frame for entrance door cracked

[letsgo123]

on the 1989 34' limited, the door frame is cracked at the weld joint located at the bottom left hand corner, the joint has now separated (1/8") what repair would you suggest? The dealer put in 1/16" pop rivets to hold the joint together (what a waistof time)

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by letsgo123

on the 1989 34' limited, the door frame is cracked at the weld joint located at the bottom left hand corner, the joint has now separated (1/8") what repair would you suggest? The dealer put in 1/16" pop rivets to hold the joint together (what a waistof time)

The dealer wasted his time and your money.

The sole reason the door jambs crack at the welded corners, is lack of proper running gear balance.

The door area is weaker than the rest of the trailer. Accordingly, it cannot handle very much punishment.

The proper repair is to remove the door jamb and have it welded back together,

The poor boy repair is to jack the trailer up from the frame opposite the crack, or from the outrigger. That will close the gap in the crack.

Then "V" groove the crack and have it welded together again.

Andy

[purman]

I have the same problem but on the other side. I you weld it on frame you may catch the insulation and the fiberglass inside wall on fire, as aluminum gets very hot... You either take the door frame out or the wall apart. Mine had epoxy or JB weld on it neither work for very long... Till I can get it apart I am cutting a peace of 3/16 thick strip of metal at a 45 to screw to the side and bottom to hold it together...

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by purman

I have the same problem but on the other side. I you weld it on frame you may catch the insulation and the fiberglass inside wall on fire, as aluminum gets very hot... You either take the door frame out or the wall apart. Mine had epoxy or JB weld on it neither work for very long... Till I can get it apart I am cutting a peace of 3/16 thick strip of metal at a 45 to screw to the side and bottom to hold it together...

Fiberglass can melt, but it doesn't burn.

Andy

[mustang]

Metal fatigue is from wear if you have no unusual tire wear then your running gear is fine. I would look into a cool weld, Mig might be still to hot. They sell a metal rod made of a rerrouse metal that works but Ideally you need it off the trailer because metal against metal the heat will dissipate. I am intrested in what will work for you

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by mustang

Metal fatigue is from wear if you have no unusual tire wear then your running gear is fine. I would look into a cool weld, Mig might be still to hot. They sell a metal rod made of a rerrouse metal that works but Ideally you need it off the trailer because metal against metal the heat will dissipate. I am intrested in what will work for you

An Airstream trailer that never moves, has yet to have a cracked door frame, since 1965.

The # 1 cause, without a doubt, since 1965 to present Airstream trailers, in lack of "PROPER" running gear balance.

Andy

[purman]

Mine looks like it hit something. The outside skin was replaced just before the door frame on bottom..

Will the pink fiberglass catch fire???

Yeah I got my neighbor on it too. He is a retired machinist... So I'm hoping he can help...

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by purman

Mine looks like it hit something. The outside skin was replaced just before the door frame on bottom..

Will the pink fiberglass catch fire???

Yeah I got my neighbor on it too. He is a retired machinist... So I'm hoping he can help...

No.

Fiberglass, is fibres of glass.

It can melt, but it cannot catch fire.

Andy

[TomW]

Originally Posted by mustang

... They sell a metal rod made of a rerrouse metal that ...

Never heard of it. The Internet was stymied too:

Originally Posted by Google

Did you mean: ferrous metal

No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found.

Your search - rerrouse metal - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords.
Try more general keywords.
Try fewer keywords.

Could you please share a different spelling, different key words, more keywords, or fewer keywords?

Tom

[HowieE]

Before you commit to a repair of the door frame I would remove the banana, metal band not just the blue insert, along that side of the trailer and check for any type of body separation. No matter what the cause was something had to move from it's original position to cause the 1/8 gap.

Sorry I don't have any before the repair pictures but if you enlarge the picture you can see from the jagged edge on the exterior skin how the rivets just ripped out of the skin. That is a new piece inserted to extend the skin down to the original connection point on the C channel

[purman]

My neighbor Ted thinks we might be able to keep it cool by spraying water on the inside wall and soaking the carpet before we weld. Gonna try it on a test piece this weekend before we give a go on the trailer..

I'll let you know how it works..

[TomW]

Originally Posted by purman

My neighbor Ted thinks we might be able to keep it cool by spraying water on the inside wall and soaking the carpet before we weld. Gonna try it on a test piece this weekend before we give a go on the trailer...

Originally Posted by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars IV - A New Hope

I have a very bad feeling about this.

May the force be with you.

Tom

[richinny]

since improper jacking can bind the door, i'd consider this as another possibility of the crack.

[letsgo123]

steel wool, with oxygen and ignition (flame) will burn (science lab. 101), Scorch fiberglass and add fast moving air and poooofff , done that, I almost set a 30 room school on fire, sooooo that is why I hesitate to weld on the trailer. I didnt want to remove the door frame, (looking for a quick fix , Like a magic bracket of some kind) . If there are other suggestions they would be most welcome.

PS: I comment on the possibility of fire only to be on the side of caution.

thanks