Front door swings hard

[PsychoBob65]

Pick up our RW39MB almost a week ago. During the walk thru and PDI at the dealership I noticed that the front door doesn't swing easily. I brought it up to the service tech. He said if the trailer has been sitting on the lot for awhile the hinges will corrode up and they should loosen up with use.

I spent a few minutes working the door back and forth from full open to full close noticing that it wasn't helping. The tech sprayed some penetrating oil on the hinges and said that should help.

We are now on our lot and with a week of use there has been no difference in operation of the door. My thinking is between the aluminum hinges and the steel pins, electrolysis has set in. The only way to clean these hinges will be to remove the pins and clean them up along with the pin holes.

Now for the million dollar question. Are those hinge pins all one length or are they split? Looking at them, they seem to have a button on each end, which tells me they are in half and have to be driven out from each direction.

My other thought was drilling and 1/8" pilot hole into each hinge bore and injecting grease or lube into the hinges that way.

Any ideas and suggestions would greatly be appreciated. Having to take it back to the dealer is not an option right now but I would like to get this resolved before it damages the door frame or door.

[johnboytoo]

Depends on how hard is 'hard' ....

I mean if it's more binding than just a little hard to move, that's one thing, but ours has been 'taut' since day one and no change since...

My thoughts that this saves us from the "banging door syndrome" and it stays where we put it unless REALLY strong winds push it...

Coming from an rv that would slam against the side of the rv or slam closed on me when climbing up the steps, I kinda like it

[mhs4771]

RW changed the doors a couple of model years ago, they are suppose to be stiff so that the door says in the position it's opened too, rathere than swinging and smashing into the side of the RW. So as said by JB, does it feel as if it's binding or just stiff. If just stiff it's probably made that way.

[PsychoBob65]

Hard might be to strong of a word. I'll go with stiff thru out the entire door swing. Maybe they are built that way to help prevent door slamming issues that others all seem to have in the wind. The door will stay in any position we leave it.

[mhs4771]

Based on that description, I'd say it's working as designed. We've decided to up grade our door to the new style, but it will come with a new 39MB attached to it.

[PsychoBob65]

That's awesome, you'll love it. I'll just pay attention to the door operation and if it gets any worse I'll have to get it to the dealer. Thanks for the info.

[BradPAjax]

Too loose a door will result in damaged paint if you have the full paint option or a bad scuff on the gelcoat from the older standard units.

We had issues with the strike plate on ours making closing the mani door a slam event... techs did that over a few days and had to order a new lockset during our PDI because the lockset is make of several plastic pieces that got broken.

Keep an eye on your screen door alignment as well. Both front and back doors rubbed against rain gutter across top of door that dealer had to adjust. Main door screen still sticks from time to time... may take a fine file to it this Spring.

[PsychoBob65]

Main door and screen swing even and consistent. Everything closes square and true. All of the latches hold secure and fully engage.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

RW changed the doors a couple of model years ago, they are suppose to be stiff so that the door says in the position it's opened too, rathere than swinging and smashing into the side of the RW. So as said by JB, does it feel as if it's binding or just stiff. If just stiff it's probably made that way.

X2

I was shocked when I opened the door on a new one at the lot - they are all stiff with that new design. That stiffness actually has a trade name I saw on the door at the RV show (another RV brand) but I can't remember what it is. Something - "no-sail" or something.

I would have a hard time getting used to that - In a stick house that means something bad and it would bug me Our older design doors on the Redwood are so loose they will drift closed or open just based on not being level.

[lwg]

Originally Posted by atom ant

X2

I was shocked when I opened the door on a new one at the lot - they are all stiff with that new design. That stiffness actually has a trade name I saw on the door at the RV show (another RV brand) but I can't remember what it is. Something - "no-sail" or something.

I would have a hard time getting used to that - In a stick house that means something bad and it would bug me Our older design doors on the Redwood are so loose they will drift closed or open just based on not being level.

Does your 2014 have easy to open doors? Mine has the doors that will hold themselves open easily enough. It's only a problem if the wind catches them just right and even then it has to be something more than 10-15 MPH for it to significantly move.

[atom ant]

Ya mine is the easy open - completely different hinge system than the new ones. Even my cabinets are different than the new ones. I think Redwood changed vendors on doors a couple of times since 2014 (early 2013). I had a heck of a time getting the broken cabinet door hinge replaced.