Bum wheel on bottom pilothouse door slider rail

[HeadedToTexas]

Anyone have experience taking the sliding doors off your Helmsman 38 / Mariner 37? My port door has a serious hiccup that requires a push from my foot to open past about one foot. I am hoping the door simply lifts out of the bottom track to expose a couple wheels that can easily be replace. Is that the case?

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I have a different boat, but the problem seems universal. The original roller wheel is likely inset into the door and was intended to roll on a brass rail in the door threshold. The wheels stop rotating and soon get flat spots. The chances of finding a perfect replacement are nil. There are threads here that show retrofitting a screen door roller, etc.

What I did, once I found the position that allowed the door to be lifted and removed, was to completely remove the old wheels. I then found some fairly hard and slippery plastic and cut it in to a strip that would jam fit into the old slider rabbit. I now use a few drops of silicon/teflon lubricant on the brass slider that the old wheels used to roll on. If it gets hard to slide, I wipe off the slider and put down a couple drops of lubricant.

 

[markpierce]

Not a fan of sliding pilot house doors. Prefer Dutch doors.

 

[Tator]

The wheels on my pilothouse doors run on a brass track. The wheels are shot but I find that a couple of squirts of Boeshield twice a year on the track keeps the door opening smoothly. Sometimes I forget to tell my wife that I've lubricated it and she'll open the door only to find it slamming hard into the back stop.

tator

 

[Frosty]

Not a fan of sliding pilot house doors. Prefer Dutch doors.

I like Dutch doors too, but the people in this thread are looking for ways to improve the sliding doors/wheels on boats they already own.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

So the consensus is to lube the track and the bum wheel rather than find a replacement wheel. Sure sounds less invasive. Less expensive too.

So Boeshield T-9, eh?

 

[Nocanvas]

Ask Scott Helker at Helmsman. There are a lot of us looking at the issue. Who knows maybe Helmsman will develop a worthy fix kit to solve this issue

 

[PM]

I had to remove the door on my Albin to get the engine out. While it was out I refinished it and replaced the wheels.

Getting the door off was a real pain. I had to actually cut some trim off to allow ample slide.
Next time it will be easier.

pete

 

[Tator]

T-9, yep.

 

[Choices]

I built rollers for my Europa out of nylon washers. Did not last. Then I cut a starboard square with a groove in it and made it as big as would fit. Works perfect, does not wobble, very tight. Of centered hole do I can rotates sqr to different door heights.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Hmmm, another example of sliders working better than rollers.