Problems fitting Dubflectas

[Borris]

Hi All.
Sorry if this has been raised before but have you experienced any problems fitting Dubflecta Retros to your Cali?

I have just been on to Dubflecta to order a pair and was told that after having sold thousands of these items, they had recently experienced an anomaly after a customer reported having had problems fitting them. Apparently, the customer told them that the Cali concerned had double glazing and this made the glass too thick for the clips. Whilst on the phone, the chap that I spoke to at Dubflecta measured the thickness of a T5 that they had available and I went and measured the thickness on our new Cali. It would appear that the standard glass is 3 - 4mm thick however the glass in our Cali is 5mm. It also seems to be laminated glass. I suspect that this is what the customer was referring to when he/she said it was double glazed. Was double glazing ever an option in Cali front windows?

So, if you own a T5 Cali with laminated front door glass and have fitted Dubflecta Retros, did they fit OK or did you experience any problems fitting them?

We would like to buy a pair if possible to aid night time ventilation without letting in the rain.

 

[pjm-84]

Yes and no. Recently fitted a pair of slimline ones and I assumed the laminate glass had caught them out. Driver side worked 95% from the go. Passenger side didn't. Be careful with the window motor. It will overheat and not operate until it cools apart from downwards only

Managed to cure to 95% the passenger side by opening out the clip nearest to the B pillar.

 

[Borris]

Yes and no. Recently fitted a pair of slimline ones and I assumed the laminate glass had caught them out. Driver side worked 95% from the go. Passenger side didn't. Be careful with the window motor. It will overheat and not operate until it cools apart from downwards only

Managed to cure to 95% the passenger side by opening out the clip nearest to the B pillar.

Hi,
Thanks for your input. It sounds as if they are only designed for the standard glass. In which case I will hold off on this purchase and discuss this issue with Dubflecta.
Thanks,
Paul.

 

[SimonB]

Hi All.
Sorry if this has been raised before but have you experienced any problems fitting Dubflecta Retros to your Cali?

I have just been on to Dubflecta to order a pair and was told that after having sold thousands of these items, they had recently experienced an anomaly after a customer reported having had problems fitting them. Apparently, the customer told them that the Cali concerned had double glazing and this made the glass too thick for the clips. Whilst on the phone, the chap that I spoke to at Dubflecta measured the thickness of a T5 that they had available and I went and measured the thickness on our new Cali. It would appear that the standard glass is 3 - 4mm thick however the glass in our Cali is 5mm. It also seems to be laminated glass. I suspect that this is what the customer was referring to when he/she said it was double glazed. Was double glazing ever an option in Cali front windows?

So, if you own a T5 Cali with laminated front door glass and have fitted Dubflecta Retros, did they fit OK or did you experience any problems fitting them?

We would like to buy a pair if possible to aid night time ventilation without letting in the rain.

Good afternoon Paul - the VW ones are £40.83 and £49.00 fitted, in the catalogue. I asked for these to be fitted onto our van and they are apparently clipped and stuck to make them really firm.
Don't know if that is significantly more than the other make. Hope this helps.
Loved the explanation for the name of your Cali. The Good Life was gentle humour and I'm sure the red setter will keep an eye on the van when you aren't in it.

Simon

 

[tuono001]

I hadn't known of this glass problem when I bought some cheap deflectors of ebay, thankfully they fitted straight in. All it required was two clips, though you do have give them a good shove into the run, couple of ups and downs and all sorted.
Is this laminating only applied to newer calis, mines a 2010 model?

 

[Borris]

Yes and no. Recently fitted a pair of slimline ones and I assumed the laminate glass had caught them out. Driver side worked 95% from the go. Passenger side didn't. Be careful with the window motor. It will overheat and not operate until it cools apart from downwards only

Managed to cure to 95% the passenger side by opening out the clip nearest to the B pillar.

Good afternoon Paul - the VW ones are £40.83 and £49.00 fitted, in the catalogue. I asked for these to be fitted onto our van and they are apparently clipped and stuck to make them really firm.
Don't know if that is significantly more than the other make. Hope this helps.
Loved the explanation for the name of your Cali. The Good Life was gentle humour and I'm sure the red setter will keep an eye on the van when you aren't in it.

Simon

Hi Simon,
What is it now, two weeks and one day? Ooooooo its getting very close!

Thanks for the info. To be honest I had discounted the genuine VW ones, without having seen them in the flesh when the dealer said that they are stuck on. However since this problem cropped up I will now look into these properly.

Can we have a full report on the collection and your first impressions please?
Best wishes,
Paul

 

[Borris]

I hadn't known of this glass problem when I bought some cheap deflectors of ebay, thankfully they fitted straight in. All it required was two clips, though you do have give them a good shove into the run, couple of ups and downs and all sorted.
Is this laminating only applied to newer calis, mines a 2010 model?

Hi,
I really don't know. I think it is was an option but I wasn't aware that my ex demonstrator had it. I must re-check the brochure later. If I can't fit the Dubflectas, I will have to look at the genuine VW ones.
Best wishes Paul.

