Door has a huge gap when closed

[MJPardue]

Has anyone had trouble with their door having a gap between door and frame when closed. Also is hard to close. It’s as if it doesn’t fit properly and needs to be reshaped.

[dhroberts]

A ‘huge’ gap is unusual. A smaller gap particularly at the upper and lower corners on the handle side can and will occur. When this happens, the door needs to be muscled back into shape. I used a short 2x4 block placed near the handle/lock and push on the corners until I get the shape needed.

[dznf0g]

How big is huge? Pics?

[MJPardue]

I have tried that but will try again. The bottom left corner touches the outer shell and the upper right side is gapped really bad. Almost like it needs shifting top to left and bottom to right. But the top right corner also looks like it has to much of a curvature to match shell.
So thanks for your input. I will continue to work on it. Even considered taking hinges off and trying to adjust those. It so out of whack, you have to push really hard to get it to close. I have to address this issue before taking it on the road.

[dznf0g]

If it is out of square, try just loosening one hinge a little bit. Take a block of wood and hammer it over a bit. Dont loosen too much. Nuts on backside a supposed to be kept with adhesive....but not always. If nut falls off or spins, interior surgery is required, as nut is in between skins.

[dhroberts]

Not sure it is advisable to mess with the hinges. At an authorized dealer or at your local RV repair shop, the muscle the door and bend it back into shape. Certainly not pretty but effective.

[MJPardue]

Thank you!

[dznf0g]

Is it still under warranty?
Edit: never mind just checked your profile, 1973.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by dhroberts

Not sure it is advisable to mess with the hinges. At an authorized dealer or at your local RV repair shop, the muscle the door and bend it back into shape. Certainly not pretty but effective.

True, but no amount of bending fixes an out-of-square situation. Bending is for flush fitting.
Again, pics would help a lot.

[sandlapper]

Nylon washers inserted at the bottom of the hinges can work wonders.

[Mike0392]

Airstream dealer supposedly fixed mine. This seems to be a common problem

[AKmtnpilot]

I have a new 2019 Globetrotter 25. Noticed you could see daylight under the door. Watched videos on adjusting door, tried it, just couldn't bring myself to pound on the loosened hinges with a large hammer. As of today, it sits in Jackson Center for squeak in floor and door adjustment.

[Gkiesel]

Check that the inner skin rivets have not popped. As old as the trailer is, if the inner skin is not well riveted it will allow the door to spring. On our Argosy I had to put a strap around the door from top to bottom. Drill out the rivets, tighten the strap and rivet. That and the 2x4 piece placed by the door latch help get it back in shape.

[trikdacy]

The top screw in my top hinge just sheared. It may have been at the factory. I did notice the door needed a bit of a slam to close since new, and there was a slight gap at the lower curve of the the latch side of the door. This may have been at the factory. I brought it in to Airstream dealer, and they said it was repaired. As I was getting ready to pull out I tried the door, and noticed it was not repaired, just a new adhesive decorative cover on top of the screw plate. My contact at Airstream was quite apologetic. They actually had to remove the inside frame to do this repair, and now the door works fine. After reviewing the work order, and the original tech that signed off on the "first repair" I noticed my contact man seemed a bit upset. It seem the original tech was a long time employee who was known to cut corners. So, my advice is to doublecheck the work that had been done.

[wwesthof]

Picked up our new 26' Flying Cloud last month. My wife and I got into a discussion as to why she slams the door so hard. She said you can see daylight at the top if you don't slam it...
Yep, she is right (again!). It is another item we added to our growing list of warranty work.
What bothers me at this point is what does the $500 +/- dealer prep really used for? Our 3 hour overview/walkthru was done by some kid who didn't even know how to put up the awning...really! After owning the AS for six weeks I could run a training program for these folks!!!

[journeydog]

Originally Posted by MJPardue

Has anyone had trouble with their door having a gap between door and frame when closed. Also is hard to close. It’s as if it doesn’t fit properly and needs to be reshaped.

Here you go....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7-PprGeESE

[Lumatic]

I have the same problem at the bottom of my door. I have been told the fix is remove the inner skin, bend it back into shape and then replace the inner skin.

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by sandlapper

Nylon washers inserted at the bottom of the hinges can work wonders.

I went to Lowe’s and found some nylon washers that were the right diameter then used wire cutters to clip out a small wedge in the washer. With an assistant lifting the door slightly with a 2x4, I was able to pop a washer in on the bottom of each hinge. This solved the hard closing problem. These washers may wear down so you may have to revisit this in several years.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Silver Goose

I went to Lowe’s and found some nylon washers that were the right diameter then used wire cutters to clip out a small wedge in the washer. With an assistant lifting the door slightly with a 2x4, I was able to pop a washer in on the bottom of each hinge. This solved the hard closing problem. These washers may wear down so you may have to revisit this in several years.

For raising door vertically, I use 1/4" metal e-clips stacked. You can also ensure the same hanging pressure is on each hinge by using varying number of clips on each hinge.
Bit OP, if I understand him correctly, is talking about the door being crooked, or out of square. This wont fix that. I deduce his top hinge must be moved rearward. The hinge must be loosened a bit and driven toward the rear of the trailer.

[BandLAir]

We have a 2020 FC 27FBT. As viewed from the outside, the door is not square in the frame. It is closer to the frame at the bottom hinge side than the top hinge side, and the hinge side gap is much narrower than the latch side. The gaps on the latch side parallel those on the hinge side.

From inside the TT I can see daylight along the lower half of the door on the latch side. When closed, there is zero gap between the hinge edge of the screen door and the door frame at the bottom and about 1/8" gap along the hinge edge at the top. On the latch side of the screen door the gap is about 1/2" and runs to about 5/8" at the bottom edge, paralleling what is happening on the hinge side. (These are the vertical edges, not the top and bottom edges, of the doors.) The foam weather-stripping on the latch edge does not even contact the door frame, which is why we can see daylight through there.

Before anyone asks, we have NEVER used the stabilizer jacks to lift the TT, only to stabilize it. I lower the jacks until they touch the pads and then gently tighten them just enough to hold. We have also not had to level the trailer side-to-side yet as we have been lucky in our campsites. The trailer is always level, front-to-rear, when we are parked. In other words, we have never torqued the frame/body.

It's pretty clear to me that the door was not installed correctly at the factory so I have no intention of trying to fix this myself. BTW: our entry door does not have ANY visible screws or other removeable fasteners; everything is riveted or installed with some sort of blind fasteners. :-( We took delivery of the trailer in Nov 2019 and left a week later for Florida. We are still there and won't be home until early April. This is the first Airstream we have owned, so I am unsure about how to proceed with what I feel is clearly a manufacturing defect that should be fixed by the factory service center under warranty. We live in S.E. lower Michigan, so getting to the factory in Jackson Center, Ohio is not a problem. Indeed, we will go right past the factory on our way home from our winter in the south.

Advice from the experienced on obtaining factory/warranty service would be appreciated.

Thanks. ~Bruce