Window Regulator Opinions

[VintageIronFab]

Hello All,
My 95 F150 project is needing a new driver side window regulator upon further review and now that the door panels are off I suppose this is the time to do it. Actually thinking about doing regulators, door handle cables and new actuators. So I’m wanting the entire assembly -as my motor is w eak and the regulator arm is bent. Motor/regulator in a Motorcraft seems unavailable and just over the top expensive. You look online and you see Dorman stuff and the other chiwanese fare- the Dorman is import as well but is it any better than any other import? Any thoughts or experiences would be great.
Thx!
Matt

[Becks_Bronco]

I have no experience with any of these, thankfully my factory regulators are in good working shape. They are weirdly fast compared to my 2011 F150 lol

[300]

I have used a lot of Dorman stuff. About the same endurance as the original stuff in my experience. Many times the problem with a slow motor is the lubrication has gone away, and you have rusty metal on rusty metal. That's lube everywhere, all of the pivot points, the motor bearings. You also need to have good working rollers if there are any. You would have to run a window motor a ton to wear out the brushes, etc.

The door handle operating stuff actually is a poor design and prone to wear, and then breaks out of the metal inner door panel when it really gets bad. They are stupid expensive from Ford when you have to buy the entire handle mechanism, cable and latch. A lot of the problem comes back to dried out lube again.

[VintageIronFab]

Update 8-15-19: So I bought the Dorman regulator with the motor already installed-- paid about $165otd. So if you have an OBS or bronco you are just running around with, using as a work truck or flipping and need a swap- use these. IF you care at all about the quality of your build this stuff is junk-- the regulator portion is just rattle-trap; so imagine you being on a long gravel/fire/tore-up road these are going to rattle your sanity away! So here is my personal take if your regulators are bent or tweaked like mine just simply go to a JY/online/forum and buy a set of regulators - here in Phoenix today they are about $30 each with the motor me pull or $50 each they pull. If you look on the Cardone website ( www.cardone.com - great site btw with great exact pics of the parts new and reman) and look up your motor. I am going to go with a new select unit and key the numbers into ebay and $107 shipped to the door I will be into these for $167 at this point-- now not to leave good alone, and having a few parts at the powdercoater I told the guy I need $15 worth of blasting on these, add a can of good engine spray paint I am going to be into these for about $190 and I have a legit part that has been cleaned, inspected, painted, prepped and done and not some chiwanese rattle-trap junk!

Secondary note-- so my 1995 F150 has a certain type motor, but in 1996 they motor changed. Not just the plug is different but the actual motor is different. The windows on the F150 go up ok at best but that could be the bent regulator, but the windows on my 1996 go up really nice fast and smooth. Now the plugs on the 96 motor are different so that means the plugs on the 1996 harness are different-- well the harness plugs on a 1998+ F150 are the same as the 96 Bronco and OBS, so with a quick retro on the 95 and below harness to the later model plug you get the newer motor. Probably way to much info on such a lame topic but hopefully this might help out if you find yourself needing a window regulator/motor.

[ChaseTruck754]

Before I got to the end of your post reading where you went to the newer motor I was going to suggest that. I had heard the 3 bolt pattern was slightly different on the newer motors but close enough opening up holes worked. While I hadn't gotten around to trying it myself I had read a bunch of good reviews on the use of the newer motors helping with speed etc. Some of the reviews they had cleaned and greased the regulators and some they hadn't. A thorough cleaning and greasing will often work wonders as well, so the combo with the newer style motor should bring these old trucks up into the 2005 era windows at least.

[Mrz181]

with only the passenger window working in my bronco i need to pull everything apart clean inspect and repair re-grease...driver side window just falls down and won't roll up without me pushing it up....rear window just stopped working...so when i go through all these window issues whats the best grease to us I'm guessing some type of lithium grease ?? and does the 96 bronco have the different motor for rear window as the front windows