Point-y corner on both f. doors- hazard in parking lot

pinetreeporsche

I always tell my passenger not used to the wide swing of our doors to be careful not to dent or at least nick the paint on the car parked next to us. I'm pretty careful myself, but wondered if someone has devised a soft bumper to slip over the pointy corner to save adjacent cars.

IdahoDoug · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:44 pm Post subject:

Check in stores that carry childrens stuff. You'll find self adhesive corner protectors that will probably work well, and since they're a kid safety item they tend to have liability associated and thus are better quality. We put a few things like that around our house when the kids were little. Corners of tile fireplaces, edges of wood stairs, etc.

Otherwise an auto upholstery shop sells a vinyl U shaped product designed to go on a sheetmetal edge. It has metal inside the vinyl so grips strongly. Would be a stout door edge guard for that. Something like "welting" I think? I have some from another project. Its a couple bucks a foot.

DougM
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dobryan · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:01 am Post subject:

I looked at that as well, but the door fits too tight when closed to put much of anything on the corner. BTW, my wife's Jetta (parked next to the bus in our garage) has about 20 door dings on the drivers front fender from the bus being opened by our son when he was younger. We just ignore those ....
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Gnarlodious · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:06 am Post subject:

I just put some silicone on them years ago and it has worked well.
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pinetreeporsche · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:45 pm Post subject:

IdahoDoug · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:15 pm Post subject:

I did a silicone blob 15 years ago on the deck of our boat against something chronically wacking it. Incredibly, it is still there after all that weathering with no sign of clouding or aging. It's clear silicone and I think it must have been some fancy high end Marine Grade. Find that, and he is right you can put a blob on the door corner and it will simply stay there.

Your door edge gaps must be tighter than mine. Mebbe because I took them off for painting and reinstalled all the panels myself. Hmmm, better start comparing my gaps to other Vanagons.....
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Gnarlodious · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:51 pm Post subject:

Nuttin fancy… just quality silicone. For best results use a soft (fine thread) piece of cotton soaking wet to shape the goo.
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syncrodoka · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:02 pm Post subject:

A couple VW logo'd ebay options.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Set-Real-Rubber-Car-Side...mp;vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Door-Edge-Guards-Striped-A...mp;vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Pair-Rubber-Car-Door-Pro...mp;vxp=mtr

There were some rubber bumpers stuck to the front doors of my old '91 that were really effective. The profile looked like a hollow rubber tube with a flat section that was attached to the door with sticky tape. I haven't been able to find a replacement unit similar for my vans.

morymob · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:53 am Post subject:

A short piece of rubber tubing split dn one side add glue.

dobryan · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:50 am Post subject:

syncrodoka · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:34 am Post subject:

Yes, they don't cover the corner but the one that I had on the old van didn't either and it did a decent job of protecting adjacent vehicles in parking lots. I admit the solution isn't perfect if the other car is low enough for the front door to swing over a little. Training passengers to be aware of the door swing helps tremendously. Wink

dobryan · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:40 am Post subject:

campism · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:49 am Post subject:

You could mask the door corner edge and paint the area in question with several thin coats of plastic tool dip to build up a coated, cushion-y edge. The dip stuff is now available in several colors.
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dobryan · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:50 am Post subject:

Home Team Van · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:18 am Post subject:

I've seen something that looks pretty close to the trim pieces some folks use on their Vanagon gutters.
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WandS · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:18 am Post subject:

Might try and work this option out from a Jeep.

It is an adjustable limiting strap. Wide open when camping, but you can set it tighter for day to day. Not sure how hard it would be to get out of the van, but just a thought.

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Christopher Schimke · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:20 am Post subject:

A super simple solution would be to cut out a few 1" square pieces of bicycle inner tube, glue a couple of layers together, then attach (glue, rivet, screw, whatever) the layered bumper onto the outer surface of the door edge so that the edge of the rubber extends out past the door edge by a 1/4" of so. The rubber will fold under/around the edge of the door when pushed up against an object like another car. If you trim the rubber patches with some nice rounded corners and glued them to the door, it wouldn't look half bad either.

An alternative to letting the edges overhang a bit would be to cut a triangle relief section out at the corner that would allow you to fold the remaining flaps under/around the edge of the door where you could glue them down. The only issue with this might be the thickness of the rubber compared to the width of the door opening gap.
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photogdave · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:56 am Post subject:

I just use the slider! Razz

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dobryan · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:01 am Post subject:

Jake de Villiers · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:07 am Post subject:

The Terrawagen Postal Flares do a great job of covering up that nasty point - and making your van look better at the same time!

Correction! The flares do not cover the pointy end of the door...
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Point-y corner on both f. doors- hazard in parking lot
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