Window Guide Replacement

So, as we all know, the window guides on our cars a made quite poorly. Because of this, I have a broken one. From what I understand, they aren't hard to replace, however I can't figure out for the life of me how to get the window out of the motor! I've read that what you are supposed to do is remove all the trim and rubber from around the window and then "lift the window right out." After removing my trim, my window was just as attached as before. What am I missing?

You just have to remove the door panel, no need to remove the window itself. More info here: http://www.box.net/shared/o5xdpuot3d#SS-Handbook

You do NOT have to remove the window, I have done 3 and not once have I removed the window. Just make sure that you have a small "C" clamp.

This write-up is good, with pix: http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=230270

Thanks. Will be trying tomorrow.

ONLY do the back windows. Don't replace the guides on the front windows unless yours is broken. I did all four on my car, not knowing any better, and I think the sliders do a better job spreading the weight than the rollers do. The front glass is MUCH heavier than the back glass.

Thanks for the input. I only plan on replacing the one window (rear passenger)

So the lady at NAPA was VERY rude in 'informing' me that this window roller is a part of the regulator and they do not sell them separately. I know for a fact that they sell these because they're on the damn website!!! I politely told her that I believed they did and asked her to look up the part, which she refused to do. Well I'll return after lunch with the part number, AND the printout of the webpage, and shove it in her face

Can always try getting them here cappy -

http://impalasuperstore.com/superstore2010/shopdisplayproducts.asp?page=4#

I picked them up today. They had to ship them in from another store, but seeing the look on her face when I handed her the printout was priceless Needless to say she was very polite from that point on, but i couldn't resist leaving her with a taste of her own medicine: a very sarcastic "Thanks for alllllll of your help."

Bwahaha

If you have a small C clamp, that's fine, but I've popped them in with pliers - so it is doable, and I'm just a little guy.

Tomorrow is gunna be rainy, but Thursday will be nice. I'm heading out around noon though and have a lot I want to get done. Rollers, some lighting, starting on some dent removal *sigh*

I have a c-clamp, though lord knows if it will fit in there....it's fairly large. I do have plenty of pliers though, so that might be the route to go. Thanks for all the info guys

Another trick is to "WARM" the rollers softning them up helps ALOT

Cappy,C-clamps are dirt cheap so get one that fits and keep it close.With these old wagons you
will be using it again soon.
Jim

My drivers side front window just fell off the track. Are you guys saying to NOT use the rollers on the front windows?
I have a set of the rollers from the group buy on the other site!

There are 2 different kinds of rollers for these cars. If you have the "hot dog" shaped slider, it WILL fail again (ask me how I know ). Thankfully, they make a replacement set that is not as prone to breaking, which are completely round.

Any roller can be used on any window, but what sherlock9c1 is saying is that the "hot dog" shaped sliders perform better than the round rollers on the large and heavy front windows, so unless your sliders are broken, it's better not to replace them

I had broken rollers on 3 windows in my red Caprice. And FWIW, I replaced all of them (the front DS included) with two round rollers, and the window works great and believe me, I use it a lot. NJ has tolls everywhere, and I don't use EZpass. The window does not seem to work any different than it did with the hot dog rollers before the one broke. I do agree with what sherlock said though about not replacing them if they aren't broken. If you have a window with two good rollers, leave it alone. One thing to inspect when looking at a hot-dog style old roller, is while it may not be broken in half, look for a crack in the plastic above or below the hole. I found this on two of the old style rollers in my Caprice. Next spring I get to do 3 windows in the OCC!

I believe that a lot of the sliders were/are cracked during installation, which is why they break.

The round rollers tend to be less prone to cracking during installation. The sliders may be a harder nylon than the rollers, as well.

A little grease on the roller/slider will allow for easy assembly, and they should be greased anyway, as well as the track. I use a pair of waterpump pliers, or robogrips to install mine. Put the window up or down to facilitate grasping the regulator and channel. I also bend the bottom of the track down in the rear to insert the roller. You only have to go a little past the pop-rivet to make room for the roller, and the regulator never goes that far when operating, so it will not "fall off of the track".

92cappy wrote:

So the lady at NAPA was VERY rude in 'informing' me that this window roller is a part of the regulator and they do not sell them separately. I know for a fact that they sell these because they're on the damn website!!! I politely told her that I believed they did and asked her to look up the part, which she refused to do. Well I'll return after lunch with the part number, AND the printout of the webpage, and shove it in her face

NAPA gave me a similar bunch of BS. Fortunately, at the time I worked across the street, so I went back, printed out the page from their site and showed it to him. They ordered them no problem. Also, later when I needed more, I was able to get them at AutoZone (each AutoZone only stocks ONE roller!) Also, I found this thread very helpful. It shows how to do the C-clamp thing, which worked well for me. I did not find it necessary to remove the arm rest mount bracket. It did not get in my way at all. I also did not find it necessary to drill out the rivets and remove the track completely, both areas where the roller gets snapped in where easy to enough to see and access. I never did this before and once the door panel was off, I was able to get both rollers out and back in within 10 minutes working leisurely. http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=232364&highlight=window+roller

The autozones near me usually stock one and only one of these rollers. Any time I go there I buy the one they have in stock and insurance for when a window on one of my many B-bodies fails. Its gotta happen sooner or later!

95BRMW wrote:

The autozones near me usually stock one and only one of these rollers. Any time I go there I buy the one they have in stock and insurance for when a window on one of my many B-bodies fails. Its gotta happen sooner or later!

