Mr. Alligator
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- November 30, 2014
- Messages
- 1,297
- Reaction score
- 1,029
- City, State
- Tampa, Florida
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1997 XLT Explorer
The belt molding is the trim that holds the window glass in place on the doors, and includes the felt piece that acts as padding for the glass.
These trucks are now over twenty years old, with hundreds of thousands of miles on them.
I knew my window felts were dirty and greasy and probably worn out. I tried to clean them with Q-tips and paper towels, but never could get them really clean. The windows were getting scratched and never would stay clean....
And today, I found this! It is not tricky, difficult, or in any way complicated. But if I had known about this earlier, it would have helped reduce scratches on the front and rear door windows. I just never knew you could do this, or that it was this easy.
HOW TO CLEAN WINDOW FELT/BELT MOLDING
Each front and rear door window has a belt molding shown below, and in the area highlighted in blue.
Each belt molding is removed easily, using only a 10 mm socket and a 1/4” driver.
The small nut (one of the nuts is shown above) for each belt molding is located on the backside of each door. The photo below shows the nut for the front door, indicated by blue arrows.
The photo below shows the rear door with the trim removed. The hole for the nut attachment is easily seen.
After the single nut for each belt molding is removed, the belt molding/window felt piece can be easily cleaned with a brush and any mild cleaner, then rinsed. The felt pieces are easy to clean, and lots of mud and road grime can be removed. Upon reinstallation, the metal clips on the belt molding slides entirely BEHIND the metal for the door.
Finally, the window felt and belt molding are CLEAN. Just never knew this was so easy and wanted to pass it on.
Thank you this Forum for awesome mechanical advice and guidance. And Good luck!
These trucks are now over twenty years old, with hundreds of thousands of miles on them.
I knew my window felts were dirty and greasy and probably worn out. I tried to clean them with Q-tips and paper towels, but never could get them really clean. The windows were getting scratched and never would stay clean....
And today, I found this! It is not tricky, difficult, or in any way complicated. But if I had known about this earlier, it would have helped reduce scratches on the front and rear door windows. I just never knew you could do this, or that it was this easy.
HOW TO CLEAN WINDOW FELT/BELT MOLDING
Each front and rear door window has a belt molding shown below, and in the area highlighted in blue.
Each belt molding is removed easily, using only a 10 mm socket and a 1/4” driver.
The small nut (one of the nuts is shown above) for each belt molding is located on the backside of each door. The photo below shows the nut for the front door, indicated by blue arrows.
The photo below shows the rear door with the trim removed. The hole for the nut attachment is easily seen.
After the single nut for each belt molding is removed, the belt molding/window felt piece can be easily cleaned with a brush and any mild cleaner, then rinsed. The felt pieces are easy to clean, and lots of mud and road grime can be removed. Upon reinstallation, the metal clips on the belt molding slides entirely BEHIND the metal for the door.
Finally, the window felt and belt molding are CLEAN. Just never knew this was so easy and wanted to pass it on.
Thank you this Forum for awesome mechanical advice and guidance. And Good luck!
