I have an 82 Westy and my wife has trouble opening the slider. She has no trouble with the 87s we also drive. I am going to put an 87 door on the 82 and I would like to hear from anyone who has done this and about any gotchas I may encounter, For those who don't know 80-84 sliders have a much different latching mechanism than 85+ do. The 80-84 has a longer outside handle to help overcome the high force needed to open the dual latches. You often see 80-84 Vanagons with the slider handle broken off because of the high force applied to it over the years. The later door has a single latch and opens more easily even with the shorter handle. The window is a different size also so I will be looking for a later Westy screened window to go with the later door I just bought. Mark |
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