Hey guys,

I have a 94 Aerostar with 174,000 original miles/original tranny/original motor.

I have read as many topics as possible but with dial up it's quite slow.

My question is, my slider is sagging and I believe the main roller is shot. I have read the top and bottom rollers do not hold weight, just guide the door. The middle roller holds the weight. My middle roller does not have rubber/vinyl around the roller. Also the track has broken at the front. What procedure is required to remove the door. I have somewhat decent mechanical abilities (rebuilt 64 Chevy, new motor rearend etc with some fabrication for V-8). I plan on putting a new track on which will probably require removing the inside upholstery etc and remove the door. It doesn't look easy but right now I have to slam the door and adjusted the top and bottom rollers to make up for the sagging.

Any input would be great.

Thanks

Aaron

 

By Krankshaft on FTE,

Well for all you curious about replacing your roller its a minor pain (like most work on the Aerostar) but I'll take you through it all the way from knowing if your roller is worn with the pictures I provided and removing the old roller off the assembly (the minor pain) and pounding the new one on.

First if you have the common zipping sound when you open or shut your side sliding door then odds are the rubber or hardened plastic that wraps around your lower roller has worn away and the ribbed serations in the wheel are hopping inside and outside of the serrations in the track when you move your door and that is creating the zipping sound.

Now what does a worn roller look like you ask look below at the picture of mine you'll notice the rubber is completely worn off and compare it to the new roller I ordered pictured below this picture.

If your roller still has some rubber on the sides and none or very little on the bottom it also has to be replaced.

Here is a picture of the new roller I got from Ford for $19.50 I ordered it from Fordparts.com and got it shipped to me but you can go to your local Ford dealer and have them order it.


As you can see there is a drastic difference between my old one and new one I had to break the roller off my old one in order to remove it but I pieced it together for the picture.

Now lets disassemble the lower roller assembly and get dirty first open your sliding door get your ratchet out and loosen and remove the 3 bolts that mount the bottom hinge to the door now hold up the bottom half of the door and pull the hinge assembly away from the door and near you just let the door gently rest on the body and don't move the door without lifting it from the bottom unless you want to scratch some paint.

Once done mark the position of the only at the bottom of the hinge facing up just run the pen or marker around the bolt we are doing this so we don't have to realign the door later once marked remove the bolt.

Now we will remove the top white roller this isn't the one you will be replacing but it must be removed to get the bottom hinge assembly out. After the bolt is removed simply lift the bracket that the white roller is on off the pin and bolt take it out and set it aside.

From here simply pull the metal lower hinge assembly out of the way now get a rag and wipe any mud, dust, or road grime out of the lower track you don't want your new roller to fail prematurely because of this also make it a habit to clean out this track often so your new roller has a long life. Now get to a table or a workbench the next part is a little pain.

Now the reason the roller is difficult to remove it because its pounded in to the bracket with a dowel similar how a carpenter joins pieces of wood except here of course theres no glue just loads of rust .

The first thing I did to my old roller is snapped the roller itself in half to make things easier. I did this using a claw hammer and brute force but a hacksaw or any type of splitter tool would work as well.

Once the roller is off heres what I did after the blow torch and penetrating oil failed I put the hinge on a vice and took a vice grip and clamped it to the dowel shaft I pushed the handle of the vice grip against the metal hinge itself and struck the vice grip with a hammer this pivoting motion caused the vice grips jaws to exert pulling force on the dowel each time it was struck and after a couple of tries and reclamping the dowel to get the right amount of grip on it. It finally popped free.

Now I'm sure if you had a hammer with a large enough claw to get this thing that would work too or if you drilled a hole from the other side of the hinge to the dowel and took a center punch or similar tool and hammered it out from the opposite side that would work which I believe Ford should have done to make it easier but I can't think of many other ways to accomplish this if you have another way post here .

Anyways now that that pain is finally off wipe down the hinge if it has dirt or mud on it and we are ready to install the new roller.

Now get your mallet out NOT HAMMER place the dowel end of the roller in the hole and make sure its pretty straight now strike it with your mallet with as much force as you can to get it in place since if you strike too hard your mallet with deform and not your roller thats the idea of using the mallet keep pounding until the washer on the back of the roller comes flush with the hinge bracket. Don't worry if the roller looks a little crooked when you start when you pound it in to the bottom it will straighten itself out.

Whew now that wasn't really so bad but I could have been easier .


Okay pick up the white roller bracket and hold it in place at the top of the bottom track now get the hinge assembly put the bolt for the upper roller in it and push the hinge with your new roller into the bottom track and slide the top roller bracket in to meet the bottom hinge. Now this top roller allows adjustment from front to back I hope you marked the location of the bolt or you'll be doing alignment work anyways install the bolt and tighten it in the same place it was before. The final step lift the bottom of the door back and slide the hinge to meet the bottom of the sliding door and align the 3 bolt holes put in the bolts by hand first and tighten them.

Test your non-zipping sliding door congrats your done

 

Or you can do like I did.....I took a scrap piece of Vinyl (Like the vinyl panels that they use in resturant bathrooms) and cut it where it fit into the track that the bottom roller runs in. My door is aligned and slides open & close with ease.

Jay

 

Your main roller has two parts the metal roller on top and the long plastic cushion bushing on the bottom. If this bushing is worn badly your door will sag.

Well here are the steps for your project.

Removing the center track and roller requires removing the door to do this have an assistant handy since this door is heavier then it looks.

