Hey,
I just wanted to ask how, those fortunate enough to have slidelocks, cope with them? When I lived in America, I gave up on trying to fix them. The passenger side is really hard to move, to the point where I can bearly lock it from the inside. but there is no way to unlock it with the key. The driver side lock cylinder is not even attached to the lock body, can't seem to get it on there. That little rod is just always in a weird position. I didn't really care about the fact that I couldn't lock my truck in America. Different story here in Germany with all those environmental activists that think they are saving the earth by breaking someone's truck. The people here can be really spiteful apparently. So I would love to be able to lock my truck.

Does anyone have a trick to making those slide locks work or an idea on how to get working locks while retaining the slide lock look?

Thanks in Advance

 

Cant really help on keeping the sliding lock other than pull the door latch assy. and clean all the old hard grease that has a lot of dirt in it.
Once cleaned and everything moves easily lube it again using a oil less lube and see if they work better then.

Now if you still have the lock plates in the door panels, I don't, they say you can run the lock rod up to the top like the later years but you need to drill a hole in the door & panel for the rod.
Just know the rod works in reverse, down is unlocked, up is locked.

On that same ideal you can replace your latch assy. with the later ones and like the above you need to drill a hole in the door & panel for the rod.
Just leave the sider lock in the door to finish off the panel it just will not work.

Now I don't have the slider part in either door and so the rods would not rattle I taped them to the door.
What a mistake I can not lock the doors from the outside as the rods need to move and I have new locks & have cleaned the latches.
My plan is being I want to replace the door panels is to get the later year ones and either use my latches and have the rods work backwards.
Or I may have a line on the later latches to work normal I would just need to drill holes in the door as the new panels should have the holes.

I have not tried this but what I see posted.
Dave ----

 

I'd try what Dave said. Open it up, clean it up real good(solvent), replace any broken clips, etc, and the lube it up with a silicone dry lube. Work all the latches throughout to break free seized components. worst case, replace the entire works with the standard style. I've never seen a "side latch" in these trucks before.

 

Her's some info on it.

Door Locks - Gary's Garagemahal (the Bullnose bible)

wd40 works good as a solvent to loosen the old grease up, plus it has some lube properties to it also.

 

My driver's side key works well because it gets exercised more. The passenger side needs more attention. Most of my issue was in the key cylinder. Lubrication seems to be the answer. I spray a shot right in the key hole from time to time. I've tried different lubricants over the years but now I use Fluid-Film for the door locks. I don't need to lubricate very often since trying it in the door locks.

For the ignition key a little shot of silicon lubricant keeps it turning smooth. I don't use Fluid-Film on the ignition key. I worry about electrical connections and Fluid-Film is dielectric.

 

A Little, (capital-L) heat could also loosen things up. WD-40 has a 1001 uses, but I no longer use it as a long term lubricant because it tends to gunk up and attract dirt which eventually seizes up the works. Kinda like the underside of a leaky oil pan. Fuzzy grease. A dry, silicone, teflon, or graphite based lube tends to avoid this. All my locks, hinges, etc get this. I use WD-40 on junk mowers and nut busting.

 

Thank You to all of you. With VW being shut down I have more than enough time to disassemble the locks lol. I will get to it tomorrow. It makes sense that the passenger lock is probably messed up from not getting that much movement. It is the Driver's side that is giving me a headache. The little rod that goes up to the lock cylinder is stuck in there in a weird position. It was never attached to the lock cylinder since I had it. Maybe taking the assembly apart and reinstalling will do the trick. Those little plastic clips just can't seem to hold the rod in the hole on the lock cylinder.

I will take a lock look tommorrow and report back when I have broken it completly lol.

 

No advice, but subscribing. I have the guts of one slide lock but nothing for the driver’s side. I have heard of a conversion to a later style but never chased it. Not much point in locking the doors when I cruise with the top off the Bronco.

 

When I pulled out the latches on my truck as part of the rebuild the 3 rods that attached to it came out as a whole and went into plastic bags till I was ready to put the truck together years later.
I was able to figure it out when I put it back together so I am sure you will be able to also.
Dave ----

 

Well, I am happy to report that both of my doors locks now work. The Passenger side is still a bit tight, but I think that has something to do with the rod to the slide lock being bent a little. An easy fix. On the Passenger side I just left the lock inside and lubed it up with some silicone. The driver side was the one where the rod would not meet up with the lock cylinder what so ever. I ended up taking that lock out, which needed me to take the window channel out, so I took the glass out. It kinda got to be a little bit of a bigger task than anticipated, but nothing extraordinary.
After fiddling the dang rods out of the door I took the lock apart, gave it a good cleaning, put some silicone on there and put it back together.
Someone must have wrestled with that lock before, as that little rod that did not want to line up with cylinder latch was just plain bent. I took it to a vice, eyeballed it and bent it back to what I thought it should look like. Ended up working like a charm. I am happy I don't have to replace the lock for the newer ones and I am even happier that I have working locks.

 

Good to hear they now work well done

Because I need the sliders for both sides, door panels and I hear the slides can break again I plan to go newer panels.
Now if I change the latch depends on if I can get them with all the rods or not and if they will work with the new key locks I installed in the doors or not.
Dave ----

 

I kind of like the slide locks. They are definitely annoying, but I think they are pretty unique. You just got get that lock rod bent just right so it doesn't bind. And it will bend slightly every time you try to take the door panels off.