Crappy Part design Windows

[SSGNRDZ_28]

Received my order yesterday and installed them today. For those that are on the fence about it, I’d recommend it! All four of the stock black pieces were brittle and cracked through, all the stock nuts had broken off too. Attachment 29060

It’s such a nice piece of mind to just be able to shut the door and not worry about my window falling down the install is very easy, I’d recommend everyone to try it themselves! That way when the window motor goes out you’ll know how to fix it too the only thing that can really break are the tabs, buy a few and have some piece of mind!! Also, one trick used was to tape the inside part of the boss to the window while getting the outside piece started in the threads. Not enough room in there for me to hold both pieces at once!

Thanks Doug for a great product that will prevent future headaches!!!

Ben

Wow, thanks for posting. These parts really are a weak link. Looks like one was repaired with epoxy? With plastic that brittle it seems a matter of when not if these will break. Thanks to all who brought this to light.

Doug

[AKTOFL]

No problem Doug! Thanks for making a fix!! The one that was fixed with epoxy was my doing a month ago...heard it rattling around in pieces when I drove the car. Pulled them out and made a “make shift” solution, then a week later I stumbled on this thread and bought them ASAP �� the others were pulled like that. Had no clue they were about to go.....

[ForTehNguyen]

top is driver side, bottom is passenger side from my 2013. Two different textures on the plastic manufacture. The "fuzzy" looking passenger ones show signs of cracking while the driver side does not. Drivers side feels slightly heavier an denser.

Edit: just noticed mine are a different design than AKTOFL's which has a recessed nut, where mine have embedded threads.

[AKTOFL]

Yeah, definitely looks like a different material! Mine feel like they are made of compressed material, like particle board. Crumbed like particle board

[Voice of Reason]

As an added bonus to the awesome design these parts are NOT covered under the factory extended warranty many of us bought. My warranty just ran out so I’ll be ordering Doug’s replacements soon so I can swap them out myself.

[swexlin]

As an added bonus to the awesome design these parts are NOT covered under the factory extended warranty many of us bought. My warranty just ran out so I’ll be ordering Doug’s replacements soon so I can swap them out myself.

Really? The extended bumper-to-bumper should cover any parts like this. That's the idea. Find another dealer. Unless they consider it a "wear item" like brakes.

[Voice of Reason]

Really? The extended bumper-to-bumper should cover any parts like this. That's the idea. Find another dealer. Unless they consider it a "wear item" like brakes.

My dealer is Roanoke, they took care of me this time (I was like 3 weeks out of warranty) but noted it was not on the list of bumper to bumper extended warranty items. Same as our headlights, if a LED dies in the enclosed housing be prepared to foot the bill. It’s insane the extended warranty doesn’t cover it, but true.

[swexlin]

My dealer is Roanoke, they took care of me this time (I was like 3 weeks out of warranty) but noted it was not on the list of bumper to bumper extended warranty items. Same as our headlights, if a LED dies in the enclosed housing be prepared to foot the bill. It’s insane the extended warranty doesn’t cover it, but true.

Crazy. After my R28 passing granted me the extended 10 yr powertrain, I thought about cancelling the 7 yr I purchased. But I didn't, because the needed the NON powertrain coverage. Might be re-thinking that now.

[AZMotorgod]

Doug-

Thanks for your efforts on this fix and dedication to making these great cars even better.

I received my parts, thanks!

In the past I have just used more archaic means for getting door panels off. What is everyone using for nicer cars such as ours? I see automotive trim puller kits (everything from 4 to 13 piece) for sale on Amazon. Is picking up one of these kits worth it?

Oh, and someone please do a forum step-by-step tutorial on this please! I know Doug's instructions are good, but I am anal, so the more information the better.

[ForTehNguyen]

i had a tougher than ought to be time disconnecting the speaker thats near the lock/unlock buttons. There is a tab thats under the wrapped foam that you have to push. I used a pick to get at it

definately invest in some trim removal tools, they are inexpensive. I didnt really use them that much to take the actual door panel off, just the piece of trim near the window up down switches.

