1987 dodge b250 ram van....i am having my windshield replaced i cracked it the other day,i have heard 2 different shops tell me 2 different things one says there is moulding that has to be replaced, the other says there is just a rubber seal that can reused. so i would like to know which is true? its a matter of $75.00 for the moulding. from just looking at it, i see a rubber seal with a silver insert in it. or was silver its kinda faded now its the original? any suggetions or info would be great

 

I would let them replace the molding since the rubber is 22 years old and they will have to remove it in order to change the glass. It will have less chance of leaking or holding water in which to rust the pillars with the new molding rather than taking a chance with reusing the old molding.

 

yeah, i was kinda thinking that the rubber may fall apart when removed thanks

 

The advice from MAR is good - go ahead and have the rubber replaced. It also takes a great deal of skill to remove the silver metal insert in such a way that it can be used again. The guys at the windshield shop do this often and have a higher liklihood of being able to reuse it than most of us mere mortals do.

 

Think it makes a huge difference on where you live and what your truck has been exposed to. Last week I removed the windsheild gasket from a 1987 D-150 in a Newfoundland dump and brought it home for my '79. It is still nice and soft and pliable and was free. As already suggested, it is difficult to re-use those "bright" locking strips, as twenty years in the sun pretty much kills them. A few years ago I removed the rear window on my little red ('cause it leaked) and had no problem re-using the rubber and the locking strip..

 

got r done they were able to reuse the old rubber, it was like new(well very rubbery) when it was removed i saw it.with all the rain here("washington the evergreen state" i guess it was preserved. thanks for the info.