sliding door lower guide/roller
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Joined: Apr 2000
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From: PNW
sliding door lower guide/roller
The sliding door lower guide roller has worn off (the rubber/plastic part of the roller) and the dealer wants about $80 for a new bracket assembly. The roller is cast into the bracket as far as I can tell and is not replaceable except by replacing the bracket. Whoever at Ford designed it so that the roller that takes the most load and is most likely to need replacing is not easily replaced (and the one that takes almost no load and will probably never need to be replaced can be taken off by removing one nut) needs to go back to school. Anyway, I don't want to spend $80 for something that I will have to fix again in a few years. Anybody run into this problem and have any creative long term solutions for this? Thanks for any ideas.
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Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Northern California
sliding door lower guide/roller
I agree completely, as this is a bad design. On my Aerostar, when the bracket and roller assembly became worn, it would cause the warning light and buzzer to flicker on and off when going down the road, from any road bump and normal vibration. Needless to say, this became very annoying quickly. I bit the bullet, and bought the factory Motorcraft part, I could of gotten a used one for about half the price but everyone told me since it is a frequently used part, chances are it may not be much better. I packed the roller assemblies on the sliding door with white lithium grease, and four years later I have not had any more problems since then. Ed...
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Joined: Apr 2000
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From: PNW
sliding door lower guide/roller
I just found out a couple of days ago from a different dealer that the lower door roller is replaceable. It's pressed into the bracket, or so he claims, and the cost is $25. So, now I just have to figure out which of the two dealers is right. I think I'll look into it further and see if I can do it without breaking anything before I buy the whole bracket assembly. I have less motivation to fix it right away now that my short term fix is lasting longer than I anticipated.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 1999
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From: Indiana
sliding door lower guide/roller
I have replaced the roller on my old 88 Aerostar, It needs changed on my 94. I think thats about what I gave for the roller was about 20 dollars several years ago. There wasn't to much to it.
Superdave
94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver
Superdave
94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2000
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From: PNW
sliding door lower guide/roller
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 22-Jul-00 AT 11:38 AM (EST)[/font][p]The roller is small and it's tough to grab. Plus you can't pull it using a gear puller because the stud comes with it. Or am I missing something?
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 1999
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From: Indiana
sliding door lower guide/roller
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 28-Jul-00 AT 04:34 AM (EST)[/font][p]If we are talking about the same roller, I thinking I drove mine out from thr rear with a small drift punch. Then put the new one on with a small socket for a driver. Kind of like driving a bearing race. As I said "I think", its been several years since I changed mine. I'm at that stage where things get sort of foggy after a few years 
.
Superdave
94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver
. Superdave
94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver
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Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2000
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From: PNW
sliding door lower guide/roller
The backside of the bracket on my Aerostar doesn't have a hole in it but I could probably drill a small hole from the backside and then drive it out.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 2,297
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From: Indiana
sliding door lower guide/roller
mikeman, can you get a small pair of vise grips on the stub part of the roller shaft(between the wheel and plate)? That wheel isn't pressed in there real tight. If you have a vise, lay the plate over the top of it with the wheel down, then smack the side of your vise-grips a few times with a little hammer and it will pop out of there. A couple of bricks or blocks would work also.
Superdave
94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver
Superdave
94 Ford Aerostar XL 3.0L
82 Ford F250 4x4 XLT,400 CID,C-6 A/T,8700lb GVWR. Black & Silver
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 1,746
Likes: 4
From: PNW
sliding door lower guide/roller
I hadn't thought of doing that. I just assumed that it would have been pressed in with more of an interference fit. But, if the press fit is not that tight, I'll give it a shot. I picked up a spare bracket at the junkyard so I'll refurb it and swap it in when my temporary fix doesn't look like it'll hold up for much longer.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks for the suggestion.
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