Confused? I am..

[mpill990]

As you may (or may not) know I am generally very satisfied with VW's design and implementation of our GC 680. I'd say it was the perfect van for 2 people for both long and short trips both in summer and winter.

But there is one thing that really bugs me ... how the hell do you easily close the sliding door from the inside??

There's no handle and no obvious place to get a proper grip and it always takes me 2 or 3 attempts to close it.

It closes fine from the outside so the mechanism isn't the issue.

There's a rubber bumper thing at the top but I'm paranoid that my fingers will get crushed if I use that so I just swing away merrily on the door trim at the window edge.

This surely can't be right can it?

I'm thinking that the best solution might be to close it from outside and then climb back in through one of the windows but I have the feeling that this might get tiresome after a while.

Please can someone tell me that I'm missing something obvious


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[WelshGas]

As you may (or may not) know I am generally very satisfied with VW's design and implementation of our GC 680. I'd say it was the perfect van for 2 people for both long and short trips both in summer and winter.

But there is one thing that really bugs me ... how the hell do you easily close the sliding door from the inside??

There's no handle and no obvious place to get a proper grip and it always takes me 2 or 3 attempts to close it.

It closes fine from the outside so the mechanism isn't the issue.

There's a rubber bumper thing at the top but I'm paranoid that my fingers will get crushed if I use that so I just swing away merrily on the door trim at the window edge.

This surely can't be right can it?

I'm thinking that the best solution might be to close it from outside and then climb back in through one of the windows but I have the feeling that this might get tiresome after a while.

Please can someone tell me that I'm missing something obvious


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

How do you Open the sliding door from the inside?

 

[mpill990]

With a very flimsy pull handle - it feels as though it will break everytime I use it.
It's not fit for purpose to close the door as you have to both pull the door to the left and somehow pull the far end of the door inwards to to successfully master the closing conundrum.
If we had a swear box in the van l would be a great deal poorer..


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[Bobcat01]

I use the handle insert and the window frame edge.
I fitted a sticky pad to the top door rail so that the door stops at the edge of the fridge unit. This makes it a whole lot easier to close the door from inside and outside as you are not moving it the whole length of the rail.

 

[Jester]

With a very flimsy pull handle - it feels as though it will break everytime I use it.
It's not fit for purpose to close the door as you have to both pull the door to the left and somehow pull the far end of the door inwards to to successfully master the closing conundrum.
If we had a swear box in the van l would be a great deal poorer..


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

I’ve had x2 GC now the first one was a pig to close, closing from inside and out. Vacuum is an issue but think it’s all about how it has initially been set up as the current GC closes perfectly normally on the first attempt. Opening from the outside you need to stand slightly to the left and use left hand ie pull to the left not immediately towards you.

 

[mpill990]

I’ve had x2 GC now now the first one was a pig to close, closing from inside and out. Vacuum is an issue but think it’s all about how it has initially been set up as the current GC closes perfectly normally on the first attempt. Opening from the outside you need to stand slightly to the left and use left hand ie pull to the left not immediately towards you.

Thanks for the info - I think I will try to adjust the catches by trial and error.
What could possibly go wrong

I think a big pull handle would be a great help but I'm a bit nervous about drilling into the door frame.

You can of course really give it a massive swing but the resulting crash would wake the dead ..

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[Sven Ole]

My problem with door leaves was clogged car and vacuum.

 

[Moonlight Motel]

Hi mpill
we have had the same problem. When you really put your back into it the door closes but as you say the bang would wake the dead!!! Sometimes it works but not everytime. While we were away all summer I took to closing the door from the outside and getting in through the front door if we were anywhere quiet. Would love to hear how you get on adjusting the catches
thanks
John

 

[Jay20cali]

In a Westfalia vw crafter/MAN you get one of these??