Really? The extended bumper-to-bumper should cover any parts like this. That's the idea. Find another dealer. Unless they consider it a "wear item" like brakes.

dont think the maximum care warranty is a bumper to bumper, they explicitly list the items that are covered.

[AKTOFL]

i had a tougher than ought to be time disconnecting the speaker thats near the lock/unlock buttons. There is a tab thats under the wrapped foam that you have to push. I used a pick to get at it

definately invest in some trim removal tools, they are inexpensive. I didnt really use them that much to take the actual door panel off, just the piece of trim near the window up down switches.



dont think the maximum care warranty is a bumper to bumper, they explicitly list the items that are covered.

I could t figure that connector out and left it connected! Same with the door handle.....I just propped it up and put a towel under it. Still enough room to do the install. As far as pulling tools, I used none, just made sure I was pulling straight out, not to an angle. I broke one of the clips putting the door back on😂😂 when you are reinstalling the window to the bracket keep in mind where the bolts were. You can a adjust the glass a fair bit and can over adjust if you're not careful and cause rubbing on the seal. Simple adjustment to fix it though

[ForTehNguyen]

for the door handle you can pull the cable off where it snaps into the door, then you turn the end of the cable 90 degrees so the cable head comes out of the door handle

[TT32VGT]

Thanks for the fix Doug! How can I order? Just posted a thread abt my new 16 srt making horrible noises when the pass side window goes up and down

[SSGNRDZ_28]

Thanks for the fix Doug! How can I order? Just posted a thread abt my new 16 srt making horrible noises when the pass side window goes up and down

You can pre order on my website but I’ll be out of stock until mid November.

Thanks
Doug

[Viper.954]

This may have been mentioned already. I just discovered that Doug Shelby Engineering has an upgrade kit to fix the factory parts for $75. When my passenger side broke, my car was out of warranty by one month. The cost of the repair was about $1100 SRT agreed to pay half for me after the car sat at the dealer for three weeks. When I picked it up, my car was covered in leaves and stained. I wish I had known about Doug Shelby Engineering.

[ForTehNguyen]

im glad i ordered right when these came out, didnt want to wait until Nov for restock. Geez why was it $1100? New glass to get the plastic mounts or did they order a new regulator too

[TT32VGT]

Thx Doug I'll preorder for both sides for whenever the drivers side goes out.
Is there anything else you recommend doing while we have the door panel off? Or maybe extra clips or something incase they break?
I have a 16 srt. Thx

[TT32VGT]

Hey Doug I bought both sides and sent u an email but haven’t heard back.. just wanted to make sure you received PayPal payment, I know u said mid nov

Thx

[SSGNRDZ_28]

Apologies if my email didn’t get through but I did reply on the 24th (maybe in junk?) The aluminum parts will be anodized next week and kits will be shipping the week of the 13th.

The other points of failure that are less likely are the front clip on the window or the regulator but there’s no way of knowing until you get it opened up. I did not need any extra clips but if you want to have some on hand just in case they are mentioned in this thread above.

Thanks
Doug

[SSGNRDZ_28]

These are now back in stock, if you have ordered already they will ship tomorrow.

Thanks
Doug

[TT32VGT]

Apologies if my email didn’t get through but I did reply on the 24th (maybe in junk?) The aluminum parts will be anodized next week and kits will be shipping the week of the 13th.

The other points of failure that are less likely are the front clip on the window or the regulator but there’s no way of knowing until you get it opened up. I did not need any extra clips but if you want to have some on hand just in case they are mentioned in this thread above.

Thanks
Doug

My apologies Doug, my filter snagged it!

Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to the parts!

[dc16]

I just had this problem recently on my gen 5 2016. It appears all are destined to fail except for those Vipers sitting in museums or like museum pieces. For reference - My car is a 2016 with about 12 thousand miles on it.

