The best door seals

[ghetdjc320]

Want to collect some info and get some input on what door seals you have found to be the best overall. My criteria is: the door should close easily without being slammed, it should seal well without any bunching or wrinkling, it should reduce wind noise and it should fit the interior trim like oem
 

I currently have Mopar nos seals installed if the 96- design. I have used Fairchild as well in the past. The Fairchild seals required a hard slam to close. I have a set of used 97+ seals (see attached pictures for profile views). The 97+ seals have a slightly different design that looks like it may provide a better seal to the door. I’ve seen many people say the 97+ seals don’t work but that seems to mostly be the aftermarket seals which don’t fit right to begin with and require hard slams to get your door to close. It should be noted as well that the Fairchild seals I had spent two years in the truck in the sun and heat and still wouldn’t allow for a good close. The durometer of the rubber was just wrong for the seal. The factory mopar ones also use a white gummy adhesive that helps seal the pinch seam in the body a bit. 
 

Essentially, these are “side bulb” trim seals and are available in a wide variety. Finding NOS 97+ seems quite difficult. I’ve also heard that fox body mustang seals work and their profile is similar to the 96- seals. Any thing anyone has come across that works well overall? 
 

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

These are noted as being dual durometer and seem like they have the correct design: https://metrommp.com/door_sealfront_9701_jeep_cherokee_4_door_models_lm_97e/?Year=2001&Make=Jeep&Model=Cherokee

 

But I have no experience with these. I prefer the 97+ design as it has a better profile

[89 MJ]

I’m curious to see what you come up with, I should do my door seals too. 
 

Could you get a generic one of similar design and then modify it so the door opening shape is correct?

[ghetdjc320]

1 hour ago, 89 MJ said:

I’m curious to see what you come up with, I should do my door seals too. 
 

Could you get a generic one of similar design and then modify it so the door opening shape is correct?

Yes you can. The factory ones were not molded in any way, they were just bulk length cuts that you trim to fit. There is a marine side bulb seal that has an excellent profile but is not the proper thickness. I’m thinking that I’ll align the doors with no seals then once they are set perfectly, I’ll use some clay and get a profile and dimension for the seal location in different positions around the door. 

[Gjeep]

Fairchild isn't good from my perspective. I bought them few years back when I was going to do a budget build on my '92 MJ. Thin. Very thin and soft. Couldn't do it. Don used 'used' 97+ door seals on his LB MJ with no issues as they were already broken in. I'm running NOS '97+ seals on my '92 build and it's a firm close and needs break in. But I've maybe opened those doors all of 25 times. Crown '97+ XJ door seals are very nice quality and I run them on all my kids XJ builds. They take a good 6 months to close "normally" -- read, not a firm shut. I really like these. They drop off on availability on/off but seem to be in steady production. Two thumbs up.

[ghetdjc320]

Good to know. I’m wondering if the actual door profile is any different between the 96/97 break. I have both sets of doors and will try to compare 

[Gjeep]

No difference. In fact, '97 year also used the first gen hinges. '98 hinges changed. 

[Salvagedcircuit]

I went with the 97+ door seals from precision seals. I only tried them on my driver door so far, but my data point is not a useful one. My driver door was sagging from cracking around the hinges. I had to level my door and re-weld the door hinges. It sits nicely now, but I unfortunately bent the top part of the door window frame in efforts to improve door sealing before the welding process. The driver door has an annoying bounce after the precision seals, but I noticed re-bending the window frame outward makes the door stop bouncing when closed. I don't like having to slam a door either, so I've been using 8.5x11 paper to gauge my door seals. I slightly bend the window frame outwards, close the door and check that a page does not easily slide between door seal and door jam. It's not a super precise method, but it seems to be working. My door now does not bounce anywhere near as much. I have not bent the window frame back enough that I like it, but it's close. I'm waiting for warmer weather to straighten out my door window frame.

