Leaky front doors (rubber and glass)

[Mr. Electric Wizard]

Hey ya'll.
Do your front doors leak around the glass?
My rubber is old and cracked and my vent windows are rusty crap.
It rained on us pretty hard a couple of weekends ago and my front windows leaked like a river.

When you guys install your new rubber around the front doors and glass, do you silicone the seals down? I imagine that leaks would be about the same as with safari windows (at least while the bus is parked).

Anybody with leak free doors care to explain how they got them that way?
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(T)exas (C)oalition (B)uses
(H)eidenhammer (B)ully (B)oyz

--1966 De Luxe Camper

[olliehank47]

Except for the vent window, the door windows are designed to let water through, into the interior of the door, and out the bottom drain holes, but not into the cab interior. The grooves of the felt capture water which will flow towards the front or rear of the frame and drain through gaps at the end into the door, underneath. The seal atop the door has holes specifically designed to allow the water into the inside of the door. If your seals are new, the water intrusion will be minimal and likely not be visible from the inside of the cab unless you get a strong sideways blast onto the window. Most buses don't have the plastic vapor barrier between the door frame and the door panel, so water is often draining out the bottom onto the floor and also destroying the fiberboard of the panel.

New felt that goes around the upper door frame is usually glued in, especially if the new, repro stuff is too small to snugly fit into the groove. The bottom piece, on which the upper frame sits, is held in by the frame itself. It has hole to allow water to drain down into the door interior. The vent window seal typically does not need a sealant as it fits tightly on the frame, and if the vent window itself is sound, it seals well unless, again, you are getting a strong blast of water directly against it.

That's the theory, at least.

[Eric&Barb]

Having experiment with silicon sealant for sealing windows, would never again try it.
If you want to seal the bottom window frame to top of door seal, would use butyl rubber instead. You can get it in black and grey colors, from your local hardware store or better an RV shop where it is in constant demand. BR stays soft and sticky for decades, so not going to harden up and crack.
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