Glass Doors
Posted: January 28th, 2021, 8:40 pm
I see a lot of people call them sliding doors, but they _usually_ are actually rolling doors. And mine were awful. I didn't see exactly what I was looking for in terms of a "how-to" for fixing them. Maybe it exists and I just missed it. In any event, this is what I did in case it might help someone else in the future. I hope someone finds it useful, and I'm sorry a couple of the photos are sideways, but I can't be bothered to fix them. 
First, I was told that I should be able to simply adjust the rollers via the "screw at the bottom". There are two screws at the bottom. One large external and one small internal. The screw in question is the small internal one (See Figure 1 below). Tightening this screw will lower the roller which raises the door on that side. In theory, loosening the screw lowers the door on that side. In my case, none of it seemed to do anything. Time to dig deeper.
Figure 1
Next I had to figure out how to get the doors off. I don't know if it's the best way, but the way that worked for me was to first remove the plastic strip above the doors inside the upper track. There are four screws that hold this strip in place (See Figures 2,3,4,5 below). Once the screws are removed, close the doors and pull the strip out from the side while gently bending it to allow it to stay in line with the upper track (See Figure 6). Note that the strip is not symmetrical. Screw holes are off-center so it can only go in one way. In my case, the port end of the strip was further from the stop block and the starboard end was right up against it (See Figure 7)
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Ok. Doors are off. Next is to figure out why they were such a pain to open and close. Let's look into the ends caps (See Figures 8 and 9). In the top, mud wasps. In the bottom, what used to be "rollers" are now "grinders"
Figure 8
Figure 9
This looks really bad. So, cleaning out the mud wasps is easy enough. Scrape, brush, rinse. To get the rollers out, the lower end cap has to come off the door. This is where the larger of the two screws comes in. After removing the two larger screws (the ones above the adjusters) the end cap can be gently tapped away from the glass to remove it (See Figure 10)
Figure 10
In order to remove the rollers, you must first remove two small screws that are revealed after this bottom cap is removed. The screws are located at either end of the top face of the cap where it meets the rubber window seal (See Figure 11). After the screws are removed, use a screwdriver or punch or other similar tool to drive the rollers out the ends of the cap (See Figure 12). As you can see, my rollers were pretty much destroyed by corrosion (See Figures 13,14)
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Now it's time to put the new rollers (See Figure 15, 16) back in. In is much easier than out because the roller housings aren't swollen from rust. They should push in easily. Be sure to loosen the adjusters fully to the stops. You may have to tap the center piece of the bracket (that the wheel is held by, and that the adjusting screw threads into) away from the outer face of the roller housing (away from the head of the adjuster screw) and press on the wheel to push it all the up to the top of its adjustment slot. My experience was that tightening the screw applied enough force to pull the center piece in and, therefore, pull the wheel down. The wheel was not willing to retract up without some "encouragement". I think the best way to do this is to set the wheels all the way up, install the rollers, install the doors and then only adjust it down as far as absolutely necessary. At this point, installation is the reverse of removal being careful to install the plastic strip the right way round.
Figure 15
Figure 16
First, I was told that I should be able to simply adjust the rollers via the "screw at the bottom". There are two screws at the bottom. One large external and one small internal. The screw in question is the small internal one (See Figure 1 below). Tightening this screw will lower the roller which raises the door on that side. In theory, loosening the screw lowers the door on that side. In my case, none of it seemed to do anything. Time to dig deeper.
Figure 1
Next I had to figure out how to get the doors off. I don't know if it's the best way, but the way that worked for me was to first remove the plastic strip above the doors inside the upper track. There are four screws that hold this strip in place (See Figures 2,3,4,5 below). Once the screws are removed, close the doors and pull the strip out from the side while gently bending it to allow it to stay in line with the upper track (See Figure 6). Note that the strip is not symmetrical. Screw holes are off-center so it can only go in one way. In my case, the port end of the strip was further from the stop block and the starboard end was right up against it (See Figure 7)
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Ok. Doors are off. Next is to figure out why they were such a pain to open and close. Let's look into the ends caps (See Figures 8 and 9). In the top, mud wasps. In the bottom, what used to be "rollers" are now "grinders"
Figure 8
Figure 9
This looks really bad. So, cleaning out the mud wasps is easy enough. Scrape, brush, rinse. To get the rollers out, the lower end cap has to come off the door. This is where the larger of the two screws comes in. After removing the two larger screws (the ones above the adjusters) the end cap can be gently tapped away from the glass to remove it (See Figure 10)
Figure 10
In order to remove the rollers, you must first remove two small screws that are revealed after this bottom cap is removed. The screws are located at either end of the top face of the cap where it meets the rubber window seal (See Figure 11). After the screws are removed, use a screwdriver or punch or other similar tool to drive the rollers out the ends of the cap (See Figure 12). As you can see, my rollers were pretty much destroyed by corrosion (See Figures 13,14)
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Now it's time to put the new rollers (See Figure 15, 16) back in. In is much easier than out because the roller housings aren't swollen from rust. They should push in easily. Be sure to loosen the adjusters fully to the stops. You may have to tap the center piece of the bracket (that the wheel is held by, and that the adjusting screw threads into) away from the outer face of the roller housing (away from the head of the adjuster screw) and press on the wheel to push it all the up to the top of its adjustment slot. My experience was that tightening the screw applied enough force to pull the center piece in and, therefore, pull the wheel down. The wheel was not willing to retract up without some "encouragement". I think the best way to do this is to set the wheels all the way up, install the rollers, install the doors and then only adjust it down as far as absolutely necessary. At this point, installation is the reverse of removal being careful to install the plastic strip the right way round.
Figure 15
Figure 16