Dust Sealing A 4x4 | Long Term Review
Three years ago during a trip in to the outback I had to deal with dust (lots of it) coming through to the load area of our 80 series. It was quite annoying as everything packed inside was covered in the talc powder like fine dust we have in our Australian outback. It was quite the mission during the trip and after too as I now had the task of cleaning the entire 4x4.
On inspection it was very clear the dust was getting in through the rear doors. Particularly the drop down tailgate. So my first reaction was to replace the rear door seals. After-all our 80 series Landcruiser is over 20 years old with over 300,000kms of travel. The seals had had its fair amount of wearing over those years.
So off I went to Toyota and got my self a rubber beading kit which I installed my self. It was rather easy. Soon after the installation off we went on another off-road trip and whilst the new seals did a great job, it was not perfect. A low level of dust was still coming in. Most off roaders would have put up with this, but me being the neat freak, I had to get it to seal 100%.
Before I go on, I must admit, the new factory seals could not be faulted because over time (especially after many kilometres on corrugated roads) other parts such as door hinges, locking mechanisms, etc also takes a wear and this adds to the doors not closing as perfectly as they did when the vehicle was new.
On inspection my Landcruiser's locks and hinges were not that badly worn. However, I was quite sure even a millimetre of movement was good enough for fine dust to come through.
So I tried my hand at something quite unconventional. That was to get my self a roll of self adhesive weather seal tape which are meant for doors and windows of buildings. I carefully cut out the tape to appropriate lengths and then stuck it on to the area of the tailgate which shuts against the body of the vehicle.
There are various widths and thicknesses these tapes come in. So it is important to get the appropriate dimensions. In my case I went for 24mm wide (as this was the space available on the edge of the gate (on the inside) and 10mm in thickness. My suggestion is to go with a fairly thick size so once you shut the tailgate a number of times the weather seal will settle in quite firmly into place.
It has now been three years since this DIY job and it has exceeded my expectations. Absolutely no dust comes in anymore and after the countless number of times I would have opened and closed the tail gate the seal still does the job.
Hope this article was of use to you. If you have any question please do write to me. Always happy to share information.
Where to buy the weather sealing strips : https://amzn.to/3czZtjy
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