Sliding door fell off. Help!!!

prescor · 12-15-2004, 04:17 PM

This evening the sliding door on my '94 Caravan fell off. The rear rollers popped out of the track, followed shortly by the upper roller. The bottom rollers are still in their track. But the door is miserably propped up against the side of the Van.

I surmise that everything needs to go back where it belongs with the door more or less in the closed position, but I honestly have no idea. This is my only mode of transport. Please help!

Desperate,
...ROMeyn

prescor · 12-15-2004, 05:06 PM

I discovered how to remove the trim over the track and the rear taillight. I removed the two bolts from the lower arm to completely free the door, but now I'll be damned if I can get the door in! I removed the stop from the rear of the middle track, but I'm only one man and its 15 degrees (F) outside. The rollers look SHOT all the way around, but I need to get the door back on to get it anywhere to get them replaced.

ARGH!!!!

murph7727 · 12-17-2004, 02:30 PM

You should be able to adjust the arms by loosening the bolts and sliding the arms on the bottom forward or backward and the top by sliding it front to back. Trial and error seems to be the only way to get the correct adjustment right. Good Luck!

Passport2LaTierra · 01-01-2005, 10:34 PM

I have a '93 GVoyager and the sliding door fell off for me a little while back. I ended up getting it sort of closed so that I could get home with it. To fix it though, I had to take the entire door off, i.e. undo the bolts for the top and bottom arms. Then once you have the trim piece off, get the rear arm in first, then redo the bolts. The rear rollers' track had gotten bent outward, so that's why it fell out, but it was impossible to get it back in by the same manner.

jet64155 · 02-15-2005, 09:07 PM

My door has fallen off too. Looks like the rollers may be bad on the piece that slides below the window. Has anybody else replaced this part?

Thanks in advance.

HiRez_L · 02-16-2005, 01:49 PM

On my 94 just last week, I pulled into the Sears parking lot, went and got my kids out of the sliding side door, and the dang door fell right off! It had been getting kind of stiff for a few weeks, and I kept telling myself I needed to grease the tracks, but I hadn't gotten to it . . . I went into Sears and bought a tube of grease and a phillips screwdriver, took off the trim piece that covered the track on the side, greased it up, put the door back on, then discovered it had bent the track coming off. So I ran back into Sears, bought a hammer, beat the track back into place, and replaced the trim piece. Door has worked smoothly since. But nothing looks quite as whiskey tango as a door falling off in the Sears parking lot, then a guy fixing it with a hammer . . . my wife says next thing you know, we'll have cars up on cinderblocks in the front yard

jet64155 · 02-16-2005, 02:52 PM

Funny! Funny story! Sounds like something that would happend to me. Hope your kids didn't see any of their friends, because that would have embarrassed them to death!

When you popped the trim part off, did you just remove the 2 screws in the front, then the 2 bolts that hold the tail light assembly in place? I tried doing that and it felt like the trim piece was secured somewhere on the top. So I was afraid to yank the piece off of there. It does feel like the track is bent.

HiRez_L · 02-17-2005, 09:48 AM

I actually had nothing but a phillips screwdriver, which I bought at Sears right then to fix it, so i removed the screws from the front, but couldn't get the trim off at the back as I didn't have a 10mm socket driver to get the taillight off. So I just let the bend in the trim function as a hinge and swung the whole thing out . . . it looked horrible, but it worked. And after I got it repaired, I swung it back and screwed down the front, it looks fine now.

jet64155 · 02-19-2005, 12:39 PM

Thanks for all the help folks! I got my sliding door repaired. The track was even bent towards the back of the track as well, and I banged it back in with a hammer. I did have to bend the track out a little bit to get the rollers back on the track, and I had to replace a screw because I dropped it and it rolled away. But the door is working and we don't have to swing the baby over the front captains chairs anymore. These message forums are great. Now, does anybody know how to roof a house?

HiRez_L · 02-21-2005, 09:19 AM

Sure . . . but it's not relevant to these forums

Did you grease the tracks for the door while you had the trim off?

jet64155 · 02-21-2005, 11:40 AM

Yes, I know it isn't relative to this forum, it was a joke. My family think I know about stuff, but I find all my answers on forums like these from people who actually do know things.

I did grease the grease the track up real well while everything was exposed. The door is sliding along very well now. Thanks for all your help!

HiRez_L · 02-21-2005, 11:47 AM

I think of it this way:
All of us know a little bit about something. Collectively, we know a lot about a lot of things.

mknudstrup · 12-28-2010, 10:39 AM

I did as you all recommended and the job took less than 30 minutes. I thought I was in for some serious effort. I took off the trim and also unbolted the upper arm for the door. Then I wrangled the back sliding mechanism into the track and hammered the track back into place. Then I bolted the upper assembly on, put on the trim, added some WD40 and I was in business. Thanks for all your help!!! Mike

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