The weatherstrips are among the most subtle parts in your car. People barely pay attention to the weatherstrips on their car. Yet, the weatherstripping plays a huge role in the safety, comfort, and even fuel economy of your car.
Weatherstripping is a durable rubber strip. It adheres to the edges of your Toyota&#;s doorframes, windows, and more. It sports a bulky design. It helps completely seal the gap between the frame and the part that covers the opening. The way the weatherstripping is affixed to the surface is quite simple. It&#;s affixed with a strong adhesive and/or tabs.
You would find weatherstrips in many different areas on your vehicle, including:
Have you ever wondered why your car is loaded with weatherstripping? The weatherstrips seal up the gaps between the frame and the part covering the opening. In doing this, the weatherstripping:
Protects outside elements from entering the interior of your vehicle, trunk, engine bay, etc. The elements include:
Keeps the interior of the vehicle insulated. In other words, it keeps the inside of the car warm or cool. Without weatherstripping in winter, for example, you'll feel cold draft coming into the car and you won't be able to stay warm.
A car without weatherstripping is easier to break into. Also, imaging slamming a car door without any weatherstripping. There would be hard metal-on-metal contact. That means the window can shatter.
Here&#;s a little known benefit weatherstripping offers: it helps keep your car&#;s fuel consumption low. Without weatherstripping, wind comes into the vehicle. This creates a drag, which leads to the vehicle using more fuel to push forward.
Image Credit: Toyota4Runner.org
Toyota designed the weatherstripping on its vehicles to last the lifetime of the vehicle. Yet, sometimes the weatherstripping can fail at some point due to:
If you have damaged weatherstripping, you want to get it replaced ASAP. It doesn't have to be an expensive job, fortunately. You'll find genuine OEM weatherstripping parts on our site at wholesale prices. Check out all the OEM weatherstripping parts we have here!
Link to I-ECO
In order to design automotive parts that stay competitive, it&#;s important to understand some details behind automotive weatherstripping. Weatherstripping (or weatherseals) is the system that seals any openings in a vehicle to keep out weather conditions. The word is also used to describe the actual materials used to implement these sealing systems.
Weatherstripping (and other sealing solutions) are used for all sorts of automotive applications. They are needed wherever the interior compartment of an automobile or other form of transportation needs to be sealed from the environment. The material you use needs to integrate and function well with the body design of the vehicle.
An important factor to consider when selecting material for automotive weatherstripping is the engineering of the parts. Let&#;s take a look at several engineering factors.
Whether the vehicle is operating at full speed or parked, the weatherstripping must maintain full functionality.
Also, weatherstripping must be flexible enough to address vibrations caused by vehicle movement.
The material used must be able to handle subzero temperatures. Conversely, it must be able to tolerate extreme heat and extensive exposure to the sun.
Of course, auto weatherstripping should also withstand liquids including gasoline, oil, and methanol (windshield washer fluid). Bumps and vibrations cause movement between the body of a vehicle and movable parts like windows and doors. This movement might cause water to penetrate the vehicle. Weatherstripping must be applied to seal the gap.
Another important factor to keep in mind is that weatherstripping can play a part in keeping noise out of the passenger compartment, which impacts ride quality. Similar to how the movement between body and movable parts mentioned above causes water to enter, the movement can also cause noises like rattles, squeaks, and creaks to pollute the passenger compartment.
If we consider a standard four-door vehicle, we can get an idea of weatherstripping size requirements. Each door would need at least 20 feet of material. Every window would require at least 10 feet of material. Trunks would need much larger amounts of material, due to how much more space it needs to seal.
Automotive weatherstripping is usually made of these materials:
Weatherstripping performance can be optimized with the application of specialty coatings. Of course, the coating applied must sufficiently adhere to the material used to manufacture the weatherstripping. When the proper coating is chosen and bonds to the weatherstrip, it can offer several benefits such as:
We hope this brief guide on automotive weatherstripping gives you actionable knowledge as you continue to build your transportation parts. If you would like more information on the subject, please contact us. Or if you&#;re ready to purchase weatherstripping for your automotive application, view our weatherstripping products. We can also work with you on designing custom seal solutions, creating various different kinds of automotive weatherstripping profiles that meet your product&#;s needs.
For more information, please visit Automotive Weatherstrips.