HOW LONG DO RUBBER DOOR SEALS REMAIN EFFECTIVE ?

Wille,
your door seals should remain effective for at least 5 years after manufacture.

The extrusion materials are designed to withstand compression, however not all prodcution processes run to plan 100% of the time. If however the rubber was not completely cured then some 'set' may have occured.

Bear in mind also, that dust will find it's way through the tiniest of spaces, so it may not be your seals at fault.

Dan

Willie,
Over time all door seals become less effective, that is they start to loose thier "bound" for a better word. They dont push up against the panels as good as they would when new. That is a common problem with rubbers. But in saying that, Unless you actually saw traces of dust entering the vehicle from the rubbers, then its more likely the dust came in via vents. So before you go trying to replace the rubber seals, Id take a closer look at your vents mate. That fine dust can float around for ages before it settles down. I know the GQ's have this problem with the rear quarter panel vents behind the windows, they are usually taped up before a dusty trip is started, it helps eliminate entry problems.

If your door rubbers are in tact with no chunks missing, i wouldnt touch them at all.

Id be looking at floor clips missing or cracked and thinsg like that.

Hope that helps
Ange

Try a Jackaroo - Sometimes I wonder if I am inside or outside.

Only suggestion from Isuzu - Close windows and run fan on high - Switch it to circulate if someone passes you.

It works actually - Bit of a nuisance if you are an open window driver though.

Age old problem this one!! Try shutting all your windows, turn on the fan to 1 or 2 and open the fresh air vent. This will pressurise your vehicle and keep the dust out. Make sure you close the vent if you are in a dust trail or on coming vehicle approaches. Leave the seals alone, nothing wrong with them!!

Willie.
This is just a suggestion---since the problem seems to be coming from the rear door I would check to see if the rubber gromet stops at the bottom of the door are missing as if so this allows free play in the door that will let in dust.Hope this helps.

Hi Willie,

Had any panel repairs or similar on the rear of your vehicle recently (not necessarily the rear doors)?

Our '97 Discovery had always been admirably dust-tight over many thousands of corrugated gravel roads/tracks. About 2 years ago, my beloved backed it into a tree (It just jumped out!!). After 3 return visits to the insurer's "approved" repairer to get a half-decent job, the rear door was still out of alignment and now leaked dust if you pulled over onto an unsealed road shoulder.

A reputable repairer (The Bumpshop, Eagle Farm, Brisbane - excellent work) told me how to 're-align' my rear door for nothing. It now seals perfectly again (have done a more-than 1000 kms of dirt trip in NW Qld/eastern NT since). That's with the original seals, 10 years (1996 UK build date) and 215,000km.

Have a close look to see if the seals are actually in contact with opposing surface. You might be able to do this by: clean both surfaces, smear vaseline along the seals, close the doors gently and re-open, look for vaseline on the opposing surfaces. They might have gone out of alignment/firm contact due to panel movement (a light shunt?) or just 'fair wear and tear' to the latch mechanism, etc.

Let us know what you find.
Ian P.

Willie

My 80 s has done 250,000 km with no loss of dust sealing, and plenty of harsh country. You are right to look for what has changed, rather than scrub around it by pressurising the cabin.

I guess you have looked for anything come loose (hinges, locks, rubber stops, plugs etc etc) and looked along to make sure the door is still straight (it gets some weight when loading fridges etc).

Failing that, is there something loose that's holding open the rubber somewhere along it?

It does not look like a very difficult job to replace the whole seal once you are convinced that its just the rubber lost its "bound". I'd pay the price for genuine Toyota rubber.

Good hunting
Max

Do all the doors get regularly open and shut or just some of them, If the doors are not open and closed every now and agene then the rubber will become compressed and loose it’s sealing ability.

This is why when you store a car for a period of time you don’t full close all the doors.

Cheers.

G'day Willie

If the seals have compacted on you, one fix could be to cut a small hole in the end of the seal, and feed a suitable length of plastic tubing inside the length of the seal. This will hold the seal profile firm, and counter the compaction it has suffered. Silastic up the hole you made with black silastic to restore the integrity of the seal again. Just figure out what size tubing you need and where to place it, but that will solve your problem if I understand it correctly.

Regards
Brid (Cost Effective Maintenance)

Hi Willie,
Plenty of good anwsers above.

So my suggestion is to get a vehicle with no back door.
No back door = No dust

Works great with mine!!!!hehe

Cheers
phil

hey Willie we have FJ 73-mrq with two back doors we have had it since new and had the same problem that you have. I found that over time 20 years now that the Back doors do sag under the weight either being used as a table or chair for horizontal opening doors or the weight of the spare and other fittings on vertical opening doors. They all need adjustments over time and travel including all passenger and drivers doors. I dont care what any body else says but that is a fact of off road driving it does put a greater strain on all aspects of the vehicle and one of the main ares that people do tend to forget about.
What you really need to do is check to see if you also have water ingress into your vehicle. Check each time you do a water crossing.(dust and water = crust at the leaking area note not loose dust but dried mud) If no crust then the dust problem is not comming from your seals but as the others have said from your vents. If there is a crust buildup then that is the spot were the dust is entering your vehicle. Another thought is that at some time before you or somebody else may have tried to close your tailgate or door with some thing jammed. This can pinch the seal and could also just slightly dented the body work. This can happen and at the time you didnt think any thing of it .or havnt been told that it has happened ( all the joys of group travelling or family members.)It could have been as little as a piece of rope or a tool of some sort but in the twenty years or so that I have had my land cruiser the seals have leaked everytime I have done this even to the point out on one trip we did the drivers door never leaked until one time I slammed the drivers door and the seatbelt buckle got jammed between the door and door frame Thats right it leaked on the very next crossing and you could see the dust entering through the spot so it does happen
*Shrugs shoulders just a thought cheers happy trails

Hi Willie,
May I suggest the following.

You have checked the seals themselves, make sure you also check where the seals seal against. Look for build up of mud/dirt chewing gum etc.

Open tail gate fully and try to push/pull tail gates horizontally, this checks for excessive movement by the way of worn hinges.

Close bottom tailgate alone and grasp top edge. Push/pull, check for excessive movement, this checks locking mechanism for looseness and or wear. If can, repeat for top tailgate.

Close both tailgates securely. Run finger along joins between tailgates and body and especially between top and bottom gates. All joins should feel uniform in width. Be especially vigilant between the two gates as you may have "bowed" the lower gate by excessive weight.

Also by the way of maintenance, use armourall or wd 40 etc on the door seals to keep them moist and supple.
As a example, after you armourall your interior such as dashboard, windowsills etc, use the same armourall inpregnated rag to go over all door seals and their sealing edges.

Hope Iam of help.

Regards
Alan