Vanagon '80-'84 sliding door quiet roller how to

[OlisGarage]

Hello all,

Something that has really bugged me about my 1981 Vanagon TDI is how loud the sliding door is. I spent time cleaning and greasing every roller, but it was still super loud. I even replaced the lower roller with the rubber/plastic one available from multiple vendors. Minimal improvement at best.

For the last year I've been eyeing this roller kit from Germany:
https://www.mybusparts.de/schiebetuerlaufrollensat...vw-t3.html

here is a second link where it actually is a bit less, but I didn't buy it from here.
https://total-bus-bekloppt.de/produkt/vw-bus-t3-sc...uer-leise/

Well, after spending a day installing it I can say WOW!! This really made a huge difference. The door is significantly quieter now. Instead of the hearing every little bit of metal on metal echo through the door, it now is a quiet plastic whir.

It isn't completely silent, but it made a huge difference.

Step by step tutorial video:

Link


And a few photos of the installation.

Lower rollers all plastic:

Old upper slider was originally just a plastic block:

New is now an actual roller:

Rear slider and roller with new bearing and new black plastic guide piece:

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1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run)

[OlisGarage]

I know some people (specifically Alika T3) have had plastic roller break over time. I will update this thread occasionally to report back how it is holding up.

Currently, I am still super impressed. I was opening and closing the door again today (two days after the installation) just because I was amazed at how much of a difference it made.
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1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run)

[MarkWard]

Another great find. Thanks for doing the legwork. I refurbished our 82 door years ago and had to reuse the roller that carries the load of the door because an early replacement even metal was not available. Between this kit and my TDI adapter plate you found, I’m enjoying my van even more. Thank you

[danfromsyr]

one piece of input is just what is making the noise..
old bearings updated to improve the inner ball bearing..
and then the fact that the noise of the rollers ON the surface..
there shouldn't be grease on the lower track, it will attract grit and that will add noise..
the roller surfaces should be SMOOOOOTH
the original surfaces were painted and on some where the paint is still intact are quieter than those where the paint has worn off.
they get roughed up over time..

so take the side cover off, and sand the surface the roller rides on till it's SMOOOTH

and the same for the lower surface inside the rocker...

some have put UHMW tape in there... for that to stick it'll need to be a nice surface too.

if you repaint the surfaces make all efforts to get it smooth and use an epoxy primer and as HARD a paint as you can.

plus these plastic guides and rollers..
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

^^^

I agree that the contact surfaces should be as smooth as possible. My fear with the plastic is 1) it will break over at the worst possible moment and 2) it will develop flat spots and thudthudthudthud down the track over time

I'd say my slider is no more or less quiet than a newer van with a slider. Doing a couple well placed sound absorbing panels inside the door makes a huge difference as well
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[0to60in6min]

Interesting ! ! ! Thanks for the tip... but..

I used to have plastic rollers.. and yes they are quieter than the metal ones.. but...
They wear out sooner and break easier.. So I went back to the metal ones.. a bit of noise now and then doesn't matter anymore... I don't open the sliding door every minute when I park the van...

[danfromsyr]

my question on the early slider is the HUGE locking thunk from the latch spring.

I can and do slide my door slowly and quietly but I can't get past that gunshot thunk of the spring latch..

and fwiw to add to conversation.. some vans came with a post on the rear of the door for a 2nd interior handle.. this doesn't twist, it's just a point to mount the handle and allow you to slide and pull in the door w/o having to slide-slam it shut..
you rotate the front latching handle to open the latch, and pull in the back of the door and release the front latching handle. mucho quieter..

vans w/o the post can use a well placed nylon strap or somthing thin to grab and pull on.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=293043

[OlisGarage]

One of the first things that I did on the van was clean the rails. I sanded down the rust and then painted them. By now the paint had rubbed off precisely where the rollers went. The door has some dynamat installed, though no door card and insulation. That surely adds a bit to the sound.

I also greased and lubricated all of the bearings. The rear metal one still was loud. The bearing was loud and gritty too.

The lower roller was upgraded to plastic.

It was still loud after going through it all once already.

But, now it's quiet!

The plastic definitely isn’t as sturdy as the metal. You all bring up valid points. I kept all of the original parts just in case. Realistically one could replace the roller on the side of the road with a hammer and a thin screwdriver.

The closing of the door is also super loud.. not sure what one could do there. I want to add a rear grab handle strap to my door so that it’s easier to close. Currently I don’t have a door card, so it’s easy to pull inwards. But that won’t be the case for much longer.

I’ll keep updating the thread as well regarding longevity of the plastic parts.
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1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run)

[zerotofifty]

Ive been riding around in VWs since I was a baby, cant hear a darn thing now, so what's the problem with the door?

[MarkWard]

Here is an image I uploaded years ago trying to find a replacement bearing for our 82. The V shaped roller is for a later Van. It was sold to me as what would work. Obviously not.

The U shaped one is original to our 82. It was not available at the time. I cleaned and greased it as best I could and addressed the body channel. My point was that it's nice to see things come to market for the early vans that I did not know are available now. Not how can I quiet my sliding door. Olis Garage has a nack for finding things I have long given up on. I was thanking him.

I'm sure he will report back when his door falls off after jumping his van through the air.

[boxer74]

Any feedback on how this is holding up?
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74 Super
84 Westy

[OlisGarage]

So I installed the bottom roller 180 degrees wrong which led to it popping off of the bearing. But thats user error. I’ll post correct photos soon.

No issues since I fixed it. Still nice and quiet.
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1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run)

[tdivan82]

Thanks for the update Oli, guess this means my lower roller is on backwards too, lol. Time to flip it around. Those white plastic rollers sure make the door so much quieter.

I followed your excellent video when I replaced all my slider rollers over the summer.
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82 Westy TDI (ahu) = 70 mph uphill + 28 mpg

See my Classified ads for some super deals on Diesel Vanagon parts!