get an '86 and up van, the redesigned door mech. is so much easier to
open and close.

or

-clean and lube all the parts of the door. Means taking things apart.
No really Don, it does mean taking things part :)
-make sure the lower roller is actually rolling in bottom track and
that the L shaped bracket is not scraping
-cover the slider that is under that cover below rear side window with
UHMW polyethylene low friction self adhesive tape (Lee Valley is one
source)

alistair

On 5-Mar-11, at 8:51 AM, Don Hanson wrote:

>  I've always been able to tell when someone nearby is camping in a VW
> Vanagon...I hear the distinctly Vanagon sound of the slider being
> closed.
>
>  Has anyone ever found a way to shut the side door of a vanagon
> quietly?
> No problem doing so if you take it slow, from the outside, and push
> in near
> the rear hinge, I know...but from inside, sliding it forcefully
> ahead seems
> to be the only way, and often if you try to minimize the noise of
> this, it
> fails to latch, so you end up making the noise twice.
>
>   I think it's sort of rude, slamming my slider, when someone is
> camped
> close or in a tent..or sitting close by...Early mornings in our
> winter camp,
> I sometimes go into to my van to listen to sat radio news at
> daybreak...and
> when its cold, I want the door closed..."Whirrr whirrr
> whirr.....boom!"  I
> slam it to make the latch work and everyone within a mile on a cold
> still
> daybreak can be assured of hearing that noise.  Then, you have to go
> back
> out for any number of reasons, time after time....Whirrrr....boom!
>
>   Any ideas on how to quiet this process down?
>
>  Don Hanson