Crank Window Problem Solved

A few months ago - maybe around November last year - someone broke into my truck and broke the driver's side window. I had plans I was trying to keep with someone the next day so I paid extra for someone to come out and fix it while I was keeping my plans.

It was kind of hard to roll up and down after - harder than the stock window, but I figured it was just the way of the world. Lately it's been getting harder to roll up and down, but inconsistently from one turn of the crank to the next and one window roll up / down to the next. There's a couple spots it feels like its getting stuck about 1/4 of the way up and almost to the top. I feel like it's getting to the point where the window could break on me. Unfortunately I didn't keep any of the info from the company that installed it since it was the first time dealing with this and I didn't foresee this coming. Figures I kept every single other piece of documentation for repairs / parts / etc.

I took the interior door skin off of the door to take a look and see if I could tell what was going on and without taking the metal door skin off, it wasn't much success. I tried putting some vaseline in the weather stripping, but that didn't help either. Are there any window gurus that can give me some advice for helping make the window fit better? Thank you!

 

What is the crank window thing you speak of??

In all seriousness, if it has been getting worse, it is probably not the window fit. There are a lot of joints and moving parts in the mechanism in the door that could be failing as a result of something that happened during the install or for some other reason. I think you should try a bit harder to get inside of your door and poke around. I would think if you look in there, the problem should be obvious. Or you can get in there and grease up all of the joints and the gear.

 

Thanks for getting back to me about that. The reason why I thought it was the window fitment is because I can hear / feel the window rubbing excessively hard against the weather stripping at certain points along the way up.
I didn't know if aftermarket windows are just not a good fit sometimes or if it might be mounted incorrectly. I did put some lithium grease on all joints I could see through the door skin, but I think you're right I'll probably end up having to take apart the door and inspect everything more closely. Thanks again. Have a good day!

 

I've never seen the window components in the Tacoma, but I can tell you from my classic vehicle experience, there are adjustable glass guides in the door and padded fingers that put pressure on the glass. Without them your glass would not only misalign, but rattle. Your issue may be mechanical or merely an adjustment. It could also be a lubrication issue as there are many moving joints in the arms and the mechanism. I don't think that you will know for sure with exploration.

Wow, window cranks, so you own one of the 12 made..... Lol, couldn't resist.

 

Watched a window install video and got the confidence to go back in and check things out.

Looks like the window was on the wrong side of the weather stripping down inside the door. Used some needle nose pliers to pull the stripping back onto the correct side of the window and dabbed some super glue on the back side of the stripping to hopefully keep it in place - it looks like it shouldn't even be necessary now that the window is on the correct side of the stripping.

Now I can finally get my windows tinted! A good thing with the heat we've been getting down here lately!