Gap between door and seal.

[69timemachine]

My truck is a barn find survivor with original paint and has never been wrecked. I have issues with wind noise when driving with the windows up. I noticed there was a tiny gap between the door and seal at the upper rear corner. My door seals and window felts were toast, so I replaced them all with Dennis Carpenter seals. The tiny gap between door and seal is still there and I hear the wind noise next to my head when driving with the windows up. I'm guessing the door alignment is off and has been that way since the truck left the factory.
Any tips for re-aligning the door and solving this issue?

[cep62]

How does the door fit the out side of the body?
If it hangs out at the back, you can move the striker bolt in.
If it sticks out at the cowl, move the top hinge in.
If it lines up ok out side you can "adjust" the top of the window frame in , by bracing your knee at the bottom of the window and pulling the top of the door in.
Or you might be able to shim the gasket out , by placing some small rope behind it to hold it out.

Also a way to pinpoint an air leak is to put masking tape over a gap and see if it improves or not.
These old trucks have a lot more wind noise than newer vehicles.

[69timemachine]

In the pic, you can see that the gasket is not making contact at all with the seal for about six inches with the door fully closed. I have tried moving the striker inboard, with no effect but to make the door hard to close. When you close the door and look at the seal all the way around the perimeter, it has a good squashed contact everywhere except the rear top corner.
I don't drive with the windows closed often since my truck has no A/C, but when I do have the windows up on cold days, it sounds like a window is partially open right next to my ear. It's just one of those annoying little issues that I'd like to fix.
I guess my next action will be to loosen the hinge bolts and try to see if the door will even out its pressure on the seal better at the top.

[cep62]

Another thought , get a hammer and block of wood and drive the pinch weld out.
move the seal out of the way if you can so you don't damage it.

You can use a piece of paper (or dollar bill) and close it in the door ,when you pull it out you can feel the drag.
compare it to different areas around the door.

[Twisted_Steel]

Looks like someone ran out of gas and pushed the door with one hand while steering with the other. If the door is in alignment everywhere else, that is usually what happened. (Ask me how I know) The frame around the window is the weakest part.
As they said in the other posts, pull the top corner toward the cab while you have your knee scotching the bottom for leverage. You can check the progress by how the gap changes at the weather stripping

[69timemachine]

Looks like someone ran out of gas and pushed the door with one hand while steering with the other. If the door is in alignment everywhere else, that is usually what happened.

I never thought about that, but that is a definite possibility!

[69timemachine]

I did a little tinkering and I think I have it fixed. I opened the door all the way, put my floor jack under it with no pressure but making contact, and loosened the six hinge bolts. I picked up on the door by hand to see how much adjustment is in the hinges, then raised my jack to meet the door (my jack has a foot pedal, so that worked great). I snugged the bolts and lowered the jack. I gently started to close the door, while watching for unwanted contact between the door and body. The door would hit the front seal before getting close to closing, so it was binding. I would loosen the bolts slightly and allow the door to drop a little and then re-tighten. It took a few attempts, but on the third try, I think I got it pretty good now. I used a piece of thin card stock closed between the door and seal, then pull it out to check resistance. The area that was not making contact before now had some resistance to pulling the card stock from between the door and seal. Looking at the seal perimeter with the door closed, the seal looks to be making contact all the way around now. Thanks for the help!

[sargentrs]

Thanks for posting your fix!

[cep62]

And another thing , When adjusting take the striker bolt out , then you can see the actual fit without interference.

[sargentrs]

Great tip. cep62!

[69timemachine]

When adjusting take the striker bolt out , then you can see the actual fit without interference.

Great tip! Thanks again everyone for the help!

[jzjames]

door adj.jpg

Illus. from the service manual.

[Raiver]

I did a little tinkering and I think I have it fixed. I opened the door all the way, put my floor jack under it with no pressure but making contact, and loosened the six hinge bolts. I picked up on the door by hand to see how much adjustment is in the hinges, then raised my jack to meet the door (my jack has a foot pedal, so that worked great). I snugged the bolts and lowered the jack. I gently started to close the door, while watching for unwanted contact between the door and body. The door would hit the front seal before getting close to closing, so it was binding. I would loosen the bolts slightly and allow the door to drop a little and then re-tighten. It took a few attempts, but on the third try, I think I got it pretty good now. I used a piece of thin card stock closed between the door and seal, then pull it out to check resistance. The area that was not making contact before now had some resistance to pulling the card stock from between the door and seal. Looking at the seal perimeter with the door closed, the seal looks to be making contact all the way around now. Thanks for the help!

Great to hear you figured it up! Jack with food pedal is always handy.