It was on a 1974 Land Yacht Tradewind. The door itself appears to be in good condition, other than some sticking of the inner screen door at the bottom where a section of the peal-and-stick door gasket had changed allegiance and stuck to the frame.
However, while the door for the most part looked true and flush when closed, at the top right corner it appeared to be warped, and stuck out maybe a half an inch from the frame. Far enough out so that the rubber gasket was visible.
Of course, this put me off the TT right away, since this seemed to be an obvious area for the ingress of water. But after returning home, I wondered: is this a difficult repair to do, but more importantly, what could have caused it?
__________________ ♫ The road to a friend's house is never long. (Old Danish Saying)
Maybe the door swung open forcefully in a gust of wind.
I have a funny feeling that these curved doors are not too easy to straighten out.
There was a thread on the forum about a year ago about someones attempts at straightening one. I can't remember if he was successful.
Al
The suicide door comes open while underway. The latch stops at the side wall (damage there or not), but the front top & bottom corners still have quite a bit of inertia. The result is a bend to the door's internal skeleton. You'd note that the door frame on the hinge side isn't deformed nearly as much.
My door frame was broken about halfway between the bottom and the latch. I removed the door, drilled the rivets and removed the inner sheeting. took the door to work and heliarced the door frame back together. It fits nicely now. Adios, John
If the door is just sprung and not creased I would say it can be straightened. The reason I say this is because I helped a friend straighten his door when we were on the road this Jan. His was out almost 1 1/2 at the bottom.
He had cut a couple of 2x6s to the correct curvature, using the door frame as a template, and with several bar clamps we pulled the door back into alignment against the wooden forms. If you attempt this once the door id clamped in the correct formation you will have to shock the door with a hammer and wooden block to cause the aluminum to relax in the correct position.
Should have taken some pictures because most are not going to believe this story.
Well, while it does seem repairable, the particular trailer I saw needed other things that, when added to that door just take it off the table for me.
Bob (CanoeStream),
Oy, I read most of those threads, and oh, the pain, the suffering, the bending and the hammering... And so many ways to do it! Thanks for the links, but that was the icing on the cake.
__________________ ♫ The road to a friend's house is never long. (Old Danish Saying)
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