[89 MJ]

40 minutes ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

I don't like having to slam a door either, so I've been using 8.5x11 paper to gauge my door seals. I slightly bend the window frame outwards, close the door and check that a page does not easily slide between door seal and door jam. It's not a super precise method, but it seems to be working.

This is the way my dad taught my brother and I on the cars he has built. Put the paper in, shut the door, then try to pull it out. Works well. 

[ghetdjc320]

51 minutes ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

I went with the 97+ door seals from precision seals. I only tried them on my driver door so far, but my data point is not a useful one. My driver door was sagging from cracking around the hinges. I had to level my door and re-weld the door hinges. It sits nicely now, but I unfortunately bent the top part of the door window frame in efforts to improve door sealing before the welding process. The driver door has an annoying bounce after the precision seals, but I noticed re-bending the window frame outward makes the door stop bouncing when closed. I don't like having to slam a door either, so I've been using 8.5x11 paper to gauge my door seals. I slightly bend the window frame outwards, close the door and check that a page does not easily slide between door seal and door jam. It's not a super precise method, but it seems to be working. My door now does not bounce anywhere near as much. I have not bent the window frame back enough that I like it, but it's close. I'm waiting for warmer weather to straighten out my door window frame.

Any chance you can get a closeup profile picture of those pro seals like I did with the oem above? 

[Salvagedcircuit]

On 1/29/2025 at 9:00 PM, ghetdjc320 said:

Any chance you can get a closeup profile picture of those pro seals like I did with the oem above? 

Oof. Sorry I won't be at my comanche for another 2 weeks. I may have a photo though, let me sift through my photosets and get back to you.

 

[A-man930]

I had a local body guy recommend I have the door seals I plan to use installed for door fit up before paint and body, but I can't figure out the reasoning behind that.

[ghetdjc320]

1 hour ago, A-man930 said:

I had a local body guy recommend I have the door seals I plan to use installed for door fit up before paint and body, but I can't figure out the reasoning behind that.

Not sure. I’d always heard to adjust the door gaps first then install the seals but maybe there is a better way? 

[89 MJ]

3 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

Not sure. I’d always heard to adjust the door gaps first then install the seals but maybe there is a better way? 

This is the way I’ve heard to do it too. I don’t think it would make much sense to make the door fit with the new seal on because as the seal breaks in, it’s going to fit differently. 

[ghetdjc320]

I’m going to cross post this content for reference. The Crown 97+ seals seem to be a good option:

 

 

[fiatslug87]

Here’s the Crown 55176148AC cross section.

[ghetdjc320]

7 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

Here’s the Crown 55176148AC cross section.

Interesting, thanks for the pic! A little different from the oem but looks like a good design

[NickyV]

How firm is too firm? And how long should I wait to determine if they will “break in” properly?

Hope it’s OK to post this here. I just started on this door seal upgrade process and the above questions are my two main questions at this point. 

 

Here’s the background:

 

I pulled a pair of door seals from (I think) a 1998 XJ. It was definitely 97+ because It had the newer style trim. I figured 1998 was a good choice because it was about as old as you can get with the thicker seals (97 would be the oldest?). I wanted them to be as “pre-broken in” as possible. 

 

I have a 1987 with good original doors and vent windows. I just put in the new seal on the driver’s side yesterday after work. I did it kinda fast, so maybe I could have done a better job.

 

Anyway, first for the good:

 

I took it out on the freeway after, and my unscientific “gut” reaction was that wind noise was better on the driver side. If I pull on the vent window latch, I now have no discernible wind noise on the driver side. TBD on leaks.

 

Now for the (maybe) bad:

 

I do have to close the door very firmly. And when I open it, there is a bit of a pop. I was surprised by how firmly I had to close the door. But maybe that’s normal! I’ve never done this before!

 

I wouldn’t call it “slamming” the door. I would call it a very firm close.

 

So, that brings me back to my questions from above.

