For years, I and other Dodge van owners have griped about loose vent window latches. Despite asking on several different web boards populated by very knowledgeable people, I have never found out how to tighten up the latch. In fact, I was often told that tightening the latch was impossible and I should just tape some pennies to the frame and live with it. Tonight, I discovered how to tighten the latches!

I am in the process of tinting the windows of my brother's 83 Dodge van and I had to strip the old tint off of the vent windows to put the new tint on. In the process, I had to disassemble the vent window latches and discovered that it is actually quite easy to tighten up a loose and floppy latch.

Follow along as I give a step-by-step pictorial guide to the disassembly and reassembly of a vent latch.



Step one- Put the latch in the "open" position. The latch must be in the "open" position in order to be disassembled and reassembled.



Step two- Find the small roll pin that holds the handle on the latch assembly. Drive the pin out with a hammer and small punch. I found a nail that fit perfectly.



Here is a picture of the roll pin next to a utility knife blade for a size comparison:



Step three- Remove the handle from the assembly:



Step three-and-a-half- The handle contains the plunger, inside of which is a spring with a black rubber tip. The spring may or may not come out with the handle. It can stay in the handle. If it comes out and get shuffled, the rubber tip goes out, not in. Put another way, the rubber tip goes into the middle of the "X" on the screw.







Step four- Once the spring is out of the way, you can look down the center of the latch assembly and see a Phillips head screw. This is the screw that comes loose and leads to a floppy latch. Tighten the screw, reassemble, and you are done!



Step six- if, like me, you need to disassemble the latch the rest of the way to clean the window or tint it, I have included the following pictures that show, sequentially, how the rest of the latch assembly comes apart. Note the existence and orientation of the various tabs and recesses. It must go back together the right way or the latch will be upside down. Also, the roll pin won't go back in unless the latch is in the "open" position.

Wave ring comes off:





Screw unscrews and central shaft comes out:



Grommet comes off:



Outer nut comes off:



Voila! All the pieces of the latch assembly:




I imagine this will work for most Mopars with this style of latch. Probably 60s through the 90s, but I don't know for sure.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Did you put something on the threads to prevent backing out?

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's Hookers on jack stands for 8 years in the driveway
'79 Maxivan 360 Offy Qjet Comp RV cam/rusting in the driveway.
93 D350 160HP Cummins Auto Dually Clubcab needs a injector pump
2005 Golden Couch Buick

Nope. I just snugged the screw down. I didn't see any signs of any kind or Locktite or other product intended to keep the screw from loosening. I am going to reinstall the windows this morning and see if they are closing tighter.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Great pictorial. I, too, was going to suggest step 4½, weak Loctite to prevent it happening again.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Loctite would probably be a good idea, considering these screws do work loose over time (say, a decade or so). I reinstalled the windows this morning and can confirm that the windows now seal tighter. This means less or no more whistling going down the freeway.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Thanks Reed. I was just going to live with mine the way are, but I guess that will give me something to do today. I'm sure mine will still leak as my rubber needs to be replaced as well. I have the rubber, just to scared/lazy to take it all apart to do it. And the fear of it not going back together.
I'm going to put a link to this over on the Vintage Van board as I'm sure folks over there will love this.

EDIT-- This won't work on the A series vans, drag for me.

Happy to help. I was really excited to make this discovery since I have been told for years that these latches can't be rebuilt or tightened up. I KNOW many many Dodge van owners live with loose latches and noisy/leaky vent windows and either ignore them or use pennies or a matchbook to tighten up the window. Now they can fix the problem correctly!

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Good job Reed! Hopefully this works for trucks as well.

Almost certainly yes for the '72-'93 D- and W-series Dodge pickup trucks. These photos look exactly like the latches on those trucks. I resorted to wedging a nickel between the latch and the catch to stop the wind whistle on my '89. I'd try this out, but I sold the truck years ago.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Bummer. Would a latch retrofit be possible?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Thanks reed! Ive been using cheap fredmeyer weather strip to fill in the gap on mine, theyre about to fall off

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Old truck: 82 D150 225, 2bbl, dutra duals, 2.5" straight pipe to dual 2.5" tail pipes. Mud tires, 4spd, old forest service truck.
Current truck: 98.5 Ram 2500 ccsb, sport, 24v cummins, 5spd, 4.5" lift, 35's, 5" straight pipe.

We use rolls of 4" wide uncured rubber for roofing. It's about 1/16 or 3/32" thick.

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/6 '67 Barracuda convertible, electronic ignition, 4-OD, street cam, SBP KH discs, 3.55 SG 7.25" 1" t-bars. Bilstein.
340 '67 fastback, Doug Nash 5-speed.
1988 Toyota pickup work truck