Bent Door Repair

[Road Ruler]

Hello Folks
We purchased our 23 ft Safari with a bent door. The original owners were not into fixing the problems but stopping the leak by adding more rubber seals. The door is about 3 quarters of an inch out at the top right side and 3/8's of and inch out at the bottom right side. I suspect the door came open as the trailer was in motion and a dead bolt lock was installed 6 inches below the factory lock which has also weakened that area. Has anyone tried to repair this type of problem. I was thinking of fabricating an 8 inch long, 1/4 inch aluminum plate to reinforce the weak area and at the same time correcting the radius problem. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thnxs in advance

[Jim Clark]

The frame on my door was broken where the lockset went through the frame. I made a reinforcement plate to screw over the broken section. Adjusted the curve and screwed it in. Worked fine.

[Road Ruler]

Thnxs Jim

That sounds like what I had in mind. Did you clamp your door to a pre cut form to get the curve right or was your radius ok even after the crack had occured?

[74Argosy24MH]

1/4" is way thicker than the original frame, probably more than you need for reinforcing. I would also check clearance as it swings, you might get interference.

To adjust the door, put a 2x4 between the door and frame, use it as a pivot point. Then you can push or pull on the door and reshape it. It takes a lot of power to bend, so you will have to push hard. Don't push on the skin, it will bend, push (or pull) on the frame itself.

John

[Inland RV Center, In]

Wayne F.
The door is out of shape because it probably opened in transit. Confirmation of that would be a small dent in the area of the door hold back.

Once a door is bent out of shape, it cannot be rebent into shape, and be expected to be OK. Metal someplace has stretched. Rebending it won't shrink it.

Check the area at the entrance door lock striker bolt. You should find it stretched or broken.
In either case, remove the lock and the upper interior panel, carefully.


Remove the door gasket. Reshape the door, and add a stiffner plate in the area of the striker bolt, to hold the frame in alignment. The plate must be adequate so that it will hold the broken or stretched area in place.

Check to make sure the door is still aligned.

Next, reinstall the upper interior panel. DO NOT USE THE SAME RIVET HOLES. They more than likely are stretched, in the frame and/or the metal. Drill new holes to resecure the interior panel.

If you use the old holes, you will put the door back into it's misalignment.

Recheck and make sure that the door is still in alignment. If so, fill the original rivet holes with pop rivets.

Reinstall the lock.

Recheck one more time. The door should be absolutely flush with the trailer sheet metal.

Lastly, replace the gasket. The correct gasket is the same as that on your windows. DO NOT use any other gasket, as it will either not seal correctly, or put added stress on the door frame, when the door is closed.

Also, check the striker bolt on the lock. It should be smooth, with no grooves. Check the striker pocket, to make sure it is not worn. Make sure that the brass shim, that is a part of the striker pocket assembly, is OK.

If not, replace the parts that are worn. Your door fit will love it.

You will have added more pop rivets, however, you have aligned the door to new holes, the same way that the door was originally made. You also eliminated the slop in the holes.



Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com

[Jim Clark]

Wayne, Andy is right on, this is what I did and it worked. I drilled new rivet holes to help keep the door in alignment.

[Road Ruler]

Jim, John, Andy...

Lots of good detailed information. I now feel confident I can do this job well. I have some aluminum plate and a roll of proper gasket mat'l Thnxs again.