Why you should replace that bubbling weatherstripping

[Qxxx4]

$460CDN for the whole set, plus $66 USD in shipping, plus ~$100 brokerage. Still saved close to $100 if i bought from dealer. Ordered from http://www.courtesyparts.com its a great site!

before (back door) you can see the bubbling, the weatherstripping is simply a metal bar coated in rubber.To remove it all you need to do is pry pry pry. Use a half inch wide chisel with a thick cloth so you dont scratch up your paint, and pry (bend really) the strip on both sides, working your way to the middle, eventually it can pop off and if yours were as bad as mine, expect rust chips to fly EVERYWHEREthe fronts were a little harder to do since they were longer, but they gave me more space to work with since i could roll the window all the way down. rear weatherstripping removedheres some pics of the removed strips, as you can see they look way worse UNDER them then what you can see from outside

The new strips had the same damn thing, the edges are coated in rubber, but they leave 0.5mm of exposed metal at each end, which rusts, so I globbed on some black silicone and let it set overnight

AFTER...no more bubbles!! and peace of mind knowing everything under there is dry from now on, going to silicone some weak spots later on as wellthis photo is where alot of water collects, where it meets the mirror

keep an eye on your weaterstripping. mine didnt look to bad but once you go under..uh oh! once water starts getting in your door seams your F'd


Modified by Qxxx4 at 10:05 AM 8/26/2009

[Empty V]

Another great write up Brian. I feel very fortunate to live is such a mild climate, dealing with rust has to be a real b****. I'll link this thread in our tutorial thread.

Billy

[exvin]

Man this is great, I think its going to be my next investment seeing that winter is right around the corner

[Holidazed]

I just replaced all 4 of mine at the begining of the summer. I bought them used from a guy locally who had some on pathfinders he was parting out. I paid $350 i think including the guy installing them for me. one had very slight rust but it will not spread to the point where mine were bubbling (bad like Brians!) for quite a few more years. Mine were bubbling and flaking like hell when I took them off. It looks great now having near-new rubber window strips, such a difference in outside appearance! and peace of mind knowing I wont have rust growing and spreading along my window trims.

One note though, I'm surprised Brian was able to remove the strips without removing the window. we had to open up my door panels and drop the windows down to get the strips out since they were attached on both sides of the window track, we couldnt just pry them off.

[oasisx]

i have a question about this bubbling seen under the trim. i have this happeneing on my car also in one spot. Is it due to the actual trim itself rusting that causes the bubbling to occur? or is it from the actual car door itself starting to rust?

[Buzzman]

I replaced mine about two years ago (all four windows), and I can tell you with all confidence that the rust is all in the trim pieces and not in the door skin.
I was concerned about the same thing, so when I pulled the old rusty trim off, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the door skin was still in perfect shape.
Two years later and the trim is still looking like new. No new rust.
I'm in Canada in a snow belt, so this is good news for me.
Hope this helps.

[theremin7]

Can anybody tell me the part number I should be looking for on courtesyparts.com? I can't seem to find the parts on there on my own haha

[Towncivilian]

Provide your VIN and I can look up exact part numbers for you.

[theremin7]

JN8DR07Y91W518338. Much obliged!

[Karona]

I hope I'm not reprimanded for posting in an old thread, as well as making that post fairly obvious but;

My father and I went to a salvage yard near home, found about 5 Pathfinders/QX4s, and part of what we got were all 4 door's weather stripping for about $20..

Strongly recommend looking into that, as some of those vehicles had pieces in pristine condition... Battery clamps from there, weather stripping here, etc lol

[Buzzman]

Strongly recommend looking into that, as some of those vehicles had pieces in pristine condition

You must live in a southern climate with no snow or salt.
I'm in Canada, and my local junkyard always has a few Pathfinders to pick from.
Unfortunately, everyone of them is a rust bucket.
Most of them are there because they were written off due to the strut corrosion recall.
The window trims are all rotted, as well as pretty much everything else.
It's frustrating when looking for stuff.
Most of the stuff I look for is interior parts. At least they don't rust.