Visit our Popular Forums

wildwilly. · 09-30-2019, 07:51 AM

Last in innumerable issues with our 2017 Interstate.

**moosetags** · 09-30-2019, 08:05 AM

All I can say is WOW! Were you able to get the door back on track?

Brian

turk123 · 09-30-2019, 08:10 AM

Wheww! For a minute there I thought it was the Yeti door that came off! They seem to make a pretty good product compared to the other guy in the picture.

Is that an Airstream issue or a Mercedes issue???

wachuko · 09-30-2019, 09:07 AM

Ohhhh Wow!!!! How the heck did that happened!!?? What broke or became loose???

To turk123 question - that is a Mercedes issue...

In shock of seeing that photo!! Wow...

kidjedi · 09-30-2019, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turk123

Is that an Airstream issue or a Mercedes issue???

That was my first thought as well. While I'm sure you've encountered many Airstream issues, that one (which is a doozie) is at the hands of Mercedes. A reminder that "the best" certainly doesn't mean "without issue" (though your luck seems to be particularly bad).

dznf0g · 09-30-2019, 11:03 AM

Not necessarily....Did AS remove the door in order to have a larger opening to aid installation of innerds? Di it just come unbolted or break the roller assembly?

kidjedi · 09-30-2019, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Not necessarily....Did AS remove the door in order to have a larger opening to aid installation of innerds?

I suppose that is a very good point.

...

wachuko · 09-30-2019, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Not necessarily....Did AS remove the door in order to have a larger opening to aid installation of innerds? Di it just come unbolted or break the roller assembly?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kidjedi

I suppose that is a very good point.

...

Yeah, had not thought about that possibility...

AtomicNo13 · 09-30-2019, 12:24 PM

Did this happen while the vehicle was in motion?
I'd give a call to the nhtsa for sure!

eubank · 09-30-2019, 12:39 PM

Just poking around on the web, it appears that issues with the door on the Sprinter chassis are not that terribly uncommon. And evidently not that hard to repair if you have some tools. Couple of videos on YTube show how to remove the step cover to access the moving parts.

Airstream does have a video on the construction of the Interstate from the chassis. It is a little hard to tell for sure, but it doesn't look like Airstream removes the sliding door in order to install components inside.

Lynn

InterBlog · 09-30-2019, 03:43 PM

Waiting for the OP to provide additional context...

FlyFishinRVr · 09-30-2019, 04:42 PM

I believe someone else in the community mentioned that as part of the upfit process, AS removes the door. There can be multiple issues as a result, most of which revolve around the door being misaligned when it's put back on.

In any case, this is likely an AS problem, not at MB problem, but it will be interesting to see who steps up.

All the best in getting it sorted.

wildwilly. · 10-01-2019, 05:58 AM

I will post updates as we proceed with this issue, but first some background. We were toward the end of a one month trip to Big Bend and New Mexico when we noticed the sliding door was damaged in some way. At that point we were in Santa Fe and I contacted a MB dealer who said he was booked for weeks and was sure Albuquerque was in the same situation. We had planned to store the van in Dallas at National Indoor RV center rather than driving back to Florida so we decided to stop using the side door and the only access we had was through the driver and passenger doors. A major inconvenience to be sure!
We stayed two nights in the Vineyards campground in Grapevine, Texas to get ready for our departure and on the morning of our departure we had to get the Yeti out of the van. As it was still partially full, trying to get it out over the passenger seat was very difficult, so I decided to take a chance and carefully open the slider. Big mistake!
You see the result. The door had completely come off the top rail and was only being held on the vehicle by the arm on the bottom which itself was coming apart! I quickly determined I couldn't attempt some sort of repair as the door is very heavy and I wasn't sure exactly what to do without causing further damage.
I called NIRV and they quickly dispatched a mechanic. We were able to raise the door onto the top track and he was able to find one of the two fasteners that came loose on the bottom arm. With that we were able to get the van to their location for service.
The service advisor had never encountered anything like this before.
I am not sure if this is an Airstream or MB issue but I would caution all Sprinter owners to carefully monitor their slider for any unusual drag on the operation.
Does anyone have a contact at Airstream who I can contact to discuss this issue?

