Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 08:43:58 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: best lube for sliding door
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTim=TRbc4nY8qUmZshNcFvSWBffpNw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
Taking the cover off will let you see just how bad, if at all, the
slider is. You can clean it up (as well as lubing the bearing) and
perhaps use some emory cloth to smooth it a bit. I read where someone
used self adhesive HDPE tape (Lee Valley has it) on the cleaned and
degreased track to make it run smoother and quieter.
I put some sound dampening material on the inside of the cover
thinking the cover acted as a bit of a resonator, no conclusive
difference though.
The lower track at the door is another thing. Be sure that the "heel"
of the bearing bracket is not rubbing on the track. As you know, that
lower track and bearing sees a lot of dirt so it is more likely to be
pitted and worn. If the heel of the bracket is rubbing you can shim it
to make it good again.
The bearing housing is held to the door "L: bracket b 2 13 mm bolts.
If you remove the bolts ( and support the end of the door on milk
crate or similar) you can take the bearing housing to the bench for
cleaning, then when re-assembling, put one washer between the "L"
bracket and the bearing housing at the inboard bolt (I think, you will
see if I'm remembering correctly which one if you do it). This will
"cock" the housing slightly so the hell won't rub on the lower track.
The "newer" (8.5 and up) doors are far far better in operation than
the older doors. They also have slightly different bearings and track
surfaces under that cover.
alistair
On 7-Jun-11, at 8:08 AM, Roland wrote:
> Frank,
>
> Fortunately :) I agree with you, I wasn't really all that comfortable
> greasing the way I did, so everybody might want to disregard my
> method.
> Perhaps I didn't check the archives enough, but I couldn't think of
> any
> other way to lubricate the ball on the bottom track -- yes it does
> get lots
> of dirt on the track, and I have worried that the grit will get into
> the
> ball itself and jam it.
>
> For the side rollers, yes I was able to look in there and see the
> roller,
> which probably means bearings inside. They goal was to quiet it
> down, since
> it appears the metal of the roller rides on the metal of the track.
>
> So what is the right way to quiet these things a bit, and how to
> lube the
> bottom roller / track? For the side rollers there appear to be 2,
> one to
> hold the weight, and the other a horizontal guide. I was almost
> thinking
> I'd like to find a way to put some type of plastic strip on the
> track for
> the roller that hold the weight in this area.
>
> Roland
>
> On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 2:37 AM, Frank Condelli <RAlanen@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Grease where you put it is just attracting dust & dirt that
>> will
>> eventually get into the BALL BEARINGS of the rollers. It's the ball
>> bearings that really need the lube. Yes, it requires taking
>> everything
>> apart to get in there but just putting grease between the roller
>> and the
>> metal track it rides on is not the best solution.
>>
>>
>> On 2011-06-06, at 4:37 PM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
>>
>>> I just cleaned / lubed all the sliding door guides a few weeks
>>> ago. I
>> used
>>> "White Lithium Grease" which is a good choice for this purpose.
>>>
>>> For example:
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Panef-Corp-GS-20-White-Grease/dp/B000BXOFV6
>>>
>>> Your local home depot or equivalent should have it,not sure about
>>> the
>> local
>>> FLAPS.
>>>
>>> I put it on the bottom slide / roller, and also inside upper track
>>> and
>> the
>>> rear track. Previously there was a "metal on metal" sound coming
>>> from
>> these
>>> areas, a bit of this grease quieted the whole thing down. I used
>>> very
>>> sparingly, since I didn't want a whole bunch of extra grease hanging
>> around
>>> collecting dirt, so a little already made a difference. I think
>>> using
>> even
>>> more grease would provide even less noise. To grease the rear
>>> roller, I
>>> didn't have to remove the cover, just put the grease in the right
>>> exact
>>> place with the 2 finger feel method: one finger with grease on
>>> the tip,
>> the
>>> other finger clean, as a guide to find the right places. The bottom
>> roller
>>> is a regular once-a-year maintenance area for me, clean and
>>> replace a bit
>> of
>>> grease.
>>>
>>> Reason for doing this? I installed FatMat inside the sliding
>>> door, and
>>> wanted to quiet the rollers at the same time.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Frank Condelli
>> Almonte, Ontario, Canada
>> '87 Westy & Lionel Trains (Collection for sale)
>> Frank Condelli & Associates - Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in
>> the
>> Ottawa Valley
>> Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems
>> BusFusion a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 09 ~ 12, 2011
>>
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