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Date:         Sat, 31 May 2014 17:53:18 -0600
Reply-To:     Gnarlodious <gnarlodious@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gnarlodious <gnarlodious@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sliding Door problem
In-Reply-To:  <CAP0ZLPQW95g9ro+rcXunfnXfHKMd-324AmcWafNKAHcFgOECTQ@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

What it rides on is metal. A ball bearing carries the weight of the door and rolls on a track on the bottom of the channel. This track can get encrusted with grit, debris or rust (if it was bare shiny steel) and make the door rough for a while. The track itself needs to be lubed simply to prevent rusting in wet climates, but since it is not a slider the lube is not required for lubrication only rust prevention. The ball bearing is another story, yes it does need lubrication and I am talking about a tougher oil than WD40 which is not really lubrication material. I use Tri-Flow available at bike stores and has a tube which facilitates application to that difficult-to-reach location. If your bearing is worn out yeah it can be a rough slide. That might actually be a standard 22mm OD skateboard bearing, I am not sure but it is commonly available at skate shops. There is also a second bearing at right angle that slides inside a lateral channel which is less of a problem. If the area has been neglected for years I recommend a disassembly, inspection and cleaning.

You can also get a lot of resistance from the back slider especially if you have used WD40 which as I said is not really an oil but rather a non-lube that tricks you into thinking you oiled your stuff. I recommend the UHMW tape mod as it reduces noise and needs no oiling. There is probably a UMHW mod for the bottom channel too but I haven't done it. If anyone has done it and has a report I'd be interested in the results.

-- Gnarlie

On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 4:55 PM, Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@gmail.com> wrote:

> Sorry -- 84 Vanagon........ > > > On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 6:54 PM, Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Went to clean out the van to go to BusFusion today. After being fine all > > winter the sliding door is really hard to move, Seems to be lining up OK. > > The track rusty and needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. Seems like > something > > is gone/broken on the bottom at the front of the door where it slides on > > the track but I can't remember what it rides on there. Any info would > help. > > Thanks for your help. While I'm thinking about this it ocurrs to me that > > this is my 15th year on this list -- a newby no more :-) > > > > Doug > > > > -- > > http://www.dougalcock.com > > > > > > -- > http://www.dougalcock.com >


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