Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 22:47:16 +0000
Reply-To: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: My door fell off last night
In-Reply-To: <7c0fdc7b-27fe-654f-0404-de4566f88d28@sbw.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Steve, thanks so much for adding the links to the HowToDo it videos. GoWesty is pretty cool for making these. Oh...BTW Erin Daniels...the whole tip about the 5 gallon bucket and the 2 x 6 piece of wood is right on; a floor jack is even better if you have one. But...be advised...once you loosen those fasteners holding door to bracket to van....everything goes nuts instantly!! Nothing works! The good news...is that it all works. But everything has to be aligned. Everything exactly parallel.
This is ideally a 2-person job....that door is very heavy, and everything is wonky. Need one person moving things into position and holding....one person doing final tightening of fasteners. Might take a few tries before really cranking down on the fasteners.
Final sidenote....about 25 years ago that welded-on "peg assembly" at rear of Slider failed for me. Problem was....after paintjob, the Slider was not installed and aligned exactly right. Weld broke. I don't know if this Erin Daniels is your problem or not. Anyway...took van to a local welder and got that peg assembly re-attached.
And yes, mine is an '85 Vanagon Tintop, so similar if not exact. Watch those videos and determine if this a job you want to tackle or not before diving in.
Rich
San Diego
On Monday, March 30, 2020, 3:22:52 PM PDT, Steve Williams <sbw@sbw.org> wrote:
Here are those videos:
1: https://youtu.be/M5UrduOCJws
2: https://youtu.be/gbbMbZ6DGgc
I used those to remove my slider to clean the mechanism and reduce the
noise. Turns out my van doesn't use any of the bearings I bought from
GoWesty, but I didn't have any trouble following the videos to put the
door back on!
On 3/30/2020 2:31 PM, Pat Spragge wrote:
> Take a look at the GoWesty videos on maintenance on the doors and replacing the bearings. They should help in understanding what is involved
>
>> On Mar 30, 2020, at 2:29 PM, Erin Daniels <eirejammer@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Anyone ever have their sliding door fall off? I have an ‘85 vanagon. Last night I got home and went to open the sliding door and it fell off! It’s only held on by the one metal clamp on the bottom door handle side now. My mechanic is closed but he said I could still buy parts from them this week if I need. I’d like to fix this on my own anyway. So I’m going to do some research. Does anyone have any suggestions?