My car came with lots of extras that the previous owner never got around to installing. I went through a box of parts and found the windshield and back window weatherstripping as well as the trunk one, all in their original packages and unopened. Does anybody have a clue on the shelf life of these items or am I better off repurchasing them in order to be safe. They are all from autokrafters and have sat for at least 1-2 years in a garage. Pics included though they are not very exciting
Dont know what the shelve life would be but I would not even give it a second thought about using those being that they have been sealed, no need to spend more money
Agreed, who is to say new purchases haven't been setting on the shelf for a year or two... I've been tossing around trunk weather stripping that came with my car when I bought it almost five years ago... One of these days I'll get it installed...
I had windshield rubber bought 01/2012 installed 05/2014 I've had no issue w/ it sealing. Also, installed door belt and window seals - no issues - so far.
Ok that's is good to hear, I figured they should be fine if still in the package. I do have other weather stripping ( I think for the small rear/ side windows but they are out of the package. I guess I will check them for any damage or deterioration. Thanks everybody!
if theyre still soft and flexible theyre still good when they feel dry and kinda hard theyre close to if not at the end of the life of the rubber BUT if its sealed I would say they would last longer than the nag theyre sealed in
If it was NOS and knocking on 40 years old I might pass but a couple years old, I would run with it. In the rubber hose world it's all up to interpretation. In ideal conditions, temp controlled, minimized UV exposure etc... they say 5 to 8 years. That is the cover their butt answer because depending on the material a failure could be a bad thing. For hydraulic hose it's 40 quarters or 10 years in normal people speak. We have had some hydraulic hose that sat under a bench since 96, it was still soft and supple but we chose to discard it rather than take a chance.
