Which way do you park your van on a slope ?

[TEESIXY]

My van gets rarely used these days, and i have been parking it on a slope facing down hill.

I noticed today, that the area where the lower side door rail disappears under the bulkhead / cab area has quite a lot of standing water in there, presumably from rain, and washing the van. Turned the van around and it runs out of the bottom of the side doors. Just for info, really, if your van is parked up for long periods, it cant do it much good.

 

[Bav]

Received wisdom is to park nose down if you've got OEM sliding windows. Apparently this helps to minimise the chances of leaks.

 

[ei-aprilia]

Received wisdom is to park nose down if you've got OEM sliding windows. Apparently this helps to minimise the chances of leaks.

That's an urban myth , the key to no leaks on the oem sliders is to keep the rubbers and drain holes clean, I do it every wash , takes 5 minutes.

 

[DXX]

Once you see small rust flakes that have fallen from below the sliding window it’s game over, the steel frame will continue to rust and the sliding unit / seal will be moved away from the rest of the glass as the rust swells.
You can clean the drains as often as you like but if the water coming in is more than the drains can handle it doesn’t matter.

 

[ei-aprilia]

Yep but why does the steel frame rust in the first place? I power wash my windows regularly. Maybe I have just been lucky so far in that regard .

 

[Bav]

That's an urban myth , the key to no leaks on the oem sliders is to keep the rubbers and drain holes clean, I do it every wash , takes 5 minutes.

I've no opinion either way, I'm simply relaying the message passed down by our forefathers.

 

[ei-aprilia]

I've no opinion either way, I'm simply relaying the message passed down by our forefathers.

 

[Ruby16]

Nose down is not a myth, any water that does leak in can't reach the round drain hole at the front if you park nose up. Also, to clean all of the drain holes, i.e., the 2 slots, the sliding window has to be removed. Believe me it's not a 5 minute job. There are plenty of posts how to do this.

 

[Casual1874]

My van gets rarely used these days, and i have been parking it on a slope facing down hill.

I noticed today, that the area where the lower side door rail disappears under the bulkhead / cab area has quite a lot of standing water in there, presumably from rain, and washing the van. Turned the van around and it runs out of the bottom of the side doors. Just for info, really, if your van is parked up for long periods, it cant do it much good.

I was just about to make a new post on this issue, my van parked on a slope and left over the winter, as I take it off rd till the spring.
I have to open doors regularly to release the water that’s trapped.

 

[Dave A]

I was just about to make a new post on this issue, my van parked on a slope and left over the winter, as I take it off rd till the spring.
I have to open doors regularly to release the water that’s trapped.

A variation on the theme. We've had an offer accepted on a house with a driveway at about a 45 degree angle (and about 600 feet above sea level). Thinking especially about the DSG box, any thoughts on which way around I should park the van? The van isn't a daily driver.

 

[Bluesman]

@Dave A. My apologies if I have misunderstood your post but are you sure about the 45°? Pointing up or down, driving forward or reverse that's a hell of an angle to try to park on.

 

[Dave A]

@Dave A. My apologies if I have misunderstood your post but are you sure about the 45°? Pointing up or down, driving forward or reverse that's a hell of an angle to try to park on.
View attachment 308916

An approximation but looking at your drawing, lets say 35 to 40 degrees.

 

[Salty Spuds]

45deg is 1:1 or 100%

 

[StratosFearXX]

Park it sideways.

 

[Bav]

Surely a van wouldn't be able to drive up such an incline?... leastways, not from a standing start.

 

[CAB]

Surely a van wouldn't be able to drive up such an incline?... leastways, not from a standing start.

And not with intact splitter

 

[Bav]

And not with intact splitter

Yeah, the van's approach angle is likely to be sub-optimal too.

 

[Dave A]

Yeah, the van's approach angle is likely to be sub-optimal too.

If the sale goes through I'll work the angle out. It looks steep but sounds like I've over estimated it.

 

[T6Paul]

My drive is very steep. I park nose down.
The DSG would prefer me to park nose up!

 

[WinFreak]

Yeah, the van's approach angle is likely to be sub-optimal too.

Opening and closing the sliding doors would be fun too