Here I am

2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Plugs - damn things keep falling out

Attention: TDR Forum Junkies
To the point: Click this link and check out the Front Page News story(ies) where we are tracking the introduction of the 2025 Ram HD trucks.

Thanks, TDR Staff

Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) The Dog Lives Again

Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Help, smoke at 2200 rpm

Status
Not open for further replies.
On my 2002 CTD, there are some oval plugs in the door just above the latch - plastic things which keep disappearing on me. Now its not the cost,, they are only $1. 63 a piece but its a pain to keep replacing them. . Has anyone else noticed these plugs disappearing??? I think I will have to crazy glue them in or simply not replace them... :mad:
 
My passenger side is and always has been missing. I forgot about it until this post- I guess I'll stop by Dodge tomorrow and order one . Thomas
 
blowouts

You guys who are missing the plugs, do you have the rear sliding window? If you don't, chances are, that the air pressure from shutting the front doors is knocking them out. You will have to glue them in good to make sure they stay put. You may end up cracking your windshield though, as all that extra air pressure will flex the glass and eventually crack it. That was the #1 reason I got a truck with a slider.
 
BS flag going up....

Nathan, I have never heard of this, and it sounds like a bit of a reach. It's more likely that they impact of slamming the door is jarring them loose. This isn't a Lexus, and I HIGHLY doubt that the cab is that airtight.



I do NOT have the slider, and I am glad. You never use it on a QC, and all it does is increase the chance of water leaks.



Cracking the windshield? Sorry, but that sounds like BS to me. There is WAY more pressure on that windshield at 75 MPH than you could EVER get by slamming the door. . At least that sounds logical to me.



These cabs are not airtight to that extent (or at all, really if you want to get technical). If they were, you would get a little hearing damage every time you closed the door from the inside from the rapid rise in pressure, and you would hear a loud boom-- Like the airplane ear pop phenomenon only instantly and VERY painful. Furthermore, what's to keep air pressure from leaking back out through the HVAC fans? You KNOW that ducting isn't airtight, and how can you make a fan airtight? Won't the air take the path of least resistance?



Let's assume the cab IS perfectly airtight. It's highly likely that the door doesn't displace enough VOLUME of air to increase the pressure inside more than 1 PSI. You are suggesting that THIS pressure will crack the windshield? Keep in mind too that a QC has a much larger volume of air within it, and therefore the increase in pressure would be even less, to the point of being completely insignificant.



This theory doesn't pass the common sense test, and to use THAT as the reason to check one option or the other seems a little ridiculous to me. The air pressure spike from closing the door causes windshield cracks? I suspect someone is feeding you a line.



Richard, just use some RTV or weatherstrip adhesive and you will be just fine.



HOHN
 
Last edited:
I apologize...

I have slept about 8 hours in the last 3 days, and my patience is not what it should be.



Nathan, I apologize. Believe it or not, I even rewrote a lot of it to make it less obnoxious... it must been REALLY bad on the first draft!



I DID want to be direct because you have to nip these little things in the bud. We TDR members are so quick to worry about every little thing without stopping to think first. We love our trucks, but we need to not react sometimes the way we do.



Obviously, that's a lesson I have to learn too...



Maybe Gary will comfort me now? hehehe...



HOHN
 
Really,, I was thinking about making a screen plug to go in there allowing airflow while dressing up a ugly hole. . hey maybe I could market this and make a little money with it,, like the folks who make custome grills and bumper hole dressup. . :rolleyes: or better yet I could use this as my lemon law to trade my truck in for a 2003 at DCs expense... :D :-laf ,, now to save that windshield,, I could put bars in like the NASCAR boys with tearoffs to keep it clean..... :-laf



Sorry I was just getting carried away... ... :D
 
Don't know if it applies to our trucks so much but I've been told by several windshield installers to leave a window cracked until the glue/sealant dries so the air pressure of slamming a door doesn't blow the windshield out. I take their word for it. Seems like the exhaust vents at the bottom rear of the door frames would take care of any pressure problems.



Heard of a woman that was deaf most of her life getting cured by a slamming car door, might have been in National Enquirer though.



Our cabs are pretty tight. My hired man driving the 3500 hauling apples complained of his ears popping a lot especially while accelerating or climbing hills. He had been driving most of the summer with no complaints until it got colder and the windows were rolled up. Turned out that at high boost the Scotty air intake was sucking the air out of the cab creating a vacuum. Cracking one window you didn't need a boost gauge, you could tell how much air the engine was using by the airflow in the window.
 
No BS here...

Really... try shutting your door normally. Now roll down a window and shut it. You will find a distinct difference. That is the air resistance upon the glass. When shutting the door, you are moving a huge volume of air, about 4. 5' by 3. 5' into the cab. That volume is too much to dissapate through all of the vents. There is just enough backpressure to let the door not latch all the way if it is not given enough force. Also take a look at how much the side windows pop out when the front doors are shut. I used to be a service manager, and I have also spent several years in the body shop. It is a fact that cabs without sliders will break windshields at a higher rates then cabs with a slider. How many earlier second gen Dodges were seen with a crack about 5" down from the top of the driver's side? There were lots of them back then when the price of the glass used to be $1100. The 98. 5s and up don't crack like the older ones. I think they have a little better venting systems (some of it due to the quad cab, and some to design changes I believe), which makes it harder to break the glass. Your sig does not say if you had a quad cab, so I mentioned the pressure theory.