Doug - THANK YOU SO MUCH for making the replacement parts. I just ordered sets for my two windows.

[ViperGeorge]

Doug, any chance you could make a new tougher window regulator? I know it would probably take a lot of engineering but the Viper OEM part is crap and mostly unavailable. There are close to 30 on national backorder. The FCA parts system says there are 35 (I forget which side) in packaging but it has apparently said this for months and therefore probably is incorrect. The other side has no ETA.

I just had to replace the left side regulator on my 08 (same part for Gen 3/4/5) and I may have gotten the last one out there from JonB (thanks Jon!). The dealer couldn't get one. Anyone that needs a regulator (either side) now is in for a long wait. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if FCA discontinues the part as they have done with many other Viper parts. If that happens, Vipers may sit undriven for the want of a window regulator. Crazy.

[Steve M]

Doug, any chance you could make a new tougher window regulator? I know it would probably take a lot of engineering but the Viper OEM part is crap and mostly unavailable. There are close to 30 on national backorder. The FCA parts system says there are 35 (I forget which side) in packaging but it has apparently said this for months and therefore probably is incorrect. The other side has no ETA.

I just had to replace the left side regulator on my 08 (same part for Gen 3/4/5) and I may have gotten the last one out there from JonB (thanks Jon!). The dealer couldn't get one. Anyone that needs a regulator (either side) now is in for a long wait. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if FCA discontinues the part as they have done with many other Viper parts. If that happens, Vipers may sit undriven for the want of a window regulator. Crazy.

Many years ago we were close to an actual solution to this problem.

If I recall correctly, folks with Plymouth Prowlers were suffering a similar fate when it came to window regulators. Same design, same end result.

There was someone out there that made a conversion to a totally different type of mechanism - one that got rid of the flexible tubing that breaks. It looked very similar to this type of regulator:

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-CUH00...caAinzEALw_wcB

They started working on the same thing for Vipers, and at one point even had one installed and working in a Gen 3/4, minus one part: they couldn't get it to work with the smart glass/auto indexing (or whatever you call the function where the window drops when you open the door, and goes back up into the weather seal when you close it) feature. Without insights into how that's implemented in the BCM, the project was dead in the water.

I'm probably mixing up some details at this point, but I think the pertinent info is mostly accurate.

In my mind, there are three paths to a "fix":

1. Someone with engineering expertise, probably in conjunction with Prefix, needs to figure out how to make that other design work. Doug Shelby would be a great candidate for the engineering expertise, but he'd need access to the technical details of how the smart glass works. That's where I think Prefix would come in...otherwise, you'd need to find the engineer(s) that originally designed it.
2. Someone gets the aftermarket to agree to restart production for at least some period of time regularly to ensure there's enough supply.
3. Aftermarket repair kit

#1 is going to require a likely not insignificant investment in time and money. I'm sure someone out there like Doug would be willing to take this on as a labor of love, but that usually doesn't put food on the table. And it'd pretty much have to be a labor of love at this point since making aftermarket Viper parts isn't going to make anyone rich. Low production numbers gives you some exclusivity, but it comes at a price.

#2 doesn't really fix the problem since the design itself sucks, and I also worry about typical Viper parts price gouging. I vividly remember the days post-Gen 4 production when window regulators were over $1k for each side...that got fixed when the Gen 5 came out and the prices dropped substantially, but now that it's been out of production for 5 years, we're starting to see the same pattern again.

#3 is available now, but I've seen so many mixed reviews of either DIY kits or companies that provide this service that I don't consider it a true fix. But it's the fix we have at the moment.

My $0.00.

[J TNT]

Great post Steve , I believe the factory body module does a count of the window motor commutator signals to do the auto glass indexing ....

Gen 3 Gen 4 Guys also have the upper door trim issue that is even worse , good thing is they are getting reproduced ...