Door adjustment

[HowieE]

Where is the door adjusted? I have access to the hinge bolts to the frame but they do not seam to have adjustment. To get to the hinge to door bolts it looks like I will have to remove the upper inner door skin. Is this the approach?

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by HowieE

...To get to the hinge to door bolts it looks like I will have to remove the upper inner door skin. Is this the approach?

yes the inner skin over the hinges is removed.

it can either be pried up after removing a line of rivets,

or small rectangles cut out over the hinges and patched...

or holes may be drilled OVER the hinge nuts, that are large enough to insert a socket, then patched...

do you have mouse fur OVER the skin or vinyl ?

there aren't any real adjustments however at the hinge...

-if the bolts are loose that can be retightened and gooped from the inside..

-if the bolt holes have 'widened' the gaps can be filled, or backing metal applied.

-and shims can be added between the hinge and frame, but that's a hokey fix...

and that's about it.
________________

either the doors fit or they don't.

the entire assembly is a ONE OFF construction, door frame, door, hinghes are all constructed TOGETHER in a jig, as one unit...

then attached to the shell as one piece, like a framed window.

so IF the door is badly bent or extremely miss shapen, fixing THAT requires...

-removing the door INNER skin and hardware and window framing...
-bending the outer shell,
-redrilling rivet holes and re-attaching innner skin...

cheers
2air'

[whitelight]

HowieE:

What specifically are you attempting to "adjust" on the door?

We have a '96 34' with a hinge that looks identical to yours. The top hinge's upper bolt spins in its hole - we were told by Sutton in OR that somehow, the nut behind the wall has come off. In order to properly "repair", we were told that the entire door and door frame would have to be removed in order to repair.

We also have the mouse fur on the wall behind the door - maybe we should drill a hole thru the inner skin behind the bolt to repair?

Makes us think that every time we take the trailer out that the door, held by 2 hinges, is only attached securely with 3 bolts & the door locks (we have a deadbolt as well)

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by whitelight

...The top hinge's upper bolt spins in its hole ...In order to properly "repair", we were told that the entire door and door frame would have to be removed...

well that's bad info, IF just needing to tighten the hinge bolts.

the fur can be peeled back, rivets removed ALONG that sidewall and the skin lifted or opened as i've described.

as i recall there is a lock washer/nut or one lock nut on each bolt.

the hinge on my '05 has been 'repaired' twice as described in post 2...

AT the factory service center in j/c and at a dealer service shop.

next time i'm gonna have the FLAP added so i can just do it myself...

these hinge bolts COMMONLY work loose (no it's not because of running gear, wheel balance, vibrations or too much tv )...

so add a 2nd nut and lock tight and so on...

cheers
2air'

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by whitelight

HowieE:

What specifically are you attempting to "adjust" on the door?

We have a '96 34' with a hinge that looks identical to yours. The top hinge's upper bolt spins in its hole - we were told by Sutton in OR that somehow, the nut behind the wall has come off. In order to properly "repair", we were told that the entire door and door frame would have to be removed in order to repair.

This is not true. I have had my door off before with out removing the frame. Just inside the hinge I cut access holes in the inner skin about 1 1/4 in. in dia. This give you access to the nuts. They are NyLocs. I covered the holes, top and bottom hinge, with blank white electrical plates.

My current problem is adjusting the gag at the upper part of the door. I had the door off again last month when the latch broke. Looking at the outside of the hinge it looks like if there is adjustment it will have to be from within the door rather than at the frame.

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by HowieE

...My current problem is adjusting the gag at the upper part of the door...

howie iv'e seen them make MINOR gap adjustments to the door...

this involves 2 lengths of 2x4.

with the door open, one board is place between the door and frame/shell horizontially, above the hinges.

then the door is partially closed.

the tech stands on a ladder with the 2nd board in hand and PRESSES FIRMLY on the upper door section.

OR just grabs the door perimeter and PUSHES inward.

there is a LOT of brut force and grunting, while 2 guys hold the ladder.

it is ugly!

but this does put a small bit MORE bow/curve in the upper door.

for larger gaps the outer skin is "rebowed" and tensioned with the inner skin and new rivet holes...

best of luck! please take pictures of whatever you do...

cheers
2air'

[HowieE]

Hi 2air

Actually we did that to LIPets door last year at the Can Opener. A 2x6 cut to the desired couture and some brute force and ignorance to force things into submission.

That is not the gap I am working on. When I look at the door the gap along the hinge open from bottom to top as if the hinges have sagged or slipped in the mounting holes.

I had the door off last month and when I remounted it at 90+ degrees while on the road i did not pay that much attention to the alignment. Now when I look at it the hinge to frame position looks good and I think I will have to get into the door, as you mentioned, to see if there is adjustment in there or if I can modify things to allow adjustment.

[LI Pets]

I had the door off the hinges inside the door I don't recall any adjustment at all.