Take your fist and hit the outside of a windshield. It won't break. Now hit the inside. Whamo, big cracks. The windshield is designed to be strong when the force is directed at the cab. It takes a lot less pressure to break it from the inside. The stress of a shutting door and the air pressure can make a crack in the glass.



GM sliders were made of plastic, and they quit making them around 99 just because they would crack the slider frame and leak in. This was due to the tightness of the cab and the shutting of the doors.



The inertia of a shutting door would cause lateral movement of a plug. Remember, you PUSH a plug IN to get it seated. To unseat it, you would push or pry OUTWARD. The plug whould not wiggle in the hole. A body plug should fit snug and not loose.



My 99 does not have plugs in the door. I assume that was a design change? I know the paintless dent repair guys will drill holes anywhere and everywhere then put plugs in them when done.



Being I have been a service manager, I am used to people being upset and difficult to deal with. It doesn't take much these days for someone to have a bad day. I don't get irate when someone is screaming at me. I am way to relaxed. :D That is way I did not make a good service manager, because I was too nice and honest to customers. :)
 
Yikes!

Wow, I didn't realize I had come across as THAT much of a jerk!!



Maybe I was still fired up after posting my big gov't spiel in the "other" forum. Again, I try to be civil, and I apologize for not being just that.



Your points sound reasonable enough. I agree that a windshield is much stronger one way than it is the other. My mind still is skeptical of the volumedisplaced by the door.



That's why I will accept this on faith, based on the posts by Nathan and Illflem. You guys are probably a little older and almost certainly a little wiser:)



Hohn



BTW-- volume has 3 dimensions, not just height and width. Depth counts too...
 
volume

Your right, volume is important, but is is the hardest factor to measure. The volume of air (causing the pressure spike) coming into the cab depends upon the velocity of the shutting door. I can't measure how fast one shuts the door, as we all do it differently. The door is moving its fastest as it nears the latch. That last 6 to 12" is where the most air is forced into the cab, and it is also where the air will have the greatest resistance back towards the door and against everything in the cab. How many times has one swung the door shut and had it not latch all the way, needing a little push to latch. With the windows down in summertime, it sounds like the door is always slamming shut with too much force.



Enough of the science lecture. Richardleonard started this post to find an answer to a problem. I am not going to trade words with Hohn because it does not do this post any good. That is the kind of talk that belongs in private messages. I will say that it is a little odd to apologize and then call one a jerk immediately afterward. You won't find me editing my posts to tone them down because lots of thought go into what I say. Too many people leave the forums because of the personal conflict found here. I use an old saying "Brain in gear before mouth in motion", as it really applies to how one should think before speaking or writing. There are no second chances to a first impression. I have said enough, now let's help Richard with his problem. :)
 
Ok guys,, I understand about air displacement when you shut the doors and I do believe that is the cause of popping these plugs out. Usually once one of the plugs are out, the other one stays in place. I don't consider this a HUGE issue - more of a bother,, and yes I could glue these things in place. However, there is really no reason for personal conflicts to erupt over something so simple as a plastic plug. . I read all responses and take all advise - use what I think makes sense. . I take no offence over what people write,, being a member of other forums - I have observed many people have conflicting opinions,, why take issue?? :)



Its a time of year when we all should be thankful for what we have in life. . :)
 
plugs

the cab is that tight! try to close the door slowly and completely with the windows up, you have to put preesure on the outside of the door to get it to close completely. Also the windshield is convex, it will take a lot more pressure on the out side than on the inside before it will break. Aerosol cans have a domed bottom for the same reason.
 
Sheesh, I can't get out of this!

Well, Nathan, if you reread my post, I hope it's clear to you that I never called you a jerk. I was stating that I didn't realize my post had been perceived as so vicious. I think this is one of the weaknesses of text where vocal inflection cannot help to comprehend someone.



Again, I didn't realize I came across as a jerk THAT big... I never called you a jerk. I have no reason to. If there are three penitent replies after one bad one, what can you say about the posting member?



I really don't know how I could possible have made it more clear that I should have handled it more tactfully and that I should have posted my thoughts differently.



I am also not sure WHY it was perceived as a flame. No where in that post does it contain any assessment of a person's character or a personal attack at all. I did mention the possiblity of something "seeming to be ridiculous. " I have been avoiding direct statement about a person on purpose. I have been saying stuff like seems, or might be, etc.



If the fact that I am trying to make peace doesn't mean anything, then OK. I will get on with life. I just think that it never does me any good to burn a bridge if I can help it.



Let's see what happens when MY plugs fall out, and I am eating a four-course meal of crow.



Respectfully Yours

-Hohn-
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top