Jeep CJ/YJ Full Steel Door Window Regulator Roller Replacement - Super Cheap and Quick
scrambler868
Jeeper
Jeep CJ/YJ full steel doors, window regulator roller replacement
I actually did this over 6 months ago, but I hesitated to write it up until I knew it worked. It costs just over $1 for the parts I used and took less than 30 minutes for each door from beginning to end.
As many of us have found, the window regulator roller on the full steel doors ends up cracking and breaking off, leaving the rivet alone to hold the arm to the window glass slide.
What this does is not only make the arm bend and flex, making the window glass slide begin to bow, and puts more stress on the window glass slide grommets. Many of us have had these break, and even though there have been a few posts with workaround options for replacing those grommets, if you don’t replace the window regulator roller, you’ll just break or pull them out again.
So enough rambling, here’s the fix.
Remove the window regulator; there are multiple posts about this process, so I’ll skip that part.
Once out, locate the roller wheel at the end of the arm, and the rivet pressed into it. From the back (the pressed side of the rivet), use a grinder or a flap wheel to smooth the rivet flat, ensuring it is even with the arm. Then simply tap the rivet out with a hole punch or an old standard-size Phillips screwdriver. The tip of either fits well into the pressed cross-section of the rivet to knock it out. One or two good whacks should do it.
You will then need to drill out the hole using a ¼ in bit. The hole is only slightly smaller so it will drill through with little to no problem.
Then take this part, Auveco # 23997 GM Window Regulator Roller & Rivet Kit found on Amazon. I ordered the 25-count because I wanted to test multiple pressing options for the rivet.
This kit has the”V” style roller and ¼ in end post rivet with a wide back and the correct dimensions to fit very well in the window glass slide. Other GM models may fit, but I found most of them have either a slightly too large diameter window roller for the window glass slide, the roller resting post is too deep, or the flat end is too small or even recessed.
Put the roller on the rivet, then place it into the rivet hole on the arm, remembering which side faces the glass and which side faces the door panel. For the first one, I laid it flat on my workbench and used the cross-pattern tap with a sharp chisel, placed a short Phillips screwdriver in the open end of the rivet and gave it a couple of hard hits with a 3lb sledge. It split unevenly, but enough to be fairly well anchored. I then tapped it down flat on the arm and verified that the roller still rolled nicely and smoothly. Then reinstalled the window regulator and voila, it works perfectly.
For the second one, I followed the same removal process, but pressed the rivet differently. This time, I didn’t use the cross pattern with the chisel, but instead, placed a small convex bolt head into the open end of the rivet and set the whole bolt, rivet, roller, and arm in a vice, snugged it up tightly. Then I continued to crank the vise until the rivet flattened. This gave a much cleaner and uniform spread to the pressed end of the rivet, creating a better anchor and smoother look.
It’s been over 6 months, and they still roll up and down perfectly. I took the door panels off a couple of times to inspect the roller and wheel, and they appear almost the same as they did when I installed them, just slightly greasy.
Now that I know it works, I’m going to take the first one apart again and press it the way I did the second one because I like the look and solid appearance.
I’ll be sure to edit this and post photos this time as I forgot to take them originally.
I’m sorry this is long, but it’s my first, hopefully “helpful” post. Let me know if I can answer any questions.
I actually did this over 6 months ago, but I hesitated to write it up until I knew it worked. It costs just over $1 for the parts I used and took less than 30 minutes for each door from beginning to end.
As many of us have found, the window regulator roller on the full steel doors ends up cracking and breaking off, leaving the rivet alone to hold the arm to the window glass slide.
What this does is not only make the arm bend and flex, making the window glass slide begin to bow, and puts more stress on the window glass slide grommets. Many of us have had these break, and even though there have been a few posts with workaround options for replacing those grommets, if you don’t replace the window regulator roller, you’ll just break or pull them out again.
So enough rambling, here’s the fix.
Remove the window regulator; there are multiple posts about this process, so I’ll skip that part.
Once out, locate the roller wheel at the end of the arm, and the rivet pressed into it. From the back (the pressed side of the rivet), use a grinder or a flap wheel to smooth the rivet flat, ensuring it is even with the arm. Then simply tap the rivet out with a hole punch or an old standard-size Phillips screwdriver. The tip of either fits well into the pressed cross-section of the rivet to knock it out. One or two good whacks should do it.
You will then need to drill out the hole using a ¼ in bit. The hole is only slightly smaller so it will drill through with little to no problem.
Then take this part, Auveco # 23997 GM Window Regulator Roller & Rivet Kit found on Amazon. I ordered the 25-count because I wanted to test multiple pressing options for the rivet.
This kit has the”V” style roller and ¼ in end post rivet with a wide back and the correct dimensions to fit very well in the window glass slide. Other GM models may fit, but I found most of them have either a slightly too large diameter window roller for the window glass slide, the roller resting post is too deep, or the flat end is too small or even recessed.
Put the roller on the rivet, then place it into the rivet hole on the arm, remembering which side faces the glass and which side faces the door panel. For the first one, I laid it flat on my workbench and used the cross-pattern tap with a sharp chisel, placed a short Phillips screwdriver in the open end of the rivet and gave it a couple of hard hits with a 3lb sledge. It split unevenly, but enough to be fairly well anchored. I then tapped it down flat on the arm and verified that the roller still rolled nicely and smoothly. Then reinstalled the window regulator and voila, it works perfectly.
For the second one, I followed the same removal process, but pressed the rivet differently. This time, I didn’t use the cross pattern with the chisel, but instead, placed a small convex bolt head into the open end of the rivet and set the whole bolt, rivet, roller, and arm in a vice, snugged it up tightly. Then I continued to crank the vise until the rivet flattened. This gave a much cleaner and uniform spread to the pressed end of the rivet, creating a better anchor and smoother look.
It’s been over 6 months, and they still roll up and down perfectly. I took the door panels off a couple of times to inspect the roller and wheel, and they appear almost the same as they did when I installed them, just slightly greasy.
Now that I know it works, I’m going to take the first one apart again and press it the way I did the second one because I like the look and solid appearance.
I’ll be sure to edit this and post photos this time as I forgot to take them originally.
I’m sorry this is long, but it’s my first, hopefully “helpful” post. Let me know if I can answer any questions.
