Sliding door adjustment/ troubleshooting

[howdyhoss]

I have an 87 Westy and have been struggling with my slider door off and on for a few years now. It will randomly pop open at inopportune times. I put new springs in the locking mechanism, adjusted the upper and back hinge and moved the striker bar that the lock catches onto. And while slightly better, it still pops open more than I would like (and now seems to be able to open from the outside when locked).

Because the door was hanging off kilter a bit and there was a visible outward gap between the door and surrounding panels, I decided to replace the sliding door hinge mechanism at the back of the door today with a factory replacement from Go Westy (the OG plastic piece in the center post of the spring was cracked). After installing and rehanging, now the door won’t even close- the top of the door trim is rubbing against the door frame and the back is higher than the front by probably 1/4”. I seem to have tried everything and am stymied. Any advice on adjusting the height or orientation of the door so it hangs and closes as it should?
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'87 Westy Vanagon GL- "Ruby"- Titian Red
'05 Subaru Outback

[DuncanS]

Have you got the right part? There were two different latches. Don't remember the date change off hand, but there are topics here covering it.

Duncan

[djkeev]

I would first visually examine the latch to make sure they are identical.

Then pull out the Bentley, they have a write up on adjusting the doors.

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[howdyhoss]

I have the right part. I will also look into the Bentley section. Here are a few pics:

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'87 Westy Vanagon GL- "Ruby"- Titian Red
'05 Subaru Outback

[DuncanS]

Judging by the clearance between the upper edge of mounting plate to the opening in the tin compared with the bottom, the plate is bolted too low forcing the door up. Are the bolt holes not ovoid to allow adjustment? You could chew away at the upper arcs of the bolt holes and get the door to drop lower. But that is not right. There is something fishy here unless you don't have the mounting bolts at their highest position.

This is mine. The only thing I see different is the shape of the door tin between the two mounting bolts. The wedge shape is skinnier on mine. Yours is definitely not like my '91. But I also note that there are two coils on the spring before the upper edge of the mounting plate on yours, whereas I only have one.

Not sure this helps at all.

Duncan

[howdyhoss]

Duncan, thank you for the comparison. I don’t think mine is far off from yours in term is positioning- I think my phone was taking the photo from a slightly different angle. I just can’t comprehend how to get the hinge end of the door lower than it is currently sitting. It needs to shift downward about 1/4 inch. But the bracket/ bolt sockets don’t have enough play to accommodate that much extra room to lower the door. I am hitting the rain channel under the pop top with the trim of my door on the back 1/3 of the door and it is about 1/2 inch too low in the front of the door. I’ve tried adjusting the bracket at the front of the door as well.
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'87 Westy Vanagon GL- "Ruby"- Titian Red
'05 Subaru Outback

[DuncanS]

If you want to keep the hardware you have, open up the holes and let the back hinge slide up and drop the roller bracket by a half.

[rmcd]

I had already “fixed” my slider several years ago with new springs and cleaning when it suddenly the slider started to open at random a week ago. This time I went full Monty with the full gowesty kit.

After the install the Door has closed tighter than ever.

https://www.gowesty.com/product/lock-latch/25454/sliding-door-latch-full-rebuild-bundle?v=


I spent more time using a magnet to find the pull-rod circa clip(s) in the gravel than I did on the kit install. Yes. I dropped both!!! Yes. I was laser focused on not letting them tiddlywink into my seeing holes or fall onto the ground. And Yes. I may be a moron.
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VW LT40 build. Like a Vanagon but 30% larger in every direction and 40% slower even in metric.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749359&highlight=

[sanchius]

I went through a similar journey, but didn't fix it until I replaced the rear latch mechanism. Examine the rear latch from the inside when closed. It may not align or it may only catch the 1st latch hook, not the second one.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?searc...ults=posts
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