What it rides on is metal. A ball bearing carries the weight of the door
and rolls on a track on the bottom of the channel. This track can get
encrusted with grit, debris or rust (if it was bare shiny steel) and make
the door rough for a while. The track itself needs to be lubed simply to
prevent rusting in wet climates, but since it is not a slider the lube is
not required for lubrication only rust prevention. The ball bearing is
another story, yes it does need lubrication and I am talking about a
tougher oil than WD40 which is not really lubrication material. I use
Tri-Flow available at bike stores and has a tube which facilitates
application to that difficult-to-reach location. If your bearing is worn
out yeah it can be a rough slide. That might actually be a standard 22mm OD
skateboard bearing, I am not sure but it is commonly available at skate
shops. There is also a second bearing at right angle that slides inside a
lateral channel which is less of a problem. If the area has been neglected
for years I recommend a disassembly, inspection and cleaning.

You can also get a lot of resistance from the back slider especially if you
have used WD40 which as I said is not really an oil but rather a non-lube
that tricks you into thinking you oiled your stuff. I recommend
the UHMW tape mod as it reduces noise and needs no oiling. There is
probably a UMHW mod for the bottom channel too but I haven't done it. If
anyone has done it and has a report I'd be interested in the results.

-- Gnarlie

On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 4:55 PM, Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@gmail.com> wrote:

> Sorry -- 84 Vanagon........
>
>
> On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 6:54 PM, Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Went to clean out the van to go to BusFusion today. After being fine all
> > winter the sliding door is really hard to move, Seems to be lining up OK.
> > The track rusty and needs to be cleaned and re-lubed. Seems like
> something
> > is gone/broken on the bottom at the front of the door where it slides on
> > the track but I can't remember what it rides on there. Any info would
> help.
> > Thanks for your help. While I'm thinking about this it ocurrs to me that
> > this is my 15th year on this list -- a newby no more :-)
> >
> > Doug
> >
> > --
> > http://www.dougalcock.com
> >
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.dougalcock.com
>