He noticed that the door felt a little rough and noisy. A couple of months ago we pulled the door and had a look (as well as cleaning and lubricating).

The worn out bearings were very obvious. One was badly rusted and the seals were gone.

These bearing act more like guides than real bearing bearings :). You know what I mean, they keep the door vertically aligned when opening.

I'd like to hunt up smaller OD versions and see if I can sleeve them with plastic or something to reduce the steel on steel noise.

Alistair

> On Jul 27, 2015, at 7:22 AM, Tyler Hardison <tyler@seraph-net.net> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the heads up!
> 
> What are the primary signs that the bearings are wearing out?
> 
> --t
> 
>> On Monday, July 27, 2015, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
>> The two 22 mm OD bearings that sit in horizontal position under the sliding door cover . I just replaced a couple on friends van. The originals were worn out, one of them very worn out.
>> 
>> Friend bought four online, around 2 bucks each. Double seal, deep groove bearings. OD 22mm, ID 8mm, thickness 7mm.
>> 
>> They sit on studs on the door mechanism, held in place by circlip. Circlips replaced by E clips.
>> 
>> Just a heads up, less expensive to buy the bearing by specifications rather than the VW part number (251.843.425A).
>> 
>> Alistair