Door Glides for the late 80's 300 Weekenders entry door

[speakrdude]

I know I've read something about this before, but have misplaced it.

How do you seasoned professionals handle the sliding glass door repair on the above mentioned boat?

Slides like is on gravel. Real ugly feeling. Are there parts needing to be replaced or simply lubed and/or repaired?

Thanks

 

[1956olds]

I lubbed mine but it didnt help much,i would think they are like a patio door with wheels.

 

[dwna1a]

I use an old FD trick. White candle wax, spray's attract dirt and grim. Run the wax across the track, it will form itself to the grooves and channel of the track. Clean the track first, be sure to remove all the dirt and grime. Once you rub the wax into place vaccum up all the flakes of wax. It will not be a permanent fix, you must reapply. I do it about very other month.

 

[Tritone]

Take off the top plate at the entry. It's attached with several small, short screws, so don't be ham fisted and loose them. Grab the sliding door on the sides and position it near the middle of the sliding distance (half open). From there you can gently pull the door out of the frame. It should pop out when you flex the frame. When you set it down, do it carefully because the frame is not robust and you don't want to crack the plastic "glass." Now you can inspect the rollers. I made mine work better by cleaning out all the crap that built up over the years. It's now so free it can be amusing when it slides back and forth in rolling conditions if I forgot to lock it down. If you're not so lucky you will find that the wheels are cracked or worn flat on one side because they stopped rolling smoothly. This is why I'd advise you to lubricate the wheel bearings instead of the track. If there is no traction for the wheel, it will slide instead of roll, and that will cause it to stick and wear into a block. If you need to replace them, please let us know where you found parts. We'll all need them eventually.

 

[SkippersList.com]

Its amazing how much crud can collect in the track (I think my boat is sitting higher in the water now!) I can't see ANY wheels in the door frame and it definitely is metal to metal on the track so I'm in the same situation. We were able to find the catch for the door at Lowes for about $3 ... it was when we were picking up the catch that I realized we could replace the rollers via Lowes as well. Not really any different than a sliding glass door on your house but I bet if you ordered those parts through the dealership you might have to finance them. LOL

 

[dwna1a]

This sounds more and more like something I should do. Is it just the screws in the frame that I need to remove, top frame?

 

[Tritone]

This sounds more and more like something I should do. Is it just the screws in the frame that I need to remove, top frame?

Yes, just the top plate that is parallel to that long piece of teak.

I learned this the hard way. As chance would have it, the first time I had invited guests aboard we got caught in storm with some tough waters. I could barely even see the bow so I needed my GPS from down below. The pregnant woman had to use the head. The door slammed shut so hard it locked the pin from the inside. Luckily I found a screwdriver and we figured out how to get in by pulling off the top plate. See above for more details.

 

[dwna1a]

This is planned for tomorrow's project....