Window track alignment

[asymptonic]

After the stupid accident I got into last August, went through a really bad body shop, and my mechanic fixed a lot of their mistakes. A couple issues remain, one of which I wonder if I can do myself. The driver window doesn't roll up quite straight. It pinches the inner seal material if I don't nudge it with my finger in the last inch of travel. Is there an adjustment in the door? Can I bend the track or something?

 

[Tim_MN]

The rubber like glass guide/gasket material can shift in the metal support and bind the glass movement. The metal support for the gasket material is adjustable, and likely controls/prevents the glass from tilting.

 

[asymptonic]

The metal support for the gasket material is adjustable, and likely controls/prevents the glass from tilting

My mechanic had a go at this and failed (thinking it was the rubber gasket that was failing, so I'm back to this thread. Can you elaborate on what you mean by the metal support being adjustable? Which metal support? I'd love to find something I could nudge by about an 1/8th of an inch or less to fix this.

Edit: I feel like if the window could be "nudged" body side on it's way up just a bit it would avoid binding with the gasket near the top.

 

[ChillyB]

What year is your Jeep? In this case it matters. On 97-01 I THINK the horizontal inner seal attaches to the plastic inner door skin. On older jeeps is clips onto the steel inner door skin.

if the door was hit then the metal lip may require a little bending work, though I am not picturing your situation very well.

 

[asymptonic]

It's a 98. The door itself wasn't hit, got nailed in the front left, but I think the idiots at the body shop may have tried to bend the door to get it to close properly after failing to get the aftermarket front panel attached improperly. They did a hash job of everything and my mechanic had to redo a bunch of their work. For example they tried to heat the radiator support with a torch to bend it to get the bumper re-aligned.

I don't recall seeing a plastic inner door skin but I'll have another look. I'll grab a video of what's going on as well.

 

[ChillyB]

The plastic inner door skin is the only thing you'll see from inside. It's the plastic panel with arm rest, speaker vents, switches, etc. You know, the thing. Everybody knows the thing.

 

[Tim_MN]

Looked inside yet?

The glass guide sits in a metal frame inside the door shell. The 2 torx bolts allow for slight adjustment. The front guide frame is welded in place but could be moved slightly with a pry-bar.


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[asymptonic]

The plastic inner door skin is the only thing you'll see from inside. It's the plastic panel with arm rest, speaker vents, switches, etc. You know, the thing. Everybody knows the thing.

That definitely has no connection to the seal whatsoever. I've had that thing off dozens of times for various reasons.

 

[asymptonic]

The glass guide sits in a metal frame inside the door shell. The 2 torx bolts allow for slight adjustment. The front guide frame is welded in place but could be moved slightly with a pry-bar.

Yeah, getting inside was my next move. I see nothing really wrong with the door above the bottom of the glass. The glass is definitely off (or the door is but I doubt it). When rolling it down it visibly pops forward after clearing the seal, so it's tracking away from where the door frame wants it to be.

 

[asymptonic]

Do those torx bolts adjust a sort of in/out alignment? Loosen one, tighten the other? I can play with it but if folks already know...
Slight adjustment is enough, I think it's off by maybe 1/8th of an inch.

 

[asymptonic]

Took the door apart and yeah, no nothing there is going to help. Found the real cause, there's a bulge on the door near the mirror, so clearly the door did take some force and get bent out of shape. Next question is what to do about it. Could a body shop fix it? Should I look for a junkyard door?