AirstreamInc · 10-01-2019, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildwilly.

I will post updates as we proceed with this issue, but first some background. We were toward the end of a one month trip to Big Bend and New Mexico when we noticed the sliding door was damaged in some way. At that point we were in Santa Fe and I contacted a MB dealer who said he was booked for weeks and was sure Albuquerque was in the same situation. We had planned to store the van in Dallas at National Indoor RV center rather than driving back to Florida so we decided to stop using the side door and the only access we had was through the driver and passenger doors. A major inconvenience to be sure!
We stayed two nights in the Vineyards campground in Grapevine, Texas to get ready for our departure and on the morning of our departure we had to get the Yeti out of the van. As it was still partially full, trying to get it out over the passenger seat was very difficult, so I decided to take a chance and carefully open the slider. Big mistake!
You see the result. The door had completely come off the top rail and was only being held on the vehicle by the arm on the bottom which itself was coming apart! I quickly determined I couldn't attempt some sort of repair as the door is very heavy and I wasn't sure exactly what to do without causing further damage.
I called NIRV and they quickly dispatched a mechanic. We were able to raise the door onto the top track and he was able to find one of the two fasteners that came loose on the bottom arm. With that we were able to get the van to their location for service.
The service advisor had never encountered anything like this before.
I am not sure if this is an Airstream or MB issue but I would caution all Sprinter owners to carefully monitor their slider for any unusual drag on the operation.
Does anyone have a contact at Airstream who I can contact to discuss this issue?

Hi wildwilly,*

We're very sorry to learn about this issue. Please send us a direct message with your contact information and the last 6 digits of your VIN so we can learn more about your situation.

Thank you.*

wildwilly. · 10-03-2019, 07:21 AM

Quick update. I was able to contact Airstream directly and it appears to be an isolated issue. Our bad luck! It appears to be a Mercedes issue according to Airstream. I now have to get it over to Mercedes for them to fix. We bought an extended warranty which on my quick read would appear to cover something of this nature but.....
I will continue to update the forum as this hopefully gets resolved.
Thank you Airstream and this forum for your help and support.

Tireman9 · 10-13-2019, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomicNo13

Did this happen while the vehicle was in motion?
I'd give a call to the nhtsa for sure!

X2^ re NHTSA

Mansderm161 · 10-15-2019, 03:35 PM

Wow. Good luck with all that. I freaked when I saw that. I'm on a 1 month trip from SC TO New Mexico. My sliding door is so heavy...I have to kind of slam it shut to lock. I already had the screen fall off...never considered the slider would fall off. I've driven minivans for years with sliders and never had a problem...you don't expect a Mercedes to have that kind of problem. Hope they get you back into great shape soon.

wildwilly. · 10-16-2019, 03:34 AM

Our door became very difficult to close which I realize now is a symptom of this issue. Make sure the arm on the bottom is not dragging on the floor of the channel. If it is get it to a Mercedes dealer quickly.
Airstream maintains this is a Mercedes problem. I haven’t been able to get it to a dealer yet but will find out what they have to say. Good luck!

wachuko · 10-16-2019, 06:40 AM

If you can share what exactly cause it... for others to proactively inspect and take action before it happens...

wildwilly. · 10-17-2019, 10:01 AM

I apologize for the time span on this thread but I am working remotely on the issue. We left the van in Indoor RV Storage in Dallas and returned to SWFLA. I was able to discuss directly with Airstream if it was there issue or MB. AS maintains it is MB's problem. My service advisor is currently working on a way to get it from there location to a MB dealer that services Sprinters. Once I get it there we will hopefully all get an understanding of the cause. In the meantime if anyone is experiencing an abnormally difficult door to slide examine the lower arm to see if it is binding or dropped down on the floor of the channel.
I promise to share the results as soon as they are known.