WACTD

As mentioned in another thread, my ATV shifted forward while we were bumping down a steep hill and imploded the rear slider window in my 3500. The Mopar OEM glass was nearly $700, while a CR Laurence replacement was well under $300. Even the dealer recommended the CRL product, so that's what was installed. (As an aside, it appears to be a very good product and looks great in the truck.)

However, it turns out that the top part of the Mopar window frame is REALLY thick front-to-back. The frame extends forward, away from the glass and into the cab, about an inch or so. The headliner is sized to simply butt up against this frame. The CRL window is much more slim-and-trim, which looks really nice except that now I have a big gap between the edge of the headliner and the window+frame. You can see the backing on the headliner, the underside of the roof metal with its red paint, etc. This gap runs essentially the entire width of the interior along the rear window. Functionally everything is fine, but it looks a little weird.

I'd like to put something in that gap to fill it and make it look good again. I'm thinking of some sort of adhesive-backed molding, grommeting, etc. But the space I'm filling is about an inch across and about an inch down from the roof metal, so it would have to be something about 1x1 inch in cross section and the length of the windowtop. In other words, standard old door-edge molding isn't going to cut it [grin].

Any suggestions or ideas out there? Thanks!

Hercules130

can you provide a picture?

WACTD

It's a little tough to really see what's happening from pictures, but I'll try.


This is a view straight up with the center slider open. You can see the third brake light. Notice how the headliner stops short of the window frame, exposing the red underside of the metal roof.


Here is an inside view. The headliner stops cleanly short of the window frame.


Here's roughly the same view from slightly different angle, showing how the roof metal disappears once you shift your viewpoint a bit.


Here's what it looks like all along its length.


Here you can see how things are arranged all along the "channel" which is now open between the window frame and the headliner.

I hope that helps illustrate things. Any suggestions? Thanks!

BigDave12768

Next time call a bone yard and get an OEM one.

Allen Hibbs

Hu thats kinda strange. Maybe try running some body side molding along the gap. I have seen it in rolls at pepboys, Auto Zone ....... This is the kind of stuff im talking about http://www.customautotrim.com/produc...dings/body.htm

Jus Cruisin

Tell whoever installed/sold it to you it is unacceptable and get a stock unit or an aftermarket that fits right.

Peterbilt

If you are real annal, maybe try a custom appolsterer (sp) shop. They make headliners maybe they have something to cover the gap or have a suggestion.

Pete

SOhappy

..and my headliner doesn't look like that.

As mentioned previously, I had the same thing happen in my truck (blame it on frame flex). For the same reason$, the insurance and window shop went with a CRL aftermarket. Didn't cost me a dime, went on my zero-ded. glass coverage, whew!

Anyway, my headliner covers it just fine, picts pending.

Is your's cut short or something?

WACTD

The very knowledgable glass guy ran through the list of Rams by year, discussing the various quirks each one had. (That company does all the glass work for the large and local Dodge dealer.) A few years ago the frame/headliner interface wasn't like this. However, the current OEM frame is much thicker and the headliner is cut to accommodate it. Aftermarket frames aren't thick - they don't have to be, obviously - so a gap results.

I wonder if it's to accommodate the optional power slider. That might require a thicker frame for the motor and mechanism. I think that became an option just in the past couple of years so it might explain the change to the headliner shape.

By the way, be really careful of your headliner. The glass guy said that the only way to remove/replace the headliner is to remove the windshield first! The current headliners cannot be bent very far without damaging their backing material, and there's no opening large enough to insert/remove the headliner except the windshield.

SOhappy

ptgarcia

I would go to an auto upholstery shop. They can make something to cover it up. Here in SoCal we have a few that the hot-rodders use and they can do anything.

WACTD

Mine also has that CRL sticker on the outside (bottom of driver's side, right?). The inside looks just like mine except that my headliner is spaced away from the window frame by about an inch, a shown in my photos.

I think the difference is based on the 2003 vs. 2006 model years of our trucks. The OEM window frame in mine was thicker, and DC had to cut the headliners differently to accommodate that. I suspect our aftermarket windows are very similar or perhaps identical to each other.

SOhappy

And CRL didn't keep up with the change from 2003-2006 apparently. I'd call them and complain, or email your picts to their customer service dept.