Sprinter..Back Doors

[OntarioVanMan]

Ok guys heads together...Them back doors you can see light thru them they seal like crap..at least mine do...I was thinking them door sweeps like we use at home. You know they attach to bottom of door to keep draft down?
For the floor( I have the factory particle board floor)I am going to use 1/8 pink insulate and then put down maybe 1/4 to 1/2 plywood and secure it to original floor to insulate and hopefully if I get it right the bottm of doors will butt up tight to the floor lip. Any suggestions???

 

[terryandrene]

Is it possible that your doors are sprung a little and that is the cause of your not-so-tight seal. I had a similar problem with my, smaller thn a Sprinter, rear doors. I opened the door, pushed out on the top and pulled in on the bottom and after a couple of tries, I had the door repositioned and the good seal restored.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I'll try that Terry Thanks, but they've been like this for awhile...The doors are so big and thinly made it wouldn't take much to get them out of shape...

 

[dhalltoyo]

One thing that might help to prevent this "sprung" condition from recurring would be to prevent, or limit, unnecessary torsional forces on the chassis.

For example, I have witnessed vans with maximum loads pull out of loading areas and cross over the incline near the end of a tractor trailer ramp. At night you could see the dome lighting in the cargo bay penetrate the rear door seal of the van as it crossed over the uneven surface. As soon as the van leveled out on the flat roadway, the light stops shinning through the gap in the rear door.

Many of these large factories, with massive parking lots, have swales running across roadways to channel the run off from heavy rainfalls. When you cross them at an angle, the same torsional stresses are applied to the van chassis. The same holds true for railroad crossings, driveway entrances, speed bumps, etc. Hit them wrong when you are carrying heavy weight and you begin to see those gaps around the back doors start to widen.

Here is another little nugget for you: When being loaded, do not put you van into PARK. All of the stress from being bumped by a fork lift, or even the force from pushing the skids into your cargo area, is transmitted from the wheels, to the differential, up the drive shaft and right into the transmission. Instead, set the parking brake; leave the van in NEUTRAL, and chock your rear wheels on both sides with a pair of good quality chocks. The forces are now absorbed by the wheel chocks and the rear brake drums. Brake shoes are much less expensive than transmission repairs.

I have met countless drivers who experience rear transmission seal leakage and every one of them places their van into PARK when being loaded. I have never had any transmission problems, nor have any others that I have met who also leave their vans in neutral when being loaded. Even when I am under load, I stop my van, set the parking brake, shift the transmission into neutral, allow the brakes to accept the force of the load and then place the transmission into park; this practice also keeps undue stress off the drive train.

OK, now that I have saved you all countless thousands of dollars in repair bills…I am particularly fond of a good cup of coffee. See you all soon!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

well I think now I have thousands in my pockets I could spring for the price of a coffee....

 

[Moot]

I put my tranmission in PARK, but set the parking brake first. Any other thoughts on this?

 

[dhalltoyo]

Moot,

I had a lift truck guy that let his foot slip of the clutch and I saw the tires move as he pushed against the van.

If the tires turn, even for just a moment, the wheels are slipping on the brakes shoes, BUT the force is still being transmitted through the drive train when you are in PARK.

Think about this. You have 2000lbs in the cargo area; you pull into a rest stop and the parking spot is on an uphill grade; you stop and place the van in park; when you leave notice that additional force required to pull the gear selector from the PARK position and a strange little clunk sound that accompanies this action.

Now, pull into the same spot; hold the van with your foot brake, shift into neutral; set the parking brake; remove your foot from the foot brake; allow the weight to settle on the parking brakes; and then go from neutral to PARK. When you leave; start the engine, apply pressure to the foot brake; release parking brake and shift from PARK to either Drive or Reverse (depending on which way you are going). You will immediately notice that the gear selector moves easily without binding and that little clunk noise is gone.

Trust me, following these techniques when stopping and loading will save you from excessive transmission wear and repairs.

 

[Turtle]

My very first load ever in this Sprinter, a forklift operator who had never loaded a van before, rammed into it with such force that the steel step bumper is now quite dented, and the whole thing is a little off. The gray plastic bumper cover hides most of it, but you can still see it. It's not bad, not even worth fixing, but I know it's there. x(

A couple of inches to the right of dead center you can see the slight bulge. And the left side of the step bumper kind of curls up a bit (or the right side droops down, I can't decide).

http://img4.shareavenue.com/image.php?file=250d4a87c653ad7f9558f0b3f1c37245106a4452

I hate to think what might have resulted if I didn't have the van in neutral, the parking brake applied, and the rear wheels chocked. The wheel chocks were thoroughly tested that day.

Only good thing is that it happened on the very first load, got the ding out of the way, and now I don't have to think about freaking out if/when something happens like that.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Now Thank you all for the lesson in gear selection!

Back to insulating the doors thats the seams that is....

 

[Turtle]

On mine, there's a definite hole down at the bottom of the doors where they meet. The rubber strip doesn't cover down there like it should. It's not big, a pencil would be tight, but a fly can certainly get through. A half-inch square of weather striping should do it. Soon as I take the time to figure out exactly where to attach it.

Everywhere else around those doors are well sealed, especially since I installed the silver bubble pack, which extended around the ends of the doors a little.

 

[dhalltoyo]

OVM,

If the gap is at the bottom you may try placing a piece of rolled-up carpet along the top edge and then applying force inward at the bottom edge.

I saw my father do that with a cargo door on a plane; WWII vintage.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

turtle..them holes look like drainage holes I too can see a little light..also main door at top is definately air..I still have to do that twisty thing I think Dave said....

 

[Turtle]

If it's off-center, then it's probably something with the hinges. Those hinges are a little goofy to begin with, and apparently a few people have had problems with them. I think I recall reading something about that over on the Yahoo Sprintervan group, maybe something in the DIY section, too.

I think you can loosen the bolts on the hinges and make the necessary adjustments right there. Or something like that. If you can't find it over there, let me know and I'll do my best to find where I read all that.

 

[FIS53]

OVM have you tried to reposition the rear doors? They are adjustable. That's what all those screws are for on the hinges. If bringing the doors in a little doesn't help (realigning), then maybe you'll have to increase the seal to get no air space.

I got space on mine as I warped the right rear door carrying a load with the door open and cargo pressed to it. Unlike ford or gm vans the sprinter doors form part of your structural integrity at the rear, so they have to be tight.

Go to the sprinter forum on yahoo and download from files the door adjustment pdf file. It'll tell you how to adjust the rear and sliding doors. If you can't download let me know as I have this file and can attach and send to you.

Rob Fis