Thread: Door vibrations while driving 41 Willys fiberglass cab. how to stop it?

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Originally Posted by 34_40

It's a 41 Willy's pickup, fiberglass cab, and the doors have been mounted suicide.

Pic of inside & out would help, Willys doors can be a problem especially if they are suicide and nobody bothered to do any steeling in the glass body.

I guess the OP will have to provide those if he has'em...

I do have one picture of the door as I was taking it apart, I'll have to wait until I get the doors back and get it home to get some more. The picture is kinda dark but you can see the hinges are about a foot apart here.

I am thinking most of my problem lies in the weather stripping (at least hoping thats the case) Its nice when something simple fixes the issue.

Heres a few more of the hinges, they are attached via welded box steel inside the cab.


Here you can see the box steel that the hinges are welded in to.

The biggest hurdle to get over on a Willys is the doors, the stock doors drop badly because the hinges are so close together, its all about leverage, your hinges are very close together compared to the width of the doors which is not good, everyday physics tells you its not right. Do you have bearjaw locks ???
I would imagine the door is moving in the aperture, some decent weather stripping will help no end I would think but in my opinion a upper hinge is needed or the existing hinges further apart.

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Those look like they might be from Rocky Hinge (Deluxe Hinge Kit With Large Latches ) which are very good and very strong if all the parts are used, but the bottom strap was cut back. Whoever did the doors cut out a huge hole to make installation of the window track and power operator easy. Like Steve says, hopefully you have the bearclaw latch that Rocky sells in the kit too, which will triangulate your support with three strong points (asked about your front latches back in post #2 this thread, and Steve asked in #29). If the hinges are Rocky's and if you have bearclaw's and they're adjusted for smooth closing (not stressing the hinge mounts) I'd say that weatherstripping just might solve your problem.

Originally Posted by rspears

Those look like they might be from Rocky Hinge (Deluxe Hinge Kit With Large Latches ) which are very good and very strong if all the parts are used, but the bottom strap was cut back. Whoever did the doors cut out a huge hole to make installation of the window track and power operator easy. Like Steve says, hopefully you have the bearclaw latch that Rocky sells in the kit too, which will triangulate your support with three strong points (asked about your front latches back in post #2 this thread, and Steve asked in #29). If the hinges are Rocky's and if you have bearclaw's and they're adjusted for smooth closing (not stressing the hinge mounts) I'd say that weatherstripping just might solve your problem.

Good to know, it is indeed a bear claw latch from them. I just checked their site, it does shut very solid. Now on the weather stripping I am assuming that the stripping has a adhesive back, though on that page only one of the items is listed as having a adhesive back. That makes me think that the others do not?
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...13650073012444

I love this forum on a side note, everyone is knowledgable and helps out much more than any other forum that I have ever been on. Ive been a member on a forum board for my daily driven car for over 10 years now and this site hands down stomps it.

Originally Posted by 1923tbucket

Now on the weather stripping I am assuming that the stripping has a adhesive back, though on that page only one of the items is listed as having a adhesive back. That makes me think that the others do not?
SoffSeal Weatherstripping & Rubber Details

On the SoffSeal E725A I thought the same thing but they all come with adhesive backing even though only the 5' length and the bulk cut-to-link say "...with adhesive backing". If you're looking at one of the other extrusions that might fit your needs better a quick call to SoffSeal will ensure no surprises. SoffSeal may even have double stick tape for those that come bare.

Wanted to update this, I got the doors back and hung back on the truck. I live near Carlisle PA, and most people that know of that place understand the size of the shows. This week happens to be the spring swap meet and Steele rubber products was there, as well as Sofseal. Steele was kind enough to just give me 4 sample bags of seals so that I could test fit them. I was thrilled, I went home and found the one I needed and ordered it tonight. Thanks for the help guys, i'll keep my thread in the projects forum updated. Hopefully that takes care of the problem.

That's good news for sure! Now of course a real update includes pictures... hint hnt hint..


We all like to see a Willys! Can't be helped!!

Glad to hear you seem to have the problem solved. Good luck and hope it holds out.

I agree with 34_40, Willys give me the willies so pics are appreciated.

Originally Posted by Hot Rod Nick

Glad to hear you seem to have the problem solved. Good luck and hope it holds out.

I agree with 34_40, Willys give me the willies so pics are appreciated.

I hope it holds out, I've done all I can think to do and that has been suggested to do so. I have quite a few pictures of the whole progress with the truck over here 41 Willys pickup project , I just got done updating it as well. I always loved the 41 Willys myself, I said if I ever find one reasonably priced i'll buy it. Sure enough it happened, I didn't think it ever would to be honest. These things are salty.