Bill Crowell
Well-Known Member
More on Mopar front door window installs (courtesy of ImperialCrown on allpar.com):
You've got to follow the correct order of installation (assuming everything, including weatherstrips, is removed from the door): Lube up the window's end channel that is mounted permanently at the latch end of the door, and the end channel that is part of the division bar, with sylglide or the equivalent. Lower the window carefully down into door, through the top opening, and let it sit inside the door while you install the regulator, and then the weatherstrips. Push the window up through the weatherstrips and have an assistant hold it in place, about halfway up. Slide the window forward in order to insert the regulator's rollers into the two lift channels at the bottom of the window and the one lift channel that faces the opposite way, which is permanently attached inside the door. Now insert the division bar and place the window in both of its end channels. Then make sure the rollers slide in their channels easily, but not so loosely that they will jump out. Important: check the alignment of the rollers and make sure they are running in good alignment with their lift channels, and perpendicular to the studs they rotate on, so they won't have the tendency to bind up and/or jump out of their channels. Make sure that all three rollers stay happily inside their lift channels, especially the one that's attached to the inside of the door, and that they have no tendency to bind up or jump out. If necessary, bend the regulator's arms until the rollers run in the proper alignment, perpendicular to their mounting studs and smoothly in their channels. Then secure and adjust the division bar and check for proper window operation.
The Chinese repro window regulators don't work right because the roller wheels are made of plastic that is too soft, and don't have a central metal bearing like the OE rollers did. They won't stay in their channels and will jump off their studs. If one of your OE rollers is broken, drill out the stud and replace the roller with a stud-mounted drawer roller from Home Despot. Buy one that has a diameter and width as close as possible to the OE roller, and then grind or file it down to exactly the right size so it rolls nicely in its window lift channel.
You've got to follow the correct order of installation (assuming everything, including weatherstrips, is removed from the door): Lube up the window's end channel that is mounted permanently at the latch end of the door, and the end channel that is part of the division bar, with sylglide or the equivalent. Lower the window carefully down into door, through the top opening, and let it sit inside the door while you install the regulator, and then the weatherstrips. Push the window up through the weatherstrips and have an assistant hold it in place, about halfway up. Slide the window forward in order to insert the regulator's rollers into the two lift channels at the bottom of the window and the one lift channel that faces the opposite way, which is permanently attached inside the door. Now insert the division bar and place the window in both of its end channels. Then make sure the rollers slide in their channels easily, but not so loosely that they will jump out. Important: check the alignment of the rollers and make sure they are running in good alignment with their lift channels, and perpendicular to the studs they rotate on, so they won't have the tendency to bind up and/or jump out of their channels. Make sure that all three rollers stay happily inside their lift channels, especially the one that's attached to the inside of the door, and that they have no tendency to bind up or jump out. If necessary, bend the regulator's arms until the rollers run in the proper alignment, perpendicular to their mounting studs and smoothly in their channels. Then secure and adjust the division bar and check for proper window operation.
The Chinese repro window regulators don't work right because the roller wheels are made of plastic that is too soft, and don't have a central metal bearing like the OE rollers did. They won't stay in their channels and will jump off their studs. If one of your OE rollers is broken, drill out the stud and replace the roller with a stud-mounted drawer roller from Home Despot. Buy one that has a diameter and width as close as possible to the OE roller, and then grind or file it down to exactly the right size so it rolls nicely in its window lift channel.
