Fix the door rattle - cheaply!

I've got a '99 Prerunner Ext cab with adjustable Bilsteins in front and a couple extra leaves in back. It's not a cushy ride. So, there are some rattles to be expected. But the rattle coming from the doors, especially with the windows down, was too much and needed to be addressed. So after living with it for only 10 years or so , I finally found the solution. It's not the "magic adjustment" bolt on the door below the catch, and it wasn't anything loose inside the door. I noticed that if I pulled on the inside door handle while driving over bumps, the rattle pretty much disappeared. That seemed to indicate that the weatherstrip used to provide a cushion that maintained a tight seal and kept the door from moving around. But after 25 years of doorslams and rough rides over crap road conditions, the weatherstrip had deflated enough so that it wasn't providing that tight seal anymore. I had read here that new door surround/weatherstrip might be the solution, but the best price I could find for a new OEM weatherstrip was about $160 each, and the universal stuff didn't really fit right. I was psyching myself up to drop the money for a new set, as the rattle was getting worse on these horrible south Indy roads.

I am cheap though, so on further inspection, it seemed the weatherstrip was more like a tube, than a "solid" piece of rubberized foam (or whatever it is.) I decided to slice one open and sure enough it is hollow. I happened to have some 3/8" closed-cell foam insert used to fill gaps around windows, etc.



And sure enough, it slid right in there, easily. In fact a little too easily. I figured I could beef it up a little more so I picked up a package of 1/2" diameter foam, which turns out to be a bit thicker, but it was just about perfect. I figured it would be tough going around corners, so I made a slice right at the bottom corner at the back of the door and started feeding it in.



It eventually started getting hung up as I fed it in, so I pulled it out and greased it up a bit with some Dawn detergent. That did the trick. I was able to feed it in until I hit the next corner. As it turns out, the remaining corners are either solid or already have some kind of foam in there, so that's where I stopped. Just feel around the perimeter and it's easy to find where the factory fillers are.





I ended up cutting 4 pieces of foam backer rod, and slicing the weatherstrip in 3 places. I tried to be a little more judicious with the cuts as the weatherstrip wasn't otherwise damaged, torn, or shredded. Just flat.



I used the bottom corner cut to shove another piece of the backer rod across the bottom, but had to make two more slices for the front and the top.



I didn't have to use too much soap - some other lube might work better but the Dawn did ok. After that, I just wiped it down and patched up the slice with a small piece of black duct tape. I'm not sure if that's the best tape to seal it up, we'll see.

But, the point is now that the door closes with a satisfying solid sound, and best of all does not rattle as I plow through the minefield of potholes around here. It does not matter if the window is up or down, of course. And the foam is compressible enough that the door does not stick out from the frame at all - it is nice and flush. And all for about $315 less than new OEM weatherstrip.

 

Outstanding

 

Good plan. Toyota did a shit job on the seals of these trucks

 

A+