Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in a
lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's not
really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if I
look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?

Thanks,
QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

Well.....

Something isn't right. Have you had the roof off? If so, then likely
the alignment is off on the install. I can cover a bunch by a 1/8" or
less shift here and there or even just by changing the order of
tightening things down. You know, front first, back first. corner to
corner, side to side or start in the middle... If one part gets down
too tight too soon, it can interfere with other parts away in the other
corner fitting down properly.

I would guess a full shift slightly to the drivers side on the top would
maybe do it. The other side is likely 'slightly' tighter than needed at
the seal. Maybe that side of the top was tightened down first so the
passenger side didn't quite pull down far enough? Sort of a teeter
totter effect across the front seal.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

QV wrote:
>
> The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in a
> lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
> rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's not
> really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if I
> look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
> against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?
>
> Thanks,
> QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

Well.....

Something isn't right. Have you had the roof off? If so, then likely
the alignment is off on the install. I can cover a bunch by a 1/8" or
less shift here and there or even just by changing the order of
tightening things down. You know, front first, back first. corner to
corner, side to side or start in the middle... If one part gets down
too tight too soon, it can interfere with other parts away in the other
corner fitting down properly.

I would guess a full shift slightly to the drivers side on the top would
maybe do it. The other side is likely 'slightly' tighter than needed at
the seal. Maybe that side of the top was tightened down first so the
passenger side didn't quite pull down far enough? Sort of a teeter
totter effect across the front seal.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

QV wrote:
>
> The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in a
> lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
> rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's not
> really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if I
> look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
> against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?
>
> Thanks,
> QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

Well.....

Something isn't right. Have you had the roof off? If so, then likely
the alignment is off on the install. I can cover a bunch by a 1/8" or
less shift here and there or even just by changing the order of
tightening things down. You know, front first, back first. corner to
corner, side to side or start in the middle... If one part gets down
too tight too soon, it can interfere with other parts away in the other
corner fitting down properly.

I would guess a full shift slightly to the drivers side on the top would
maybe do it. The other side is likely 'slightly' tighter than needed at
the seal. Maybe that side of the top was tightened down first so the
passenger side didn't quite pull down far enough? Sort of a teeter
totter effect across the front seal.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

QV wrote:
>
> The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in a
> lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
> rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's not
> really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if I
> look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
> against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?
>
> Thanks,
> QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4155E3A9.9464EDC6@sympatico.ca...
> Well.....
>
> Something isn't right. Have you had the roof off? If so, then likely
> the alignment is off on the install. I can cover a bunch by a 1/8" or
> less shift here and there or even just by changing the order of
> tightening things down. You know, front first, back first. corner to
> corner, side to side or start in the middle... If one part gets down
> too tight too soon, it can interfere with other parts away in the other
> corner fitting down properly.
>
> I would guess a full shift slightly to the drivers side on the top would
> maybe do it. The other side is likely 'slightly' tighter than needed at
> the seal. Maybe that side of the top was tightened down first so the
> passenger side didn't quite pull down far enough? Sort of a teeter
> totter effect across the front seal.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>

That's good advice, but I should have mentioned that I had previously tried
resetting the hardtop. Unfortunately I didn't have any luck - there's
practically no tolerance in it's placement. The problem is that the
passenger door (the bad one) is roughly 1/3" more forward than the driver's
door resulting in a somewhat large gap at the upper corner of the door (near
where the passenger's head would be) and a smaller gap between the door and
the windshield. It's almost like the hinge or the frame around the window is
slightly off spec.

I was thinking that perhaps I could adjust a hinge, but to keep things
simple, do you think I could just squirt some kind of caulking in the
passenger corner of the hardtop?

QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4155E3A9.9464EDC6@sympatico.ca...
> Well.....
>
> Something isn't right. Have you had the roof off? If so, then likely
> the alignment is off on the install. I can cover a bunch by a 1/8" or
> less shift here and there or even just by changing the order of
> tightening things down. You know, front first, back first. corner to
> corner, side to side or start in the middle... If one part gets down
> too tight too soon, it can interfere with other parts away in the other
> corner fitting down properly.
>
> I would guess a full shift slightly to the drivers side on the top would
> maybe do it. The other side is likely 'slightly' tighter than needed at
> the seal. Maybe that side of the top was tightened down first so the
> passenger side didn't quite pull down far enough? Sort of a teeter
> totter effect across the front seal.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>

That's good advice, but I should have mentioned that I had previously tried
resetting the hardtop. Unfortunately I didn't have any luck - there's
practically no tolerance in it's placement. The problem is that the
passenger door (the bad one) is roughly 1/3" more forward than the driver's
door resulting in a somewhat large gap at the upper corner of the door (near
where the passenger's head would be) and a smaller gap between the door and
the windshield. It's almost like the hinge or the frame around the window is
slightly off spec.

I was thinking that perhaps I could adjust a hinge, but to keep things
simple, do you think I could just squirt some kind of caulking in the
passenger corner of the hardtop?

QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:4155E3A9.9464EDC6@sympatico.ca...
> Well.....
>
> Something isn't right. Have you had the roof off? If so, then likely
> the alignment is off on the install. I can cover a bunch by a 1/8" or
> less shift here and there or even just by changing the order of
> tightening things down. You know, front first, back first. corner to
> corner, side to side or start in the middle... If one part gets down
> too tight too soon, it can interfere with other parts away in the other
> corner fitting down properly.
>
> I would guess a full shift slightly to the drivers side on the top would
> maybe do it. The other side is likely 'slightly' tighter than needed at
> the seal. Maybe that side of the top was tightened down first so the
> passenger side didn't quite pull down far enough? Sort of a teeter
> totter effect across the front seal.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>

That's good advice, but I should have mentioned that I had previously tried
resetting the hardtop. Unfortunately I didn't have any luck - there's
practically no tolerance in it's placement. The problem is that the
passenger door (the bad one) is roughly 1/3" more forward than the driver's
door resulting in a somewhat large gap at the upper corner of the door (near
where the passenger's head would be) and a smaller gap between the door and
the windshield. It's almost like the hinge or the frame around the window is
slightly off spec.

I was thinking that perhaps I could adjust a hinge, but to keep things
simple, do you think I could just squirt some kind of caulking in the
passenger corner of the hardtop?

QV

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

Check the clamp thingys on the top of your windshield.
Are they centered in the holes? I've found that things align fairly well
when I tighten the clamps with them centered in the hole.
Otherwise...as mike said, misaligned....

Is the drivers door tight?

"QV" <qv@qvnospam.com> wrote in message
news:bBk5d.105346$%S.81750@pd7tw2no...
> The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in
a
> lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
> rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's
not
> really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if
I
> look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
> against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?
>
> Thanks,
> QV
>
>

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

Check the clamp thingys on the top of your windshield.
Are they centered in the holes? I've found that things align fairly well
when I tighten the clamps with them centered in the hole.
Otherwise...as mike said, misaligned....

Is the drivers door tight?

"QV" <qv@qvnospam.com> wrote in message
news:bBk5d.105346$%S.81750@pd7tw2no...
> The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in
a
> lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
> rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's
not
> really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if
I
> look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
> against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?
>
> Thanks,
> QV
>
>

Re: Possible to align door on TJ for better seal?
 

Check the clamp thingys on the top of your windshield.
Are they centered in the holes? I've found that things align fairly well
when I tighten the clamps with them centered in the hole.
Otherwise...as mike said, misaligned....

Is the drivers door tight?

"QV" <qv@qvnospam.com> wrote in message
news:bBk5d.105346$%S.81750@pd7tw2no...
> The passenger-side door on my 99 Sahara doesn't seal too good resulting in
a
> lot of wind noise and the occasional minor intrusion of rain or snow. The
> rubber seal is in good shape but the door just isn't aligned right. It's
not
> really noticeable from the outside of the vehicle, but from the inside, if
I
> look just right I can see a sliver of sky where the door should be sealed
> against the hard-top. How hard would this be to fix?
>
> Thanks,
> QV
>
>