I was doing a thorough cleaning of my 97 reg cab 5.2 the other day and
ran across something I thought I'd bring to everyone's attention -
especially you 4x4 and off road guys. Along the bottom edge of the doors
there's a seal held in with plastic retainers. In between the retainers,
there are four clear adhesive strips that seal holes in the bottom of
the door. I noticed that dirt had adhered to the backside of these
strips where they covered the holes and wondered if there was dirt in
the bottom of the door that was trapped by these strips. There are open
drain holes at the front and rear of the doors and the front ones were
covered in mud. I peeled the strips off (no need to pop the retainers -
the seal will stretch enough) and sure enough, there was dirt at the
bottom of the door - not much, really - but it was there. Anyone who has
messed around with old cars can tell you what dirt accumulating in body
panels will cause - RUST! Anyway, after removing the strips, I douched
the bottoms of the doors out with water and I'll continue to do it
whenever I wash her - hope it'll help keep her in shape. If anyone can
think of a reason why this was a bonehead thing to do, let me know!
Tate
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