Repairing car door seal damaged by roof rack…

Now that I have a van that tends to transport the bikes the roof rack is coming off the Volvo. It’s a Thule rack with the metal brackets that sit inside the door frame.

The rack has pretty much lived on the roof for the past 3years and consequently the outer lip of the door seal is deformed to the profile of the metal bracket and has worn through in parts. Now while the rack is in place this isn’t an issue as it seals happily. However I’m concerned that with the deformation and the wearing through it might not be completely water tight…

The outer seal appears to be one piece with the main seal and I suspect being a Volvo they won’t be cheap to to replace!

What’s the chances of them returning to shape maybe be a little persuasion with a little heat from a hair dryer or such (little I suspect as I guess they have been stretched) and what would be best to stick the small tears back together with? I’m guessing it’s not a true rubber but some kind of rubberised foam so vulcanising glue you would normally use on rubber seals and o rings is out?

Ta.

I’d try some “seal feed” and some heat

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gummi-Pflege-Rubber-Stick-100ml/dp/B007TNOQDI

Seen washer bottle flexi tube being fed into seal to puff it out. will not help flat parts but will still seal it okay.

I just replaced mine on my Berlingo using stuff from Amazon with a 3m adhesive.

It’s a separate strip from the door seal so was easier to do and might not help you, but could you potentially add to the existing one with a smaller stick on strip above it?

Unfortunately it’s not a separate strip otherwise I would just replace the weatherstrip rather than the whole seal.

It’s the outer seam/gap filler of the door seal, it’s just a flat rubber strip but it’s worn through in places.

Easier to explain in photos:

Try above suggestion. It’s the outer seal – mine is similar. My car is 17 years old and has had a similar rack fitted on and off for many years, but nothing more than a few months at a time. I’d see how it settles back down. Where worn, smooth over with black silicone. Seals are generally neoprene.

The inner looks sound though.