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Well I get really tired of not being able to hear myself think because of the leaking air from my badly leaking wing window seals. I got the seals from e-bay, thanks NJTman . He also gave me advice as to how to do this, couldn't have done it without him. As usual, always use safe practices, use safety glasses, NEVER GET UNDER A VEHICLE SUPPORTED BY A JACK ONLY, and yes I know that you don't need to jack up the vehicle to do this job. The seals are available from e-bay and are listed as 78-86 Dodge Ram and Ram Charger, but fit my 90 perfectly. They should fit all to 93 as well. So let's get started:

I sure got tired of the 20 Peso solution, it was going up anyway, lousy inflation. You need to use a flat bar or screw driver to pop out the door panel retaining clips and remove the bolt that holds on the door opening handle. There is also a screw near the handle, but mine is missing. You need to lower the upper part of the door seal to give the wing window assembly room to slide out...Continued

 

I then removed the lower, inner and outer window scrapers. I don't know if this is necessary, but they need to be replaced anyway. Remove the wing window glass, held on by 2 Philips screws, be real careful, I will explain later. I thought better of that last comment and you should wait to remove the window until it is on the bench. Why take a chance with a piece of unobtanium when it is not necessary. There is a bolt and a screw that secure the wing assembly to the truck. The lower bolt is hidden behind a rubber cap. The other is a Philips head screw on the back side of the door. My truck is an LE edition, so the electric motor needs to be removed, because the bottom of the window rail hits it. My truck doors have already been drilled out to access these bolts by the original owner...Continued

 

When the assembly is all loose, you need to slide the lower end towards the front of the truck and slide the upper part toward the rear. The lower end is a tight fit when it first starts to move. I used a screw driver to give it some clearance. It also wants to grab on to the harness and it hits the window motor, if you have not already removed it. I just lowered it to the bottom. The door window needs to be in the up position to remove the motor. You then need to lower it to remove the wing window assembly. The pic of the glass is more for its memorial, now that it is deceased, more on that in the next part,...continued

 

It is pretty easy to put the seal in, you just have to be patient and work it around. The lower part of the seal needs to be put over the swivel mount. I found that it was easier to use the bar on my short guy device to help force it into the corner. I could have left this next part out, but I would highly recommend having help when you go to reinstall the glass. The replacement is the opposite of removal, she slides right back in, watch for all the same snags as removal, replace the two bolts (actually a bolt and a screw). When ol' solo mio went to put the glass back in, it fell right on through and, well you see the result. I would like to say that this was planned negative reinforcement, but, alas, it was my shear stupidity. . After a short internet search and a few phone calls, I found one in a wrecking yard in Maricopa, 50 miles away. I got it from an 88 Ram charger. They only have 2 left and I am pretty sure that there aren't anymore around here. Soooo, be veerwy veewry carefull when you are reinstalling the window. Cost me 80 bucks and a 100 mile drive (80 because they only sold the whole assembly)...continued

 

Well, I hope this helps others to not make the same mistakes that I made. All in all a pretty easy job. Just go get a neighbor or better yet put the glass in on the bench.......Mark

 

Great Write up....but I really don't see the reason to remove the whole assembly? I did one side on the crewcab...It's an 84..and I did it while it was still in the door no problem.

 

I thought the same thing, but I had some trouble putting in the new seal, especially the pointed part at the top. I had the whole assembly out in 15 minutes and it was a lot easier with it removed. In my old age, I don't like standing and working...Mark

 

Well, I was going to go do the other side without removing the whole assembly. I took the 2 screws holding the glass on, off and It appears that the glass is glued to the bottom hinge. After my broken wing window fiasco of today, I am just going to pull the whole assembly which allows me to remove the glass without breaking it free, with the word breaking emphasized...Mark

 

All the other seals on my doors are in pretty bad shape, so I found this kit on Rockauto. Anyone have experience with it? It has all of the window track and door seals, I think. So, when it gets here, I'll be pulling it apart again to replace the window track seals...Mark

 

Thanks for the Kudo's Mark, but you did all the work.

When you have the door apart, it allows you to clean, detail and ensure that all goes together well. I couldn't get those screws out while the window was in place, but when the entire window / frame was out, they came out no problem. My window glass was "glued" as Mark had mentioned, and having it on a bench to remove, install the seal, re-install the glass was much easier than struggling to get those screws out. I got to soak, rust remove, and re-paint while out, so for me it was a no brainer to remove.

And thanks for the heads up on the door window motor, as in my boneyard escapades, the door was a manual roll up, hence the lack of having to remove the motor.

Good time to lube the channels, clean up the motor contacts and freshen up the widow felt glides with some spray silicone to make things move a little easier as well..

Nice writeup as usual....

 

I bought the wiper seals (inside and out) from RA, and they were beautiful. IF I had only known, I would have bought the whole kit.

 

Thanks T, As I posted above. I ordered a complete kit, so I am going to wait to do the other side until the kit comes in. Thanks for the tips..Mark

 

BTW,


If anyone wants to know a really easy way to install those seals ?? Buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and dip the seal (or spray the seal) in the alcohol. It acts as a "lubricant" when installing the new seal, then evaporates to nothing when you're done.


I use this technique when I change my mountain bike grips. Works like a charm, as it creates enough slip to fit things on then allows to stick once the alcohol dissipates.

 

Now would be the time to stiffen the door up.

 

I use WindeX Glass cleaner...does the same thing.