I just received new vent window gaskets from Steele in the mail. I ordered them to replace the four year old ones from a cheaper supplier that started cracking within a year of installation. Before installing the new (presumably higher quality) gaskets, does anyone recommend treating the rubber so they do not get sun damaged? If so, what do you use and how often do you reapply?
I would not use anything but soap and water before installing because it the rubber swells it could be a pain to install.
I use dish washing detergent like Dawn or Palmolive. It gets it real slick and it washes right off. Steele Rubber products won't deteriorate like some of the cheap offshore products....at least that has been my experience.
Back in the early 1970's I had an early Ford parts store. I had a customer that wanted new rubber for his windshield for his 1940 Ford coupe that he had since he was 16 years old. I offered him 2 different products from 2 different suppliers. One was $ 10.00 cheaper than the other. He asked what was the difference in quality. I told him that the cheaper one would dry up, and crack in about 1 year. He bought the cheaper one. About a year later he came back to my store complaining about the quality of the cheaper one. After a heated discussion he bought the better quality windshield rubber. He seemed to do this with most things that he bought from other people as well.
No treatment before installation, but after installation I use silicone weatherstrip dressing. I started using it back in the 60's when I worked for the Cadillac dealership, and it was made by GM. It came in tubes, and looks like Vaseline. We rubbed it into the weatherstrip with our fingers, and wiped off any excess, or rubbed it around to get rid of it. I now use a GE product I found decades ago that's the same, at a swap meet. It was a case of the stuff for $1 a tube, and I've still got most of that case after decades, since you use so little, and only apply it once a year. But it does work, and it keeps the rubber alive, and soft. These days NAPA and others sell weatherstrip protectant in applicator bottles to make it simpler and less messy to apply. I still prefer using my fingers and rubbing it on.
I can't answer that. I do know that every Cadillac that came in new got the weatherstrip treated with GM silicone weatherstrip treatment. I still have probably 4 or 5 tubes of it here, and use it on all my car's weatherstripping. They are pliable, and even older weatherstrip on my OT '69 is better after I began treating it.
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