Those D___ Sliding Glass Closet Doors!

[SteveH]

Ours worked good with the larger rollers also, for a while. I'm beginning to thing the little plastic spring things at the top that are designed to keep pressure on the rollers loose tension over time and then let the rollers jump out of the tracks. Our problem is always with the inner, or Right hand door.

[casarodante]

Same door with us.

Might have to get a long piece of u channel aluminum and wedge it between the two tracks (secure it somehow) to stop them from jumping out. It would be harder to remove the doors but I don't do that, on purpose, very often.

[Gene]

i'm beginning to think some things just don't belong in travel trailers. The bouncing and extreme temps can cause stuff to act up that would never do so in a house.

But bad engineering can also be the cause.

Gene

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by Gene

i'm beginning to think some things just don't belong in travel trailers. The bouncing and extreme temps can cause stuff to act up that would never do so in a house.

But bad engineering can also be the cause.

Gene

I agree with you, Gene. But, unfortunately short of removing the doors and doing without, I am forced to continue to work with them. I do, however have a couple of ideas and I'm currently researching how to implement them.

To come off their tracks, the door rollers must go up, and than away from the roller slot. My previous attempts to fix the problems have both been related to keeping them from going up.

I'm now working on a modification that will keep them from going away from the slot when closed. Stay tuned, or as they used to say in the Navy, "standby to standby, this might be a maybe".

[Gene]

Hope you get this solved Steve. Extreme temps are on my mind because a maple table I made for the dinette started to come apart again at one seam. I'm not a furniture maker, but I thought I could get this right, and then thought last year's fix would work, but subzero to 100+ temps foil the intrepid (and foolish too).

Gene

[SteveH]

Don't know if this will solve the problem or not, but this is my latest attempt at it. Like I said before, the larger wheels put more downward pressure against the track in an effort to prevent them from jumping the track.

These two things will prevent them from moving off of the tracks, I hope. The first is a spacer made from fiber filled nylon plastic (think slippery), and goes between the two doors, but primarily keeps the one end of the inside door from jumping the track.

The other is sort of a clip lock made from the same nylon plastic, and actually clips the top of the inside door mechanism preventing it from jumping the track when the door is closed.

[Ag&Au]

I hope this doesn't turn out like the battle with the gopher in Caddy Shack.

Ken

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by Ag&Au

I hope this doesn't turn out like the battle with the gopher in Caddy Shack.
Ken

I'll be in Longmont next week. I lived in Boulder, Lafayette, Niwot, and Carter Lake for a total of 19 years.

[Pahaska]

B.A. (Before Airstream), I had a TrailManor folding trailer with folding bathroom walls. It was difficult to keep the parts properly aligned. I drilled a 1/4" hole in one part and inserted a 1/4" oak dowel so that 1/2" of the dowel protruded. I determined where it hit the adjoining part and drilled a 9/32" hole. The dowel aligned the two parts nicely and made the assembly a lot stronger.

It would seem that the same thing would help on the sliding doors. Put a similar dowel near the top of the frame so that when the door is closed, the dowel is inserted in the door so that the door can not move vertically. The dowel only needs to protrude about 1/2" to lock the door down on the rails. The dowel would also stop any in-out motion.

[SteveH]

After about 1000 miles of travel, I'm happy to report that my last mod to prevent the sliding closet doors from coming off the tracks is working great. No problems at all with the doors coming off the tracks.

Now if I can just get the latches to work that well.....

[Gene]

I just looked at your avatar. The photo must have been taken at the Balloon Fiesta and if that is the front of your trailer, the balloon must be over ours since we were behind you (or in front of you, depending which way you see it). Good photo, glad the doors are staying on track.

Gene

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by Gene

I just looked at your avatar. The photo must have been taken at the Balloon Fiesta and if that is the front of your trailer, the balloon must be over ours since we were behind you (or in front of you, depending which way you see it). Good photo, glad the doors are staying on track.

Gene

Yes Gene, I took the photo at the Baloon Fiesta Rally the last day we were there....I believe Monday.

I've learned one more thing about the sliding door locks, and that is if you squirt the inside of them with a little silcone, the seem to work lots better. All else with the doors remains good, so at this time I'm a happy camper.

[adonh]

Originally Posted by SteveH

After about 1000 miles of travel, I'm happy to report that my last mod to prevent the sliding closet doors from coming off the tracks is working great. No problems at all with the doors coming off the tracks.

Now if I can just get the latches to work that well.....

The glass sliding closet door AS 396XL Motor Home stays in track OK and opens and closes fine, but the latches won't stay on. Since glass runs all the way to end there is no way to attach the door portion of the latch with screws. It looks like they originally used a double stick take. That didn't work The only option that I found to keep the door closed while traveling is a wooden dowel laying in the bottom track.

[SteveH]

Got back from our Colorado trip, now have over 2,000 miles since the sliding door mod, and they have not once come off the track once. So, I guess the mod works.

[Gene]

Great!

And thanks for spending money in Colorado and then leaving.

Gene

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by Gene

Great!

And thanks for spending money in Colorado and then leaving.

Gene

You are welcome, Gene, but I've got real bad news for you.....We're Coming BACK!

Oh, and one more thing....don't try to find any Shiner Bock where I was because I bought it all, and drank it!

[polarlyse]

Our doors don't come off the tracks but on our last trip out the plastic catch broke into pieces and now the door slides open when traveling. If I think about it I push a thin piece of wood into the track to hold it but we often forget. The catch is glued to the mirrored door back. Are these catches available to replace ????? Must I look to Airstream for them or are they a common item available elsewhere ??

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by polarlyse

Our doors don't come off the tracks but on our last trip out the plastic catch broke into pieces and now the door slides open when traveling. If I think about it I push a thin piece of wood into the track to hold it but we often forget. The catch is glued to the mirrored door back. Are these catches available to replace ????? Must I look to Airstream for them or are they a common item available elsewhere ??

Not totally sure which latches you have, but some of ours have also broken, and I got replacements from Airstream.

Ours are screwed to an aluminum frame around the mirrored doors.

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by polarlyse

Our doors don't come off the tracks but on our last trip out the plastic catch broke into pieces and now the door slides open when traveling. If I think about it I push a thin piece of wood into the track to hold it but we often forget. The catch is glued to the mirrored door back. Are these catches available to replace ????? Must I look to Airstream for them or are they a common item available elsewhere ??

Check this thread.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f38/...oor-80739.html

Ken

P.S. I have had no broken latches since the replacement.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by SteveH

You are welcome, Gene, but I've got real bad news for you.....We're Coming BACK!

Oh, and one more thing....don't try to find any Shiner Bock where I was because I bought it all, and drank it!

Steve, why don't you just send your money to me and I'll send you some photos of Colorado. Think how much you'll save on gas.

Gene