Dirty door sills on 06 Sport Ed.

[westwind1124a]

Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone else there has had issues with keeping dirt and salt off of the door sills on the '06 Sport.
It looks like the Sport Edition doesn't have the protection of the full side step, and the door seal leaves about a 1/4 inch opening on the bottom. I told the dealer about it and he said he could care less. Does anyone have any other thoughs

 

[drake3]

I sometimes hit my shoes on the plastic sills and they get dirty, but that is with any car. I think it may be noticeable on my 4runner because the sills are grey plastic instead of black.

What are you talking about when you say there is a .25" gap at the bottom of the door? I have not looked closely, but figured the weather stripping would seal outside the high sill.

 

[westwind1124a]

drake3,
If you look at the bottom of your door you can see about a 1/4 inch gap between the gray plastic door sill and the bottom of the door. I first noticed this back in December when I got it, and drove on the roads after they had been salted. Afterward the door sill would be totally covered in salt and dirt, way more than I have ever seen on any other car. Even now when it rains I get a lot of dirt in that same area. I have been checking out some other trucks and have found that most of them have a thin piece of weather stripping on the bottom edge of the door, and it looks like it helps a lot. I should have taken a picture before I spent all day cleaning it.

 

[Falls]

mine too.....

 

[Mountaineer]

That's a problem with that type of step bar. My previous car was an Explorer with bars like the 06 SE's. Those bars look great but don't offer much protection from mud, salt spray, etc. that the full running boards do. I wish my 05 SE had the 06 step bars and roof rack. Oh well, I wasn't going to wait 8 months for the 06's to come out when I got mine.

 

[westwind1124a]

They do look great, however the upkeep seems to awefully high on them. I found some cheap weather stripping at the auto parts store and put that across the bottom of the door. I hope that helps. Its a cheap fix, but it goes good with the black electrical tape on back seat latches.

 

[khaug]

Welcome to the 4th gen 'Runner. They all do that. There's no fix. Get used to it for your own mental stability!

 

[westwind1124a]

That's comforting. The weather stripping seems to be helping some. I think winter will be the real test though.