van cab rubber replacement

Post by **Fudge** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:19 pm

Hello, the cab rubber on my van is looking tatty and I would like to replace it. Can this be done with the cab and van body in situ or will I have to remove the body? Any handy tips on this would also be great. Thanks

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:14 pm

hi fudge!

congrats on your taste in having a van

my own van is reaching the end of a [very] long restoration, and i recently did the cab/back rubber, with considerable help from aupickup and my husband.

what we did was fit the cargo area loosely on to the chassis, so that it was touching the cab section but could be slid into closer contact as needed. In order to get to this stage with your own van i guess you would need to undo all the bolts holding the cab to the back (which you will need to do anyway) and also the bolts holding the cargo area to the chassis.

Then we eased the rubber carefully into position, without cutting it. We worked from one bottom end to the other, starting at the lowest level of one side and easing round over the roof and down the other side. I'm not convinced that it wouldn't have been better to have started in the centre of the roof and work outwards in both directions. Anyway, the trick is to stretch the rubber a bit as you go, enough to slip it snugly into the crevice between cab and back, but not too tightly, not so as to really stretch it. (Then when you get to the two bottom ends, slip and stretch them right down past the b posts, while tightening the bottom bolts).

The tricky part is working out how and when to cut the holes in the rubber which let the bolts pass through and clench the whole lot together. If you cut/punch them before fitting the rubber they will be in the wrong places. If you leave them till you are actually fitting the rubber it is much harder to gain access. If i were doing the job again i would cut them while fitting the rubber - you have to slip the rubber into the crevice, mark where the bolts will go, then slip the rubber out again, make the hole, slip it back in again and put the bolt through. Faffy but possibly gets a better fit.

run out of memories, hope this much has been of some help! My strongest advice would be - take your time, and it's much easier to do this job with two of you, and preferably at least one set of muscles.

Post by **bigginger** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:37 pm

Nah, it's much easier to do the job with two of somebody else

Post by **Fudge** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:06 am

Cheers Wibble Puppy, I now feel I know what I'm dealing with. Hope the completion of your van is quick and smooth.

bigginger wrote:Nah, it's much easier to do the job with two of somebody else

Any offers (free)?

Post by **Fudge** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:18 am

Cheers Wibble Puppy, I now feel I know what I'm dealing with. Hope the completion of your van is quick and smooth.

bigginger wrote:Nah, it's much easier to do the job with two of somebody else

Any offers (free)?

Post by **Fudge** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:39 am

Appologies for the double post.

I only have mobile t'internet and it drops out (the future is not O*****)and says I haven't completed what I was doing so I do it again and it does it twice.

Post by **alex_holden** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:07 am

If you tell us where you are (probably best to fill in the location box in your profile), there might be someone nearby who could help.

Post by **FrankM83** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:39 pm

Thanks for that wibble puppy!!! you helped me also

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:39 pm

... although anyone who has done this job before is likely to look the other way very fast and be washing their hair that night "which night?" "any night"

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:41 pm

you're welcome frank - always chuffed to help any Malteser

forgot to say: leave a foot or so of the rubber hanging down below the skirt level at each side. You'll need it to grab hold of in order to give the rubber its final stretch.

Also, have a care when fitting the rubber round the cab gutter section, it will stretch in such a way as to leave a front-facing gap just below the gutter, and the best thing often is to make a tiny slit in the front-facing portion of that point of the rubber, to let it ease around the gutter.

Also, you can fit the rubber dry, ie no dumdum or sealant. Some KY jelly helps to ease it into the crevice (sorry, mods, blame Cam) but can backfire by making everything too slippery to get a purchase on. You can try it and wipe it off if it doesn't work for you.

ps I learned all this from aupickup who is a superstar

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:56 am

bigginger wrote:Nah, it's much easier to do the job with two of somebody else

Hey! are you implying that you have nothing to add to my account of how to do this?

If so I am very happy

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:00 am

wibble_puppy wrote:

But once you start rolling you can flatten a mountain...

Post by **Judge** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:02 am

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:24 am

Some KY jelly helps to ease it into the crevice (sorry, mods, blame Cam)

No need to apologise Juliet, personally I prefer to use Swarfega as its a little less slippery but it often comes down to what you have to hand.

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:41 am

Kevin wrote:No need to apologise Juliet, personally I prefer to use Swarfega as its a little less slippery but it often comes down to what you have to hand.

Apparently Swarfega is quite corrosive to steel. My dad's company used to sell a piece of test equipment that included a jar of it as an electrolyte. The prototype had steel electrodes in the Swarfega that completely corroded away within a few months.

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:23 am

Apparently Swarfega is quite corrosive to steel.

Really I hadn't heard that before, and its a hand cleaner that I have used for many years with no side effects, I wonder what's in it to cause that sort of reaction

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:28 pm

alex_holden wrote:
wibble_puppy wrote:

But once you start rolling you can flatten a mountain...

I'm not sure who should feel more insulted by that, me or BG

Kevin you are a cheeky monkey

Post by **bigginger** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:15 pm

Insulted? Me? Now I'm going to have to look at the first page of this again