Entry doors sticking

[DLRAKOWITZ]

Ok this is starting to tweak my melons. I know when we picked our trailer up from exploder USA they adjusted both doors so they open and close correctly. Why is it every time I go to another destination the darn doors don't open and close correctly again. You are looking like a monkey trying to pry the darn doors open and then a psycho slamming them 4 to 5 times for the dang thing to latch. What am I doing wrong here or am I missing something that I don't know about a redwood.

[0nTheRoad]

Is the problem the latch?

I don't have problems opening the door, just when I close it...some times I have to slam it to get it to latch, if not it just bounces back open. Periodically lubricating the latch mechanism with silicon seems to fix it.

[DLRAKOWITZ]

I tried that already no luck. Sometimes you have to hold into the latch from the inside and lean back with your weight to make it click

[johnboytoo]

I tried adjusting the striker plate because it 'locked' my wife out a couple of times because it took a manly pull with three fingers only to open it...

but adjusting it all different ways didn't really help because then it wouldn't close - so I got frustrated with it and thus our striker plate has a bow in it where I beat it into submission with a hammer !!! has worked since then !

[DLRAKOWITZ]

I've adjusted the stricken plates on both doors several times and no luck. I would love to put my 3lb sledge hammer to it but the sand trailer is going back again to the shop for a long list of items I found from my PDI list that they seemed to overlook and this is going to be added to it again.

[Foxfire]

Are you sure the problem is the latch is in to the coach to far? you stated everytime you move it's another door problem. My question from a professional standpoint is this, are you sure your autolevel is working and the coach is in fact level when it says success. Most door problems are usually from the coach being high and or low in a place to rack the door.
I know we are under warranty and these things piss us off but if it's the latch can it be moved out?

[DLRAKOWITZ]

Yep I have moved the latch fowards backwards and center I have had problems with all hydro arms down and level to it being hooked up to the back of the truck. I've just about tried everything I can think of separate from beating the snot out of it.

[Oriana]

Our rear door wouldn't latch during the pdi. Removed the striker plate and placed a washer between the door jamb and striker plate. Door now latched. Dealer fixed properly next time in.

Try separating the outer door and screen door and then checking if the outer door still binds. We found our door binding when combined with the screen door, but not binding when separate. Minor adjustment to screen door and problem solved.

Good luck getting it resolved and remember to stay positive.

[Steve & Linda]

Our door is really tight. When inside I close with 2 hands so as not to slam it real hard. And then the deadbolt pops out regularly on its own and that doesn't help. Going to put it on the punch list for sure.

[DLRAKOWITZ]

I'll try the screen door thing but last time I looked at them they seemed to float pretty easy in any position

[mesg]

had the same problem on both doors.. since day 1 either the door would not close with out slamming it hard, it popped open occasionally and you had to really pull/push on it for the deadbolt to catch....all fixed now.. took me 15 minutes to cure my door woes..crossroads.. and 3 dealers couldn`t adjust things right..

I took the entire latch/lock mechanism out of the door.. OILED IT !!! just a few drops of light oil. (SEWING MACHINE- AKA 3 IN 1) on the deadbolt slider and a few more on the latch bar.. worked it into the entire gear assembly... and DONE.. re-assemble and now door opens and closes with an extremely light finger touch.. and STAYS closed. Both the dealers and repair facility sprayed copious amounts of lubricant into the latch assembly.. but it CAN NOT reach the spindle bar and gears!!! This is what needs to be lightly lubricated.. The factory lubricant (grease) is insuffecient for proper operation, and doesn`t work worth a hoot below freezing.. This coupled with a minor tap of a hammer to adjust the striker plate should do the trick for hard to close doors and doors that appear?? to be out of alignment after travelling.. just my 2 cents worth..

[JerryL]

When my entry doors were sticking, I finally figured out that the screen door was catching on it's own striker plate. I removed the screen door striker, and everything works smooth now. I'm not able to open the outside door, and leave the screen closed, although I never do that anyway. I never have used just the screen door to let air in on cool days. That is the drawback if you like to use your screen door.

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by mesg

had the same problem on both doors.. since day 1 either the door would not close with out slamming it hard, it popped open occasionally and you had to really pull/push on it for the deadbolt to catch....all fixed now.. took me 15 minutes to cure my door woes..crossroads.. and 3 dealers couldn`t adjust things right..

I took the entire latch/lock mechanism out of the door.. OILED IT !!! just a few drops of light oil. (SEWING MACHINE- AKA 3 IN 1) on the deadbolt slider and a few more on the latch bar.. worked it into the entire gear assembly... and DONE.. re-assemble and now door opens and closes with an extremely light finger touch.. and STAYS closed. Both the dealers and repair facility sprayed copious amounts of lubricant into the latch assembly.. but it CAN NOT reach the spindle bar and gears!!! This is what needs to be lightly lubricated.. The factory lubricant (grease) is insuffecient for proper operation, and doesn`t work worth a hoot below freezing.. This coupled with a minor tap of a hammer to adjust the striker plate should do the trick for hard to close doors and doors that appear?? to be out of alignment after travelling.. just my 2 cents worth..

Glad you were able to get it fixed! I guess I was the lucky one, the only door problem we've had was the bedroom door not wanting to stay closed. I ended up getting another striker plate designed to fix door jams that had been kicked in. It had a larger opening for the lock to slide into. I haven't had a problem since.

[atom ant]

Finally figured mine out - The part on the door that grabs the screen door handle needs to latch the screen door handle down far enough that the screen door striker clears the plate. If not, when you pull the latch to open the door, the screen door is caught on it's own striker.

I still have to re-adjust every once in a while, but works good now. We have the older door version - not the brand new one.

[0nTheRoad]

Brad, we had the same issue.

No matter how far, up or down, I adjusted the little catch on the main door I couldn't find the right place and the screen door would hold-up on the striker plate. I finally drilled new holes in the door, just a bit under the existing holes, would have preferred to drill them a little higher but the drill would keep running over to the existing holes. Now I have no problem with the door sticking, I do have to hold the screen door handle down while securing it to the main door though, the screen door handle is too high to drop into place when the handle is in the closed position. A small inconvenience compared to the hassle of trying to get the door open!!!

[Elliott & Vicky]

We also had the same issue. I took a long straight edge and held it against the side of the door. The door was warped out quite a lot in the middle. According to our dealer,the door is supposed to bulge out a bit in the center to keep it from being loose, but ours had way to much of a bulge. We were able to use the door by removing the striker plate until we received a new door.

[gcboyd39@comcast.net]

We are experiencing the same type of problem with our door. I need to use both hands to open or close, using my shoulder to push in on the door.