31SL Door hard to shut

[Cindy & Ray Keen]

On our 2015 31SL the front door is very hard to shut. At first it shut pretty easy, but now it is hard to shut. You have to pull the handle open to shut it. The dealer said that is what you have to do on the redwoods. Anyone with similar problems?

[atom ant]

What a nonsense response from the Dealer! You should point out what kind of a jerk he is.

[Foxfire]

A little spray silicone inside the mechanism and a little grease on the latch. If that doesn't work you may have to move the strike.

[travelin' texans]

I use a little candle type wax on the striker plate & latch, much less mess than grease, & spray with silicone.

[johnboytoo]

On our 38gk they used the wrong screws on the striker plate and, of course, they didn't hold... o the striker plate wouldn't 'catch' it...

in our case the dealer (you know who that is here in DFW) just ignored my request to fix on four visits...

The lubrication helped, but had to go to the hardware store and get some larger countersunk screws that would hold it still...
now opens like a champ !

[ab1]

Yes...we bought a 2015 Redwood 36RL and we have the same problem...dealer tried adjusting it but still no resolve here....very...very...annoying...will get it addressed again on our first annual inspection...

[Marilyn H]

We're having the same problem w/ our '14 36FB (we've adjusted the stricker plate to help) and yesterday it locked us out! We stepped out to walk the dogs and when the door shut, it locked! Fortunately my wife had stashed a key outside after reading on this forum some time ago that the door could do this! Otherwise we would have had to call a locksmith. Seems to me it's a cheap locking mechanism for such a luxury unit.

[0nTheRoad]

I lube the lock with silicone about every month or so, just spray the striker plate and the latch and it closes with ease.

[almcc]

I think it's a bit more complex than a simple adjustment and lube. The door was hard to close on our Redwood, I played with the striker plate and loosened it off, the door worked fine but I saw light and felt a breeze coming in. That may be fine for you southern folks but it's not acceptable for us northerners. I solved the problem by moving the striker plate to a "mid" position and I installed a piece of self adhesive foam insulation on the latch side of the door on the lip, it eliminated the breeze.

The other thing that happens is that depending on how the auto level system works (and what the campsite topography is) the side wall may flex a bit, I found in one campsite that the door appeared locked because it was so hard to pull the latch open. That's the reality of having an RV that moves from site to site.

[KenM]

On our 31SL the the little rain gutter that goes around the top of the door was bent in to far in the top left corner and the door, would hit it every time you tried to open or close it. I took a piece of wood and a hammer and bent up enough to clear the door. Have not had a problem since.

[Elliott & Vicky]

Like the OP, our 2014 36RE the front door was very hard to shut. At first it shut pretty easy, but then became hard to shut. We had to pull the handle open to shut it, and hold the inside handle open until it was shut. My dealer tried to move the striker plate, but to no avail. As we were leaving the next week for 5 months of traveling, My dealer suggested we remove the striker plate. After holding a long straight edge along the edge of the door we determined the door was warped. My dealer told me that there should be a slight curvature to the door to make it shut tight, but that our door was too curved. The end result was a new door

[mesg]

Had the same problem from day 1..... you must REMOVE the entire lock/latch handle mechanism... and lubricate the slider bar AND the small wheel/flip bar THAT IS inside the lock assembly. Spraying from the outside will not reach the areas needing additional lubrication. 5 minute job per latch/door. Unless you have disturbed.(slammed the door hard too many times) the striker plate, no adjustment should be needed. I use a light (sewing machine/3 in 1 oil).. only 4-6 drops are needed. work it in a few times.. re-assemble.

[RAMN8TER]

I had the same issue and did for the most part do what mesg did.

[Shane Wood]

i just purchased a 2015 36RL. When we got it home we could not close the door from the inside and had to really slam it from the outside. The dealer sent out a tech to look at it and he found that the door is separating. He said they have hed to replace 8 other doors already. They notified redwood about it over a year ago and they are still putting these doors out. For the price you pay for one of these trailers there should not be these issuse. I have owned numerous Thor products and never had any problems with them until now. I contacted Redwood via email and have still not recieved a reply from them. Apparently they do not like dealing with customers.

[Dave&Ginny]

Which dealer did you buy from? There's a pretty good dealer not too from you in the Kansas City area, maybe they can help you.

[Shane Wood]

I live on the west coast. My dealer is doing the best he can.
Thanks

[Foxfire]

Originally Posted by Shane Wood

The dealer sent out a tech to look at it and he found that the door is separating.

What exactly is separating? What part of the door is coming apart to cause it to make it hard to lock, open and close?

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by Shane Wood

I live on the west coast. My dealer is doing the best he can.
Thanks

Sorry for the mistake.....your IP address originally came up on google maps as being just East of Newton Kansas. After checking another site it came up in CA

[JerryL]

My 36rl came from the factory hard to shut, and my dealer had it working good when I picked it up. Thanks to this forum, I thought to look close at that before the PDI, when I was catching a peek at the unit, and named it to the dealer before the PDI.

[atom ant]

The new doors are definitely a different animal from mine. I can't say what any fixes are, as we haven't really had a problem other then the screen latch catching every once in a while.