 

[Jay20cali]

A handle

 

[mpill990]

Hi mpill
we have had the same problem. When you really put your back into it the door closes but as you say the bang would wake the dead!!! Sometimes it works but not everytime. While we were away all summer I took to closing the door from the outside and getting in through the front door if we were anywhere quiet. Would love to hear how you get on adjusting the catches
thanks
John

Thanks John - nice front door technique - you must do lots of yoga
I would give that a try but we use an external screen cover which means the front doors only open a couple of inches..
Thinking about the catches I'm not sure if that will work as the real problem seems to be the last little 'kick-in' of the rear of the door. When closing from outside I just gently push the door in at the back with my left hand and it closes with barely a whisper.
What's needed is a flush pull handle on the inside near the rear of the door. The problem is fixing it as you'll need to remove the door lining and attach some captive nuts somewhere.
And also the handle would not be accessible when the door is fully open - so you would need super human hand eye coordination
My friend had a T6 and I'm sure his sliding door was motorised (but I might have imagined that). That would seem to be the best solution - they need to add that as an upgrade option..

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[mpill990]

A handle

View attachment 87756

Yep looks the same as the GC but as explained above it doesn't work that well

It's not the end of the world so I guess I'll have to live with the swearing

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[WelshGas]

Yep looks the same as the GC but as explained above it doesn't work that well

It's not the end of the world so I guess I'll have to live with the swearing

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

I suppose if you think about it, the base commercial vehicle on which the GC is based, the side door would normally only be opened from the outside, rarely from the inside. VW obviously haven’t thought through the fact that as a camper it needs an internal system that is easily used, which 3rd party conversion companies have cottoned onto.

 

[Jester]

A handle

View attachment 87756

Same as GC as you would expect ie standard crafter fitment

 

[mpill990]

I suppose if you think about it, the base commercial vehicle on which the GC is based, the side door would normally only be opened from the outside, rarely from the inside. VW obviously haven’t thought through the fact that as a camper it needs an internal system that is easily used, which 3rd party conversion companies have cottoned onto.

Yes exactly right. What do the third party companies do differently and I wonder if their solution can be fitted to a GC?
Thanks
Mike

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[andrew bazeley]

As you may (or may not) know I am generally very satisfied with VW's design and implementation of our GC 680. I'd say it was the perfect van for 2 people for both long and short trips both in summer and winter.

But there is one thing that really bugs me ... how the hell do you easily close the sliding door from the inside??

There's no handle and no obvious place to get a proper grip and it always takes me 2 or 3 attempts to close it.

It closes fine from the outside so the mechanism isn't the issue.

There's a rubber bumper thing at the top but I'm paranoid that my fingers will get crushed if I use that so I just swing away merrily on the door trim at the window edge.

This surely can't be right can it?

I'm thinking that the best solution might be to close it from outside and then climb back in through one of the windows but I have the feeling that this might get tiresome after a while.

Please can someone tell me that I'm missing something obvious


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Sometimes I'm so pleased I have an original T5 Cali.To close the sliding door from the inside, there's a nice big loop handle, which (unless you've switched off the "auto") triggers the auto-electric close. If switched off, you can just pull it shut with the handle. like a French window. There's a button on the dashboard which you can press to close the door electrically, and another to switch it to manual (if you don't want to make a beeping noise in the middle of the night!). Don't the newer models do this?

 

[mpill990]

Sometimes I'm so pleased I have an original T5 Cali.To close the sliding door from the inside, there's a nice big loop handle, which (unless you've switched off the "auto") triggers the auto-electric close. If switched off, you can just pull it shut with the handle. like a French window. There's a button on the dashboard which you can press to close the door electrically, and another to switch it to manual (if you don't want to make a beeping noise in the middle of the night!). Don't the newer models do this?

No you just swing on the window frame like your life depended on it and it will close with a deafening crash.

No fancy electric closers here.

It's not actually that bad, if you're level and give it just enough force then it closes fine. It's just a bit annoying that they didn't give this a bit more thought.

But as I said above this is about the only thing I dislike about the van so I'm still a happy camper



Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[Sven Ole]

The door closed more easily after lubrication of hinges and castors.