First remove the sliding door track filler (the cap at the end of the track) it is either secured with 1 screw or it clips on either way get it off if your like me and yours fell off somewhere down the line good skip this step .

Now open the sliding door all the way and remove the 3 bolts securing the bottom hinge assembly to the door leave the assembly in contact with the door for the moment so the door doesn't try to rest on the body.

Now remove the top 2 bolts of the upper hinge assembly and have your assistant hold the door so its doesn't lean against the body move the assembly all the way to the right where the track curves in to get it out of the way.

Now with your assistant holding the door at the top and bottom to prevent it from leaning on the body move the bottom hinge out of contact with the door and all the way to the right.

The door is only being held to the vehicle by the center roller now and being balanced by your assistant holding the top and bottom now grab the door at the left since your assistant is on the right.

Now together slide the door to the left and to the end of the track once the roller is out of the track carry the door away.

Be careful not to pin your fingers between the door, track, or body or damage the paint by running the roller across the body after guiding the door off the track.

Now that the door is off you can loosen the bolts holding the center roller assembly to the door and install the new one. Now wasn't that easy made my explaination of removing the lower roller seem simple .

As for the track you are correct there are screws on the track side and bolts on the inside and removing the upholstery is necessary. Simply remove the screws with the bolts and the track will pull right off.

 

Oh yes and here is the page with the original post and pics to replace the lower roller just in case anyone ever uses the search function to fix the zipping sound caused by the lower roller .

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=331130

 

Krankshaft,

Do you have a part number for the roller? We are talking about the main roller on the center track right? I can see the roller and it has no rubber/vinyl also the track is broken away from the front where it mounts towards the front of the vehicle. The roller rides in the track and I believe there is another roller right above it mounted in the opposite direction and quite a bit smaller. I read how to get the door off and seems easy enough compared to what I was going to do and I will probably replace the track or put a sheet metal screw in it as others have mentioned. I looked on the fordparts.com site and they mention only the upper and lower roller as I believe they are that.....upper roller with the 2 bolts holding it to the door and the lower roller with the 3 bolts holding it to the door. I just want to make sure I get the right roller as when I tear it apart, i don't want to get the wrong part and have to wait.

Thanks for the information.

Aaron.

 

The center track hinge that bolts to the door comes as an assembly indexed in the diagram below as number 24. On the site they refer to it as the rear hinge assembly. I hope this diagram gives you more of an idea with which parts go where .

Feel free to post with any further questions.



<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=notes style="COLOR: navy" align=middle colSpan=5></TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #025589 4px double" colSpan=5><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>1) Handle outside</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>2) Pad</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>3) Lock cylinder</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>4) Lock cylinder Retainer</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>5) Striker On door</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>6) Wedge On pillar</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>7) Latch Rear</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>8) Striker On body</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>9) Latch assy</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>10) Cover</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>11) Handle inside</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>12) Rod Cylinder to latch</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>13) Rod Latch to latch</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>14) Retainer To door</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>15) Lock actuator</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>16) Guide roller Upper</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>18) Guide roller Shim</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>19) Reinforcement Lower hinge</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>20) Roller Upper</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>21) Roller Lower</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>22) Guide check Lower</TD></TR><TR><TD class=notes noWrap>23) Stop Upper guide</TD><TD class=notes noWrap>24) Rear hinge assy</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Okay, last question probably. We are both talking about the same roller right? I went to fordparts.com and they sell the rear hinge assembly as a whole unit for like 45 bucks. Did you say you can order just the roller for like 20 bucks? It's probably safer or make more sense to order the whole unit eh? Also, should I replace the top and bottom rollers with the track just to be safe? They dont appear to be worn but just dont want to tear it apart again. It's got 174,000 miles on her and still looks like new. Garaged most of it's life. Fordparts.com did not list the center track and assume it's not for sale anymore. Mine is broken at the front and it's worn out from the roller tearing it up. I hope my local Ford dealer can order it for me. I want all the parts with me prior to tearing it apart.

Thanks again

Aaron

 

The roller you could order for 20 bucks is the bottom slider roller number 21 this roller is the culprite if you hear an annoying zipping sound when you close your door. This is due to the hard rubber coating wearing off and the ribbing on the roller moving in and out of the ribbing on the track.

As for the sagging issue its probably becuase the cushion at the bottom of the center hinge assembly has worn away. Since thats the only weight bearing part of the door thats the only place it could sag.

If the door won't come flush with the body then you have an alignment problem and you will have to either adjust or replace the top or bottom roller.

The lower rubber roller must be pulled out of the lower hinge with vice grips since its pounded in like a wood dowel without the glue of course but rust in this area if you have it makes for good glue .

If you ever have to replace either of these theres no need to remove the door it can be left on the center hinge. Then again if you want piece of mind click the link for my guide on removing the lower rubber roller a couple posts up .

 

Well, I guess my rear hinge assembly is shot as the door sags and I can pick it up and it goes up and down about 1/4" either direction, I will replace that, and I dont think I hear a zipping sound but while it's apart, just may replace it to be safe. Now the blessed thing wont open, think a rod is bent in door. It seemed to be aligned fine until I adjusted it to make up for sagging. This will be fun I'll leave my duty weapon at work LOL.

Thanks for the help, I'll post what happens when I get the parts, may be a week or two as I'm goin camping over memorial weekend and will probably be broke when I get back and I have some bids on Ebay for fishin poles , priorities eh? LOL.

Thanks Krankshaft

Aaron

 

I'll keep an eye out for this post .

Have a nice vacation .