 

@ghetdjc320, @Gjeep, @Salvagedcircuit — this post is now a year and a half old. Any updates?

 

How long should I wait to see if these seals get “broken in”?
 

How firm of a close is too firm?

 

Based on the symptoms, I described above, what would you all do?

 

I have never had much of an issue with my doors, and I don’t want to mess them up. I am doing this in an attempt to eliminate as much wind and road noise as possible.

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

I'll be watching cause I have this problem on my car with new door seals that are about 1 year old at this point.

 

This doesn't answer your question, but for cabin noise I cleaned out the window frame/guide and put in basic self-stick weather stripping, approx 3/8" thick and 1/4" wide, and it made a huge difference in the cabin noise at speeds over 50 or so.  I did this probably 5 years ago and so far it's still in good condition.

[rokinn]

I installed an in good shape used 97+ seal on drivers side a few years ago and got tired of having to close the door 2 or 3 times to get it to latch, to include adjusting the striker several times.  Bought this and have been completely satisfied since.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D1Q1J5E?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2

[pizzaman09]

I have precision seals in mine, probably for a 97+?  They require me to slam the door, but so did my worn out original seals.  At 280k miles the doors just don't close well, even after I rebuilt the hinges and aligned the striker.  I'm happy with the seals though, they do run quieter than the original ones and don't leak like the old ones did.

[Gjeep]

My most recent build (Slippery Slope) has the Crown variant of the 97+ XJ door seals. Bought them new. I've barely driven the truck since installed, but throughout the build process of approx 9 months they/ve broken themselves in -- I guess from sitting with the doors closed. I did need to adjust the strikers slightly and driver door because I wanted perfect fit/ no slamming and proper break-in. My 97+ XJ Mopar seals on my other MJ build (Son of Stink) are much firmer/ give less. I don't need to slam the door, but a firmer close than the other MJ. That MJ too has sat for the most part so not a ton of open/close door action. The Crown's are great for daily drivers. I have them in my 3 daughters XJ's and no issues/ leaks/ slamming after first 6-8 months of use.

[NickyV]

All very good intel, everybody!

As long as no one thinks that a firmer close is going to damage my doors in any way, I think I'll install the second one (passenger side) and then give it some time. Hopefully they do start to give just a bit more than they currently do.

Now I just gotta figure out if there's a way to improve my vent window seals. They are pretty good... they don't really let water in unless it is absolutely dumping outside. But they do whistle a little bit. I can get that to stop if I apply more inward pressure (the quarter trick). But I'm still chasing that "as little wind noise as possible" ride. I'll probably start a new thread about that soon.

 

Thanks again everyone!

[AnotherOldJeepGuy]

3 minutes ago, NickyV said:

Now I just gotta figure out if there's a way to improve my vent window seals. They are pretty good... they don't really let water in unless it is absolutely dumping outside. But they do whistle a little bit. I can get that to stop if I apply more inward pressure (the quarter trick). But I'm still chasing that "as little wind noise as possible" ride. I'll probably start a new thread about that soon.

I don't have vent windows, but would a variant of what I posted with the window stripping work for this?

[NickyV]

12 minutes ago, AnotherOldJeepGuy said:

I don't have vent windows, but would a variant of what I posted with the window stripping work for this?

I've already added your pictures to my notes!

 

Liquid electrical tape is the only thing I can think of that I'd be able to paint on, and that would dry/cure in such a way that it wouldn't end up sticking to the surface of the window. Maybe there is some other product that I'm unaware of?

I might also try something similar to what you did. Maybe I could glue a really thin strip of weather stripping to the inside edge of the gasket flaps to increase the contact between gasket and window.

 

Whatever I do, I want to be smart about it. My current vent window gaskets are truly in pretty darn good shape. I don't want to mess them up by making perfect the enemy of good. But also... I can get kind of obsessive over details like this. So, I'm open to any and all ideas!