If you let them know you need more they can usually have them within the day, as they have local warehouses / larger stores with warehouse inventory. Most stores get deliveries three times a day.

Lynol wrote:

NAPA gave me a similar bunch of BS. Fortunately, at the time I worked across the street, so I went back, printed out the page from their site and showed it to him. They ordered them no problem.

Kind of annoying if you ask me. Aren't they paid to look up to see if they have the part? I don't live far from napa, it's right up the street, but it would have saved me an extra trip and would have only taken her 30 seconds..... I found them with zero effort... oh well. now all that's left is waiting for a nice day when I actually have time to get these in.....maybe I'll wake up early tomorrow, as it's supposed to get to the 60s

it's the computer system. The rollers go to something else and are not connected to our cars in any way but by unofficial sources.

Hey David were you a "BOYSCOUT" in your youth?Be prepared right?
Jim

Advanced auto may have the rollers for less than Autozone. Check all the local parts stores for pricing.

IIRC Advance has them in a pack of more than just one.

When I went to a SoFaSSt event the guys went on down to Advance and bought enough rollers to fix 5 or 6 doors.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Advanced auto may have the rollers for less than Autozone. Check all the local parts stores for pricing.

I can tell you PepBoys and AutoZone carry the same part (a box of one) and they are the same price, which was actually a dollar less than I had already paid at NAPA. I went to two Advance Autos and neither had them and the guys at the counter were bumbling idiots who thought I wanted a window motor. Unless you buy them off the internet in bulk somewhere you're going to be paying about $6 for one. It's a rip off I know, but when your window has two broken rollers, it doesn't stay shut!

Soon after buying my Roady I determined all four door panels had been off. They creaked when you leaned on them, and 3 of the 4 had broken trim around the interior door handles. When I fixed my front door panels both sides had broken and missing Christmas tree clips, and sure enough I looked in the panel and found round rollers.

My guess is $5hr mechanic at the used car lot fixed the windows and did it as fast as he could before putting the car on the lot. Sloppy job, but so far all mine still work......knock on fake wood...

I also think the smae person replaced the headliner. When I got it, there was a gap around one edge of the Vista window, and as you know just before Christmas the headliner fell over the cargo area. Thats all fixed and done RIGHT this time.

Such fun! I've replaced all the door handle plastic trim in my car but have yet to pull the rear door panels off, and they both still creak if leaned on back there, so I'm sure some of the Christmas Tree clips are broken. I hate shoddy work. Will do those soon.

Never done!

I feel fortunate as all of my 94's sliders are original bar-type and still wotking great. I have read such horror stories that I envision muliple rollers failing one day but I wold rather leave them be and replace them all when and if the time ever comes.

81x11if I may ask, did you redo your headliner yourself or have it done? It is on my distant to- do list.

Wagoninabox wrote:

I feel fortunate as all of my 94's sliders are original bar-type and still wotking great. I have read such horror stories that I envision muliple rollers failing one day but I wold rather leave them be and replace them all when and if the time ever comes.

81x11if I may ask, did you redo your headliner yourself or have it done? It is on my distant to- do list.

Be careful removing the headliner, they are fragile at the vista window cutout. I reinforced mine on the back side with carbon fiber. Now I can hold it by the front edge, and it does not even bend at the window cutout.

Wagoninabox wrote:

I feel fortunate as all of my 94's sliders are original bar-type and still wotking great. I have read such horror stories that I envision muliple rollers failing one day but I wold rather leave them be and replace them all when and if the time ever comes.

81x11if I may ask, did you redo your headliner yourself or have it done? It is on my distant to- do list.

I did mine in my Caprice myself, wasn't too bad to do (Caprice one is less fragile because it has no vista roof, but it's still made out of crackers or something) It cost me $50 plus a few cans of 3M adhesive, and for the price I'm pleased. I think I may have scraped a little too hard with the wire brush on the backer board though because I have dimples in some spots. Still though I was looking at quotes of min $350 from the pros...

Wagoninabox wrote:

I feel fortunate as all of my 94's sliders are original bar-type and still wotking great. I have read such horror stories that I envision muliple rollers failing one day but I wold rather leave them be and replace them all when and if the time ever comes.

81x11if I may ask, did you redo your headliner yourself or have it done? It is on my distant to- do list.

Had it done, same time I had the front seat bottoms re-padded. I've got a good cheap mexican upholstry place I've dealt with for years. From what was posted, most folks pay between $100-200 to get it replaced.

-Mike

81X11 wrote:

...most folks pay between $100-200 to get it replaced.

-Mike

WOW things are cheaper in Texas... I called two shops for prices on a sedan I was considering buying a few years ago, they were both around $300, but they said it could wind up costing more... For the wagon I called one place, they said a big car like that starts at $350.

Lynol wrote:

81X11 wrote:

...most folks pay between $100-200 to get it replaced.

-Mike

WOW things are cheaper in Texas... I called two shops for prices on a sedan I was considering buying a few years ago, they were both around $300, but they said it could wind up costing more... For the wagon I called one place, they said a big car like that starts at $350.

HOLY COW!!!

Many thanks for this thread. I finally got around to tackling my back seat windows. Found the Dorman 74444 roller at Autozone, for $5.99 each. I thought that was high for such a small piece of plastic, but Ebay wasn't much better. Bought a small C-Clamp at Tractor Supply for $3. Greased it all up and it popped right in. The second one will go much faster.

I did notice that the other oval shaped guide in the track wasn't broken but did have a small crack. I loaded it up with grease too and will keep my fingers crossed.

This forum rocks!