There were a few shims to adjust the door at the hinge in and out to get even with the door frame but not more than a few 32's

The hinges to the body have screw heads outside exposed but the nuts are inside the interior skin you can make access plates, remove the entire panel or......

drill a hole straight thu as I did using a SS machine screw with a washer and acorn nut in the inside. It winds up right next the interior frame almost unnoticeable.

What you want to is remove the inner door skin.
dremmel out the holes a bit and move the door where you want it lock it in with loctite and lock washers.

Not 100% sure the nuts will hold it for a long time.

Next option would be to weld a plate redrill the hole where you want??? Problen is the weld may show thru the dor skin.

Maybe weld to the door frame??

[PhiDor]

The door on my 34' Excella was hitting the frame. The bolts on the top hinge were loose and could not be tightened. I was able to remove the old bolts on the top hinge and then drilled new 1/4" holes right through into the inside. They came out right at the edge of the "kitchen" paneling. Then I got two 1/4" stainless steel machine screws with heads to match the old ones. Push them through the newly bored holes and put locking nuts (elastic stop nuts, the kind with the little nylon insert) on them and the hinge is secure and the door fits like a charm.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Phil

[HowieE]

Well if there is adjustment in the door I can't find it.

The bolts both into the trailer frame and door itself are close fitted holes that have not elongated. The pins in the hinge are tight. Nothing appears to be bent.

Here are pictures of the bolts into the trailer frame and into the door itself. The upper one is of the inside of the door and the lower shows the access to the frame bolts.

If I want to reduce the gap produced by the door sag it looks like I will have to remove the door and cut the upper hinge to frame hole back and then remount the door. The problem with that will be backing up the holes so the door can not drop again.

[PhiDor]

Before you do something really radical, that you might regret, think about this.

Is it possible to put a screen door turnbuckle on the outer door? My front screen door on our house gave me all sorts of trouble until I put a turnbuckle on it. They usually come in two lengths. I think the shorter one would would be ok for an Airstream door. At worst, you'll end up with two small screw holes in your door if it doesn't work.

And they don't cost a lot either.

[PhiDor]

By the way, I don't like the welding idea. The door is steel and aluminum. That is two different welding processes. And if you add some stainless, another problem. It would all have to TIG welded. I taught that type of welding and used it for many years. I wouldn't want to go there unless it was a last resort.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by HowieE

...The problem with that will be backing up the holes so the door can not drop again.

Howie,
You can create a backing plate that goes inside the skin with non-enlongated holes, then rivit it in place to hold the hinge bolts in the new location. Flush rivits from the outside will allow everything to reassemble.

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Howie,
You can create a backing plate that goes inside the skin with non-enlongated holes, then rivit it in place to hold the hinge bolts in the new location. Flush rivits from the outside will allow everything to reassemble.

You may have something here. I think a backer plate could be made and bolted into place with flat headed bolts and have them hidden under the hinge. Have to look into that.

[Aerowood]

I had to elongate the upper holes in my door frame in order to close a upper gap also. I used serrated plates under the nuts to hold it in place. I found the plate in my misc. hardware box at work so I have no idea what airplane it came off of originally. I just cut it in half to work.

[HowieE]

Well I bit the bullet. The idea of a backer plate was and is a good one but under further investigation I had a gap at the top that the plate would not address.

I installed shims. One shim at the top of the door side of the hinge to close the gap at the top of the door. Yes this difference was enough to push the top of the door in. One shim along the inside edge of the frame side of the hinge, screwdriver points to it, to pull the beauty line back into position.

Never did figure out where the displacement came from as there was no evidence of wear in the hinge and no evidence that the hinge had moved

[Robbie R.]

I decided to try to gain access to my lower door bolts today.

I cut a clean neat hole, had a VERY small crack to look into to try to locate the nuts and all I could see and feel was some sort of rubbery putty all up and down where the nuts should be.......

I used a tiny mirror and could not see anything.

Do you think the nuts and bolts are covered that deep in silicone or putty ? It feels like rubbery silcone and it's a yellow tan color.

I closed her up for now because I did not want to do any damage.

The hinge on my door is moving a bit when closing door but it will just have to wait until I get the nerve to go back in.

Robbie R.

[HowieE]

Yes the nuts are enclosed in caulk but it can be cut with a utility knife.

I opened up the wall with 2 holes around the hinge nuts. Just keep the holes small enough, about 1 1/4, that you can cover them with common blank white electrical plates. The holes will end up very close to the door frame and the covers will be off center to the holes at the edge of the frame when your done.

Good Luck

[Robbie R.]

I knew there had to be a reason I could not feel them.

I was hesitant to cut my hole very big until I looked it over.

Any way to see pics of your finished job so I can copy it ?

My door trim is a nice piece of aluminum that starts at the bottom and goes all the way around my door.

The door frame also has a pretty wide thing I will have to go behind to get to the bolts/nuts. So I will need a good way to cover the hole up.

Thanks a bunch.

Robbie R.