Fix for front window rubber...?
Hey all - I just wanted to point people to a possible "trick" my mechanic came up with to temporarily fix the front rubber on my driver-side window.
To bring you up-to-speed - I recently had my VX in the shop getting all sorts of stuff done to it. Part of this was fixing the windows. I had my mechanic install new regulators, motors - and eventually new rubber. But for that, I have to wait a while, as it is on back-order from Isuzu in Japan...
Meanwhile - because I didn't like the standard el-cheapo plastic brackets Isuzu used on the windows - and due to the new regulator breaking one of them - I went to a junkyard and found some old VW regulator clips as described in this old thread:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=22099
I unfortunately don't have pictures of them, but my mechanic modified and installed them in the same manner - they turned out to work perfectly (a big note of thanks to Amish for this!).
My driver's side door was having problems going up (actually, both were, but the driver's side was worse) - binding and tilting on the front edge. This was because the felt in the rubber was rotted away, the rubber was then distorted in that area, and when the window passes by, it would "grab" it (too much friction), and make it tilt forward, which would put more strain and such on everything...
I wanted this fixed (or at least made better) - but I thought I would have to do it myself; instead, my mechanic pulled out all the stops and made it work - at least well enough until the new rubber comes in.
In addition to the clips, he also did a few other mods to make things run smoother - flexing the front channel a bit, bending the arms of the regulator carefully so that the plastic nub guides wouldn't lift off the rail as the window went up. All in all, it was working really well - but he still wasn't satisfied.
Even though he had cleaned out the old felt from the rubber and made things improved, it still was binding a little bit, so he decided to try an old trick he knew from where he grew up - he decided to try to find a piece of window rubber at a junk yard that was in decent condition.
He cut a bit off from the old rubber - then took it down to the junk yard looking for a vehicle with rubber that had a similar width as the old rubber (so it would fit in the channel properly). Now - if you do this - be sure to take a battery or something to actuate the window motor, because you might need the window in the "down" position to remove the rubber! Anyhow - he found that certain older (he didn't give me an exact year - but something like late 80s to early 90s) toyota 4-runners have a rubber that will fit (somewhat) into the channel - but only the front channel (not the rear).
He had to fit it carefully into place - and he said that rolling the window down would drag it down a bit - so he siliconed it into place and let it cure. When my new rubber comes in, he's going to take that stuff out, clean out the old silicone glue, then install the new OEM rubber. But - in the meantime I have windows that work really, really well!
A huge thanks to everyone on this list for making such a wonderful forum for these vehicles - I and my mechanic would have been fighting this issue for much longer without the info found here!
Also - I couldn't find anything against it in the rules - but mods - are there any issues with me posting a link for my mechanic's shop? He's treated me and my VX very well, and I thought I might point others here in the area his way. Let me know via PM - if I can, I'll just post a link on this thread I think.
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