anti-dusting experience

Thought I would put up some experience I have just had with keeping my car dust proof. I have a GQ Patrol 4 door.

A few years ago I went to Clarke Rubber and bought some self adhesive foam and ran it around the whole of the door seals. Worked a treat for quite a few years to the point that I need to have a window down a bit to shut the last door (air tight).

Last year I wanted to upgrade the speaker in the rear barn door. I found some annoying plastic stuck behind the panel so removed it; not knowing what it did or why it was there.

Fast track to a few weeks ago after returning from quite a dusty 6 weeks up North which included the red dust of the Kimberleys and lots of dirt roads up and down from southern Australia.

Car leaked alot of dust and I was scratching my head why. Few observations and fixes I have done which has resolved the issue.

1. on closer inspection at the bottom of the barn door, the drainage holes are before the door seal. This means any dust outside will enter the inner workings of the door panel. Because I had removed the plastic it was leaking in via the speaker holes and up through the gap in the glass. Solution was to cut a garbage bag to shape and put back the plastic I removed a while ago.

2. I have replaced all the rubber door seals with brand new. Some aftermarket and some from Nissan if I couldn't find them. The difference in the thickness is amazing and shows how much they flatten over the years. Easy fix which takes about 10 mins per door (just clicks in)

3. The seal that sits on top of the door panel pressing up against the windows all leaked. Closer inspection shows slight shrinkage / warping etc from just old age. Replaced with new and a much better seal (dust comes in these body panels for the same reason as the barn door).

so there you have it. Some my fault (removing plastic) and some just old age which is an easy fix.