One of the van upgrades that we planned to do on the road was adding a diy magnetic bug screen to the sliding door. Our travels will take us through some areas with bugs and we like keeping our sliding door open after the sun starts to go down. One of the few vans that had a bug screen on a Promaster was @gratefulpursit on Instagram so we imitated their method. This method should work for most vans where you can remove the gasket on the sliding door.
We ordered magnetic bug screens from Amazon (Buy on Amazon). The screen has magnets in the middle to allow the two sides to stay closed.
First, we measured the height and width of the sliding door. Then, we added a few extra inches to the measurement as the screen will have to pass under the door gasket and a little bit of extra material helps it close automatically. We trimmed the top and sides of the screen to match our dimensions. Make sure your screen door is not so long it interferes with the sliding door closing. If you end up having extra screen door outside of the gasket, you can always trim it later.
We carefully pulled the gasket off the door and fed the top and sides of the screens under it so when reattached it holds the screen down. We fed the screen from the inside of the van to the outside of the van under the gasket. We did this so the door closes only on the gasket not on the screen. When the screen is in the right spot push the gasket back on to the door frame. You may need to do the gasket piece by piece and work your way around the door.
It may take a few tries to get the screen lined up correctly under the gasket.
If you cannot remove the gasket, you may be able to use the same type of screen with velcro or magnets to adhere the side and top of the screen.
We are pretty pleased with the result. It doesn't always close automatically, but it easily can be closed by hand when it doesn't. It stays closed once it is closed and stands up to decent wind coming into the van.
An added bonus of this setup is that the magnets allow the screen to be attached in the open position to the sides of the van.
There is a gap where the screen overhangs the floor, but we haven't found bugs really coming in through the gap. If it becomes a problem we may add magnets to the bottom edge of the screen to try to keep it flush with the floor.
Here is the screen we used from Amazon (Buy on Amazon). Buying through the links on our site will not increase the price you pay but will help support the website.
