96 855 tailgate weather strip: how to repair?

Post by **JimBee** » 24 Oct 2016, 08:30

Like most of the tailgates I've seen at the junk yard the cross-wise weather strip below the rear window has come loose at the ends so water can get inside.
Do people just pull the whole thing out and caulk the seam? Other solutions?

Post by **kahl** » 24 Oct 2016, 09:17

I slid the old one out and slid in a new one. Dealer cost was $38.00. I too thought about just caulking but was worried about voids trapping water causing problems.

Post by **Clemens** » 24 Oct 2016, 11:03

There seem to be different versions. On my 96 R the lower weather Strip was glued under teh glass. So I startet pulling off the top layer and then used a dremel tool and a screwdriver and pliers to get everything out. It was a pita, but it looks better that way. No way on earth could I imagine getting new one in. But like Kahl described it, some get away with just pulling the Thing out as one piece.
Some people advice to leave the seam open, it actually looks decent once you get used to it. Also, after pulling the weatherstripping out, check for rusty spots and treat accordingly.

Covert · Post by **Covert** » 24 Oct 2016, 13:38

Pulled mine out and left it out , its a nasty water trap which is why they always seem to go there

Post by **JimBee** » 24 Oct 2016, 14:24

But if you leave that seam open, doesn't that allow water to seep in and puddle inside?

Post by **Clemens** » 24 Oct 2016, 15:47

Not really. The metal goes upward to the window?which seems to be glued all the way around. So unless you pressure wash it really really hard and very close i doubt you will ever have a problem.

Post by **JimBee** » 24 Oct 2016, 16:18

Okay, agreed, now that I stopped by a local auto body repair to get the owner's opinion. He said it's just a decorative strip. Like Covert said it can trap water, mine is starting to rust there.

The auto body guy (ABG) agrees with Clemens that the window is glued with a strong polyurethane glue, bonding it to the metal. I hadn't looked that closely, but when I did I could see there is no seam in the body metal at that location, anyhow. The ABG suggested if I want to weather proof to go to an auto glass repair shop and ask them to caulk it with urethane, tho he said it's not necessary.

My concern is that if I remove the strip and don't fill the gap that debris will collect in the gap and hold moisture that will aid rusting. So I'm thinking I'll remove the strip, clean up the gap, put some Por 15 on the rust that's already started and caulk the gap with urethane to keep out further moisture.

Thanks for the input!

Post by **scot850** » 24 Oct 2016, 19:42

It can be a pain to do. I have done this on 2 V70's but it is a case of taking your time and using tools that will limit any scraping of the paint. The biggest problem I found was the metal of the strip swells with rust and made it much more difficult to remove. Fitting the new one with plenty of silicon oil was fairly easy otherwise.

Neil.