Rust on sliding door channels

[Chasethevan]

Hi all,

I am the new owner of a 2019 T6 and I have noticed that a lot of rust has formed in the sliding door channels (see picture). It also makes the door open rather rough. I did not notice this when buying the van, nor did I expect it after 5 years.

Now I have been searching on this forum and on the internet and have not found any conclusive answer as to the best way to approach this. What I have been able to conclude so far is that I should probably order a new set of rollers, get the door off the frame and wash off the worst with water and soap. Take the rubbers off the door, dry out the channel and treat rust with Ranex Rustbuster. Rinse and repeat after 30-60 min if necessary.

Now I still have the following questions (because I would prefer not to ruin my 'new' van):
1. Is the above approach indeed correct? I have only found it on one source.
2. If so, what would be the next step? Is there any follow up treatment needed after Ranex treatment and rinse? Or just replace rollers and put the door back in?

Your thoughts are very much appreciated!

Best,

Chase

 

[roadtripper]

Can't help with advice of treating it as is but once you have it sorted there is a thread here of various ways to stop water sitting in that void:

Sliding door lower roller guide / channel holding water

Hi all, looking for some advice. I have an issue with the sliding door bottom roller guide / channel holding water when the door is closed. If I open the sliding door after any rain or wash then quiet a lot of water runs out. It is also casing the channel to rush. I replaced the sliding door...

www.t6forum.com

 

[Chasethevan]

Thanks - I'm going to try it with WD-40 and a rough sponge this week and see if it helps. After that I'll try to follow the above to make sure it stays clean and free of water

 

[Wilma_BB]

Hi, are you able to provide an update on this please? We’ve found the same thing on ours and I’d interested to hear what you did. Thanks

 

[DXX]

It’s rusting because the paint has worn through not because of rain collecting. Remove the rust and re-paint, make sure the roller is smooth and keep the area clean.

 

[Wilma_BB]

It’s rusting because the paint has worn through not because of rain collecting. Remove the rust and re-paint, make sure the roller is smooth and keep the area clean.

Thanks very much. Will make sure we get a proper job done on it.

 

[Chasethevan]

Sorry for my late reply - I decided to focus on my van build first. For now I have sprayed the rollers and the entire sliding channels generously with WD-40 and took off the worst of the rust with a scouring pad. Looks a lot better already and runs a lot smoother.

Would love to hear if you found a way to fully restore it (like DXX's tip). I will update as well if and when I fixed it.

 

[DXX]

Unless you have sandblasting and paint spraying equipment it would be best done by a body shop.

 

[Heydave]

I have this issue also, noticed the rust marks along the channel, took it to the dealer who said it was normal as the roller takes the paint off.it can’t be right can it? eventually it will rot through! They said if it’s repainted , it will just happen again, it must be more common surely unless they’ve changed the design. Fobbed off yet again!

 

[Foofighter25]

It's rubbish.
Other vans have a plate attached to the channel for the bottom rollers run along to protect it.
I keep mine very clean and spray the channels and rollers with silicone spray every week. Rust free so far.

 

[Fin5150]

Shite design. This was a massive problem on the T4, a common point for major rot and failure.....I had 2 and they were both f*@*ed!! You'd think VW would have changed the design to make it more durable and/or drain better. Mine (2018 T6) hasn't started rusting yet, so gonna chuck some Lanoguard grease in there after I clean and dry it out. There doesn't seem to be any drain holes in the channel to worry about clogging up.....or are there??

 

[roadtripper]

A consideration with Lanoguard or similar is make sure it doesn't pick up dirt and turn into a grinding paste on the rollers.

As far as I know no drain holes, that's sort of the issue as there is no where to drain to, only back out the front.

I'd be very tempted to try something like cold galvanising spray to try and make the surface passive and rust resistant.

 

[Lucasimo]

I have seen several T5 and T6 vans with surface rust in this bit and it can be sorted by a clean and light oil every now and then. This will slow the corrosion rate down significantly.

Even if you paint it, the paint will still wear through due to the action of the plastic roller against the steel.

It's best to focus your efforts on protecting the bits of the van you can't see, such as: inside the quarter panel vents behind the bumper side parts, behind the wheel splash guards, behind the wheel arches etc.

Even better still is to consider talking off the plastic underbody protector panels and clearing off the worst rust and then protecting with lanoguard or Dinitrol. My vote would be Dinitrol as it lasts far longer than lanoguard. Lanoguard is good but I reckon it's best suited for vans which don't have underbody plastic sections as it's at least a 2 day job to remove the underbody panels (you'll always come across several badly corroded bolts that will snap or round off)