The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Window Regulator - What Holds That Bolt???

I have a very specific question regarding my window regulator and how everything goes together. Please weigh in if you have some (much needed) insight:

On my truck's driver's side door, the window regulator has many attachment points. One of the points, at least on my truck, is a recessed hole in the door panel (not the removable one) that was covered with some kind of putty. I have the same thing on the passenger side. A bolt goes into this recess and, I believe, holds the 5" long arm that attaches to the regulator's gear plate.

My arm only has a thru-hole, no threads. What does that bolt thread into to hold the arm in place, a nut? How the heck am I supposed to hold the nut? All of those attachment bolts are the same threadform, aren't they? Did I get them mixed up?

As you can tell, I'm neck-deep into this project, and am starting to lose hardware control. Any help is appreciated.

Stay tuned for the next question, I'm sure it's coming.

Bill

4 attachment points to the door itself, all have weld-nuts attached to the regulator - they do disappear sometimes - all the screws originally had that putty over them as 'locking' and anti-rattle insurance .... the end of the long arm [away from the regulator] has a flanged peg that goes into the channel in the lower window sash, along with one end of the shorter arm - the other end of the short arm [with the peg on the opposite side of the arm] goes in a small piece of similar channel welded onto the inside of the door ..... 3000 words on this page

Bill

Holy cats! Image 63 did the trick!

My "small arm" is dangling. (No comments, please.) I guess I need to get a shoulder bolt + lock nut to attach the end opposite the geared plate to the long arm that moves.

No wonder the crank was uneffective. It wasn't attached to anything! I'm off to the hardware store right now to get some fasteners.

The pictures did it, Bill. Thanks a bunch. I wish I had the money to buy a scrap door so that I could make a view of the workings without the door panel and skin.

I have two related questions:

1 - I'm replacing the plastic bushings and the kit I got includes the metal studs that serve as axles. However, the replacement studs require a 1/4" dia. thru-hole through the arms but my existing arms have 3/8" dia. thru-holes. Is it possible ADs are different and I got an AD bushing kit instead? Do other TFs have 3/8" stud holes? I'm having to weld them up and re-drill. Grrrr

2 - Should I re-putty the bolts when reinstalling? If so, what should I use, plain ol' latex caulk? The stuff I pulled out seemed pretty low-tech, and like you say, just extra insurance against rattles.

Thanks again.
Bill

not sure about the size of that replacement stud, but maybe you could cut a sleeve of small tube, like a thick wall washer, to fill the gap if the shoulder is wide enuff to hold

if ya wanna see the works inside the door, the assembly manual isn't bad, just hafta study it for awhile

the putty I use a lot is the common one used by electricians called Duct Seal - cheap, comes in a block, never gets real hard, quite like the original stuff - be a pound or 2 in daBus

Bill

Good info.

I welded up the holes and will re-drill to 1/4".

That "duct seal" sounds a lot like plumber's putty. I think I have some stuffed away someplace. Thanks for the tips!

Bill

I think my regulator is wrong and needs to be replaced:
- The roller kit's bushings are smaller than the holes in the regulator's
- The repro crank replacement kit has a completely different hole patter and rivet diameter

I've welded up holes & redrilled, tried frankenstein-ing a way to make the repro gears work with no luck, and still need to get the short arm attached.

I'm going to punt and buy a new repro regulator. It'll fix ALL of the issues in one fell swoop...hopefully.

Bill

TxLaTx:
Same problem with the "roller kit" for my 52panel. The package says 47-68...yeah, right. I ended up with a friend who cut me two "studs" like the repops but with the correct diameter. Thanks to him for he did them on a lathe during his lunch break.

There was a couple solutions/suggestions offered after I had them made that would have worked. Maybe they can help somoene later..
#1. is to do as you did, weld them up and redrill.
#2. is to cut or grind the old "studs" off flat with the regulator arm which will leave the "plug" still in the hole where it was originally pressed. Then you can just redrill through that the "plug" that you left in it. Hope this makes sense.

Another suggestion was to fill hole with JBWeld and redrill. I guess it depends on what tools you have to work with.

Now, I said plenty about the bushing/roller kit in an earlier post but I think we should all sent in a complaint about the kit. We all know where they came from as all the vendors to not carry them!!

You are right on, Alvin. I'm fed up spending good money on bailing wire and duct tape fixes. The kit concepts are good, but frankly, the execution sucks. I'll certainly be letting them know that they sold me inferior merchandise and that as a result, they lost an $85 regulator sale on account of their shoddy $15 repair kits. Not only did they lose customer confidence, their competitor made an unexpected sale. No way was I going to reward the kit provider with an up-sale.

They charged me $8 shipping and handling to send their garbage. I think I can send it back to THEM for about $4 and let THEM take out the trash. It'll be worth the 4 bucks for the satisfaction.

Buyers' warning: careful if you are considering buying a roller kit and/or a regulator kit (manufactured in Argentina.) NEITHER worked for me.

Bill