How important is the plastic on the doors???

[MyHigh]

Or use the plastic that shops wrap your tires in when they send them back to you, like when you change winter tires or something. Those bags are pretty dam tough and cheap as well if you just decide to buy four from said shop.

As for the Mylar, be careful you don't use too much of that stuff, you'll cause an electrical dead zone wherever you drive. Reminds me of slippin' jimmys brother from better call Saul.....

 

[pluton]

The plastic is there because the door interior is a wet location. You noticed the water drains in the bottom of the door?
Your interior door trim panel is made of a Japanese masonite-like material. Water and particle composite board do not mix.
The best substitute for the plastic sheet, is, well...plastic sheet. Polyethylene sheeting, often referred to as Visqueen. Hard to find in small pieces...Home Depot wants you to buy 50 yards, etc.
I've used thin clear vinyl off of the roll at a local plastic shop.
The replacement adhesive is a removable, non-hardening material called 3M strip caulk:
3M 8578 - Strip Caulk | O'Reilly Auto Parts
Using RTV would be a grisly, sticky nightmare because uncured RTV has no adhesive properties when "wet", so then plastic sheet wouldn't stay in place, and once cured it'd be a big hassle to scrape off.

 

[TheDurk]

Well, if you took the government's warnings seriously during the Anthrax scares a few years ago, you have the perfect plastic. (Actually, I bought the sheet years ago for car doors--way more than I needed, but I had the bonus of then being prepared for an anthrax attack.)

 

[silver4est]

I have a quick question, how do you get the cloth inserts off the door panel? Does the whole padding piece come off or does the cloth just glue on? Also how does the cloth from the arm rest on the door come off, can the arm rest be removed?
I'm curious if you can see anything since your pane is off, I'd like to replace the dirty cloth on my doors

 

[MtnT4R]

It is also intended to keep elephants out of the vehicle. So far, it is working perfectly for me. Not even 1 elephant has managed to get in the truck with the plastic in place. For that reason, I would keep it on there!

Its not quite a 4Runner, but still.....

 

[MtnT4R]

Haha.. Ok that's pretty funny... Varmint barrier I get it, this thread has been hijacked a bit in the past (and still is being hijacked) but trying to actually make this thread helpful for others replacing window regulators, doing custom audio, or reconditioning inside the doors, etc... well that's my goal on this one.

Sorry, couldnt help myself.

On topic though, I don't see any advantage to replacing the vapor barrier with OEM parts. You're never gonna see it, and some 2 mil plastic sheeting duct taped to the door has always been just fine on my vehicles. Despite frequently being doused by rain and snow, my locks and window controls have never malfunctioned, and like others have said, the door itself has a drain so you dont need to worry about moisture buildup on the interior.

 

[infamousRNR]

For any of those looking for 'black butyl tape' adhesive, I hear this is the stuff and ordered some will let you know how it goes and keep an eye out for elephants.

I appreciate your diligence on this topic...

Like you said, doing anything on your door basically ruins this plastic..

I agree that some 2 mil clear plastic will do the job BUT I really wanted the same butyl rubber stuff like you've been posting...

Did you receive this yet??? I want to order some if you report back with confirmation that this stuff is "close enough"

 

[Kanoe]

I'm jumping in without reading this whole thread just to give some info.

3M Strip Caulk. That is the stuff. I got it at a window replacer place.

Sorry if this is duplicate info.