 

[SimonB]

https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/media/56429/california_brochure.pdf it's page 32 for the details. I tried to copy that bit only, but it is a pdf & they do funny things to my software.

Friday 23rd on the train to Hereford then picked up from the station, have the guided tour & drive it home. Getting excited and nervous at the same time.
Take care
Simon

 

[Borris]

https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/media/56429/california_brochure.pdf it's page 32 for the details. I tried to copy that bit only, but it is a pdf & they do funny things to my software.

Friday 23rd on the train to Hereford then picked up from the station, have the guided tour & drive it home. Getting excited and nervous at the same time.
Take care
Simon

Hi Simon,
Thanks for the info. I will take a look.
We visited Hereford VW when researching and were impressed by how we were treated. Good luck with the collection

 

[larrylamb]

Laminated cab glass was included with the Travel pack on ours.

 

[CaliPuds]

Ah, that might have been my problem.... I posted an issue with fitting my retro Dubflectas (it's in the beginners section of the forum, about a month ago, don't know how to post a link from my iPad).

I do have the travel pack, which I think means I have the laminated glass. I had to leave the final set of clips off to avoid the window winding down again automatically. The fit is also very tight, I'm still not sure it's entirely right, but I never thought to measure the window width.... Off to do that now!

 

[Quinnster77]

I just tried to fit dubflecta retro deflectors to my T6 with laminate glass. Really struggled with the fit. I'm going to revert to the VW stick on deflectors. The dubflecta look better but I'm just not happy with the fit with the thicker glass.

 

[Meoncoast]

from a VW wind deflector user fitted 3 1/2 years ago - I wondered if they would stay fixed but they have with no issue.

 

[Borris]

I just tried to fit dubflecta retro deflectors to my T6 with laminate glass. Really struggled with the fit. I'm going to revert to the VW stick on deflectors. The dubflecta look better but I'm just not happy with the fit with the thicker glass.

Hi Quimmster77,
I have recently bought a new T5 SE with the thicker laminated glass front windows. After some research I discovered that there can be problems fitting the Dubflecta retros. In practice I had no problems at all. However before I tried to fit them I watched a short demonstration video on You Tube. Just type in "fitting Duflecta wind deflectors" or something similar and you should find it. Its by a company that fit this type of product.
Having watched the video I managed to fit them in about ten minutes with all four clips in place.
I made sure that the Dubflectas had been in a warm room for a couple of hours. I then offered them up to make sure that they were the correct ones. Fully open the window concerned. Ensure that the grove in the window seal is clean and free from grit and debris. Then remove the protective film from both faces and fit into place. Make sure to follow the intructions on where to fit the clips and which way round to fit them. Then open the door and get someone to operate the electric window switch whilst you assist the window up into the fully closed position by using the a hand on each face of the window. It may try to automatically return to the open position when it meets resistance from the clips. When I did it I found that with assistance the window fully closed on the second or third attempt. Once it is fully closed leave it alone for one or two days and when you next try it you will find that it works just fine. It takes time to settle down.
Good luck.

 

[pjm-84]

As above although my passenger side window has 3 clips in lieu of 4,

 

[briwy]

I tried Retro ones on our new Cali. Fitted OK but the windows wouldn't close. Realised it had the travel pack with laminated glass so reverted to Climair ones which we had on the previous van. No problem at all with them.

 

[DavidApp]

Hmmm, this raises some questions. Very rarely the drivers side has gone down again when trying to close. I also notice that the window catches the Flector more than I would think on the way up. I was even considering sanding down the leading inside edge of the Flector to remedy the rubbing. I had no idea there were different window widths as the seller never mentioned a travel pack. They fitted okay and don't really have any problems other then the very occasional window going down.

 

[WelshGas]

Silicone spray can also help, but the main thing to do once the window is closed is to leave it closed for at least 24hrs, and also make sure the clips are pushed in fully.

 

[Quinnster77]

I didn't mention I managed to damage the drivers side deflector with all the faffing about. Having to buy another deflector I think I'm going to buy the VW deflectors this time.

 

[splitmike]

Hi guys just to join the debate. Have you looked at the coolair deflectors they are a very good fit and don't have any clips just one tiny screw that goes into the wingmirror backing I've used these I my last 2 T5s without problem easy to fit they are not stuck on and there no clips to go in the channel.

 

[haydnw2]

At the risk of resurrecting an old thread, I recently (June 2020) removed Dubflecta Sleek from our T5.1 with laminated glass, because the clips simply weren't wide enough to accommodate the glass. I never got a good seal, despite following various bits of advice dispensed via this forum. Having removed the clips and tried to push them onto the window, they just won't go all the way. I know various people have had them working in the past, but it just wasn't happening here.



I emailed the people at Vee Dub Transporters, who are local to me, and they measured up the brackets on the Heko ones and confirmed that they were wide enough to accommodate the 5mm laminated glass. Sure enough, on arrive the clips are plenty wide enough, and my front windows now shut perfectly again.



Hopefully of use to someone in the future!

 

[Jontymo]

That’s great, ours are exactly the same even though I have refitted them a few times, really pees me off when washing the van and water runs down the inside of the window.