Quote:
Originally Posted by bugman3
So far no success, the Dometic Rep never really answered my question. She just emailed me a schematic of the fridge and said these are the parts available. And from what I can see there is no part there to fix this.
Our local RV shop, after a few days, got back to me saying there is some sort of fix from Dometic but he had no part number or price and would get back to me.
It baffles me why this is so hard to find a fix........it is obviously a common problem.
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Yes, your absolutely correct, in that it's common for a reefer door hinge to break.
The question is not what happened, but
WHY did it happen ??
The answer is very basic.
Shaking the trailer, by what ever means, will cause the reefer door hinges to break, along with the cabinet door hinges, etc. This has been going on for my 50 years with Airstream.
The hinges don't break, unless the trailer is towed. The more towing, the more hinges break.
The cause is from several different sources, or a combination of them.
First, everyone agrees that an Airstream
MUST have a soft ride. When that happens, then crazy things like hinges breaking, rivets shearing, fatigue cracks in the shell or chassis and water leaks, as well as many other issues, rarely, if ever, happen.
The list of regular possibles are as follows.
1. Bad rubber rods in the axle/axles.
2. Unbalanced running gear.
3. Excessive rated hitch bars.
4. Excessive rated (heavy duty) tow vehicles.
5. Many rough roads.
Figure out which of the above your trailer is experiencing, and then you will have your answer as to why "hinges" on anything in the trailer, break, as well as other "don't make any sense" problems.
The rubber rods in the axles are good for about 25 years, and possibly a little more
"if" the trailer was towed very often. Parking a torsion axle equipped trailer with the weight on the axles for even a couple of years, destroys those rubber rods.
Unbalanced running gear is way to often a issue. The use of proper balancing methods such as the Centramatic balancers have become a great answer, that lasts forever.
Excessive rated hitch bars and tow vehicles, is almost always a selling dealers answer. Unfortunately, most always, that answer is incorrect.
The heavier duty the tow vehicle, the lighter rating bars should be used. A good test is to jump up and down on the coupler when the rig is ready to be towed. The coupler, and the rear end of the tow vehicle should move vertically about one inch, or more. That test would show that the overall suspension sytem in use, is OK.
When that movement is next to nothing, that tells you that the rig is "over suspended", if you wish, and must be softened so that the soft ride for the trailer, can be achieved.
Physics is physics, and it doesn't matter how old or new the issue, the rules still apply.
SHAKING AN AIRSTREAM, REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE, IS A NO NO.
If the shaking is present, NEGATIVE REWARDS, will greet you in many ways, and seldom are they cheap to correct.
Andy
Linear Mode
