I was looking at the instructions for installing the door edge guards and I am confused about the seam cutting step. Does that a strip off of the seal or just a cut? Why the need for paint?

Is this really something easily done by the consumer?

Why the heck is this so complicated. Its like the Window Visors. You have to cut out rubber molding and mount clips? Huh?
Weather Guards just pop in...

i have some for 2 years in the box. the directions make it seem way more complicated than it needs to be.

The cutting razor is design to just remove the excess sealant from the inner door edge. If you place the blade flat/level with the surface it will glide along and cut the excess sealant. If use too much force you can distort the razor & it will peel the paint "on the inner along with the sealant". That is one of the reasons you must have the matching touchup paint. The other is to cover up the white from the cut sealant.

Just seems stupid to have to cut anything.

post pictures with the finished product.

I just gently pounded them on with a rubber mallet. They stay on just fine.

I tried that in one small area. It does break the seal but also leaves that area unprotected (you can see the white unfinished surface).

Once on, there is no way to apply paint to seal it up. Also, the channel is hollow and water will run down into the guard. I am concerned this will lead to rust through.

When done how did the seam look?

Let's hope that you have no corrosion issues because your rust-through warranty on those panels is history.