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headliner drooping

26K views 26 replies 16 participants last post by  marvinstockman 
#1 ·
06-caravan

headliner dropping down a bit

location--very front of van, about 2 inch x 4 inch piece. same on both side of the mirror.

what product success have you had. did you have to iron it down after spraying it, or just press with hand. any tips?
 
#3 ·
It can be entirely redone with not too high of cost. You can buy the material, clean the backing board off and put new stuff on.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for responses. i don't won't to use pins. i am going to sell it around january.--so the adhesive spray won't work? 6 bucks. don't want to throw money even if six bucks if it doesn't work--the van is an 06, so foam would break down that quick???

It might be difficult to match the headliner color to the rest of van, if not impossible, therefore might stand out a bad looking, also i plan to sell it for about 3,000 in january, 70 miles; so don't want to add more that much cash

I just thought--how about double sided tape
 
#5 ·
You might try spray specifically for fabric. Wife uses it all the time when she puts backing on quilits. Mask off any areas that should not be sprayed.
 
#6 ·
do you know which product she has success with. i looked at walmart and saw 3 or 4 different products, elmers, 3m, walmart. big difference in prices. was wondering if just name brands offered higher prices without any difference in product ability.
 
#8 ·
She bought the fabric spray at a fabric store. Joann Fabrics would have it,
 
#9 ·
I did my 2000 like 6 years ago maybe. Once the liner goes down is because the foam under it is just old and dry. Just use patch solutions like those pins or just try to glue the thing back untill you are ready to replace the whole liner.

In joan fabrics you can find liner, they usually have like 3 colors so get the closest one to what you need.

When you get the roob carboard out pull the liner out and use a broom to clean all the bad foam that is still sticked to the cardboard panel. Once kind'a clean try to use like a brush to make it as neat as posible.

There a spry glue for this, thats what you have to do, be carefull the thing really sitcks and quick. Installation and how to cut the liner is pretty obvious, measure twice cut once. stretch the liner just enough so gets snug because if you stretch too much you have chances to get the liner unglued or separated in the curved areas. 3 to 4 hours work more than nothing because Is a PITA to take all the lights off the ceiling and lose all the side panels and then remove the ceiling through the back door. Be careful with the lights

Hope this helps.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for your thoughts everyone. i did see loctite spray--that had different grades e.g. 90, 200, 300. gets a bit crazy. since right now it is only about 1 inch by 3 inches wide, 2 spots by front window. i will try some double side tape that i have. just cut half of it width to make it light. i'll see what happens. like i said i plan on sale in january.

again thanks
 
#11 ·
Found this thread. I seem to have a similar issue in my van as the OP.
Automotive exterior Vehicle Luxury vehicle Car Auto part


I don't want to use the twist pins either, so I may just end up trimming the hanging portion off with scissors.
 
#12 ·
The glue doesn't work. I'll verify what was said before, pretty much nothing will stick to the dried up foam. Eventually, the headliner needs to come down, cleaned, and the fabric replaced. Your photo looks a lot like mine, it's coming down just on top of the windshield, under the visors. I used a plain old office stapler. The staples aren't noticeable in that area and it hasn't gotten any worse so far, I tacked it back up over a year ago. If it keeps staying that way, I won't worry about it. If not, I'll go ahead and get it repaired.
 
#13 ·
No spray will work no matter what you do simply because adhesive won't stick to dust and what you have is foam rubber dust between the stiffener and fabric!

Believe me on this, others have said the same thing.

You have two choices, replace the headliner which is an awful job, or use the pins Marvin posted. I used them and they work great.

You can get a bunch of pins for very little $, then place them in a neat pattern so they look original or professional. Chances are that any buyer will even notice them.
 
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#14 ·
When my headliner began to fail, it started at the very front...right against the windshield. I used a hand stapler which worked fairly well for a while. Eventually the liner started to fail in different areas...so I took it to a shop to be re-done. Looked brand new afterwards.

In my opinion, I would not use any pins.
 
#15 ·
When my headliner began to fail, it started at the very front...right against the windshield. I used a hand stapler which worked fairly well for a while. Eventually the liner started to fail in different areas...so I took it to a shop to be re-done. Looked brand new afterwards.
My experience was exactly the same. $150 made it look like new. I think a new buyer would notice a quickie repair job if it wasn't properly replaced.
 
#16 ·
This problem occurrs mostly to people who drives with windows open.

I never drive with windows open, so I never had that problem on any vehicle. Vehicles parked under sun for long periods of time without moving are also prone to develop this problem.
 
#17 ·
this may seem strange, but this problem has been ongoing since the factory started to use fabric glued over foam board headliners. and this is not just related to minivans only. what i have done in the past when this happens is this. go to your local home improvement store or hardware store and purchase a couple pieces, or one long one if available, of thin aluminum strap material. 1/2"x.062 works well. with a little effort, this can be tweeked into the curvature of the upper windshield shape of your headliner. radius the ends to a pleasing shape and carefully drill a few small holes into the lip directly above the headliner edge. DON'T DRILL THRU THE ROOF ! that would ruin your day for sure ! you may be able to use the existing holes for your sunvisors and the end retainer, plus be able to tuck these trim pieces under the center roof console/map light fixture. then paint the trim strips to your taste and attach with the screws of your choice that fit your drilled holes. drill the holes in your fabbed trim piece oversize so they are easy to install. i have done this several times in the past with great results. i just wish i had some pics to post. this may seem more complicated than it really is, but if you give it some thought and take your time, it might just be the fix you can live with.
:beerchug:
 
#18 ·
Wife use to drive a Saturn 4 door, headliner started falling down and car wasn't worth having a new one installed. I pulled the whole thing out, removed the liner and scraped off all the foam. I then painted the backing with texture paint and put it back in. Was hard to tell it wasn't original.
 
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#19 ·
That drooping started on my late, great '05 Caravan. It had nothing to do with driving with the windows open - I didn't do that. It may have had to do with the heat/humidity, even though it was kept under a carport when parked at home all its life. It started a little right in the middle of the front of the ceiling, but it wasn't too bad, and it was limited to just the small area.

But, yeah, the ONLY final solution is to take out the whole panel strip off the old headliner, scrape the foam, buy new fabric and fabric spray-glue, and re-do it.
 
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#21 ·
Thanks for the replies. I dislike the "mouse fur" factory material. So if I were to do any sort of major repair, I think I'd go with something like what BobReeves describes.
 
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