d be curious if anybody has solved the problem so I don’t have to troubleshoot it myself!!

 

[dcruiser666]

I solved this issue by shimming the bottom striker of the big door with a couple washers and adjusting the others accordingly, you may have to tinker a while to get it right. Getting the big door to sit a couple of millimeters further out when it's closed allows the small door to shut much more easily. I did this when replacing the weather stripping as well a couple of years ago and it has kept a good seal. There is also no rattling. Some heavy butyl sound deadener inside the door helps too by adding some weight, plus regrease the check straps. The handful of 70 series I've been around all had this problem, including a later year one.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

I solved this issue by shimming the bottom striker of the big door with a couple washers and adjusting the others accordingly, you may have to tinker a while to get it right. Getting the big door to sit a couple of millimeters further out when it's closed allows the small door to shut much more easily. I did this when replacing the weather stripping as well a couple of years ago and it has kept a good seal. There is also no rattling. Some heavy butyl sound deadener inside the door helps too by adding some weight, plus regrease the check straps. The handful of 70 series I've been around all had this problem, including a later year one.

outstanding! this makes a lot of sense, seeing that the large door seems to have more than enough space to close, a bit of play. i will definitely be checking this avenue out. thanks so much for the detailed info. cheers!

 

[Dprio34]

@PhillipJFrye , I just did the rear door weather shipping today, and the RH side large door closes like butter, the LH side does take some considerable force to close. Same experience as you.

 

[dcruiser666]

outstanding! this makes a lot of sense, seeing that the large door seems to have more than enough space to close, a bit of play. i will definitely be checking this avenue out. thanks so much for the detailed info. cheers!

No problem. It is still maybe not as "perfect" as I think it should be, but it's a fairly easy close now and it got rid of the repeated slamming technique. Still needs a little bit more force than the other doors, but it's not something I would complain about. As a measure - I can close it just fine with a casual hip check when I'm pulling something out of the back.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

ok, so i took a small step to try to solve this problem. just adjusted the doohickey on the larger door that the smaller door's lock mechanism hooks onto (I know, my mastery of auto parts terminology is awe-inspiring). the smaller door doesn't have to travel as far now to engage, and much less force is required to shut the thing.

the drawback is that the two doors are just a bit out of alignment now when shut. i think the weatherstripping is still sealing all the way around, and we'll see how it fares in the rain in the coming days. the photo exaggerates the gap because i took it from the side, it's not quite as bad as it looks.

if the disparity is too much, i might have to adjust all the strike plates and thingamajigs on the big door side. hope i don't have to, since one of the lower doodads has these big phillips type screws that won't budge. anyhow, happy sunday everyone and wish me luck.