Main Door Strut Pulling out from fiberglass

[Oregonbound]

Our main door on our 36FL has a door strut that is mounted to the side of the RV just above the main door. We have had continuous problems with the mounting screws pulling out given the tremendous pressure exerted on them if the door is allowed to swing open unsupported (we installed an inside railing on the door to try to prevent the door swinging out hard but not always possible).

I am going to be putting in my third set of higher diameter screws but fear that this will be the last time I'll be able to do this. I may also place a bungee cord screwed to the bottom of the door and the side of the RV just below the door to cushion the force.

Has any one else experienced this issue and come up with a permanent solution? Thanks all

[johnboytoo]

Sorry, brain is not fully warmed up yet, still idling
so not exactly sure what you are referring to, but trying to help anyway until the rest of the gang get up could you post a pic ?

We've installed one of these on every rv since they first came out:
black crossbar or white crossbar - only helps with controlling the door, but great item !

Maybe there is some way to install a limiting door hinge something like this?

The idea is to slow the swing of the door when it swings too hard:

There's the 'southern engineer' solution to wrap some electrical tape around one door hinge pin
OR
the brute force engineer way to slightly bend a door hinge pin to make it bind a bit...

good luck with your solution and let us know what works...

[Oregonbound]

Originally Posted by johnboytoo

Sorry, brain is not fully warmed up yet, still idling
so not exactly sure what you are referring to, but trying to help anyway could you post a pic ?

We've installed one of these on every rv since they first came out:
black crossbar or white crossbar - only helps with controlling the door, but great item !

Maybe there is some way to install a limiting door hinge something like this?

good luck with your solution !

Thanks Johnboy. Have installed the black crossbar you mentioned and it would work if we always remembered to use it. But alas…no, we don't. Will look at whether we can install the hinge you mentioned.

[johnboytoo]

Ah - I reposted some other ideas after I woke up a bit
and apologies if I am way off the mark...
going from memory since I haven't seen our 38gk in 45 days or so - barely remember what it looks like!
good luck!

[Oriana]

Ian,

While we haven't experienced any issues with the gas strut on our fwd door, I recall discussions on the forum quite a few months ago. Might want to search old posts from last Spring/Summer.

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by johnboytoo

Sorry, brain is not fully warmed up yet, still idling
so not exactly sure what you are referring to, but trying to help anyway until the rest of the gang get up could you post a pic ?

...

Johnboy - I believe the gas strut on the fwd door is specific to the FL's. It is to prevent the door hitting the awning arm.

[atom ant]

Ya the strut used on those rigs where the door can hit the slides when opened I believe.

Ian, you might ask your Dealer as well. It's obviously not a good design, and not limited to Redwood. While at the Dealer we toured several brands and I noticed it to be a fairly consistent problem. One brand that came to mind was Voltage that we saw three pulled out of the wall.

I would assume if the Dealers have to come up with fixes for these, they must have come up with a good fix....or not. who knows.

[Campers]

Originally Posted by Oriana

Johnboy - I believe the gas strut on the fwd door is specific to the FL's. It is to prevent the door hitting the awning arm.

The strut is used to stop the front door from gettin caught in the awning strut, not to stop it from hitting the slide. I have a FL and no problem yet. Are the screws pulling out from the door or coach? If it is from the coach, I would sudjest that you remove the light over the door and put a ser of nuts bolts and washers to secure it to the wall. After you remove the light, there should be enough room to reach inside to put the washers and nuts on.

Hope this helps. All the best in 2014

Bud

[atom ant]

My bad - I was thinking slides

[Campers]

Originally Posted by atom ant

My bad - I was thinking slides

Not a problem. Must have been the ford

[Oregonbound]

Originally Posted by Campers

The strut is used to stop the front door from gettin caught in the awning strut, not to stop it from hitting the slide. I have a FL and no problem yet. Are the screws pulling out from the door or coach? If it is from the coach, I would sudjest that you remove the light over the door and put a ser of nuts bolts and washers to secure it to the wall. After you remove the light, there should be enough room to reach inside to put the washers and nuts on.

Hope this helps. All the best in 2014

Bud

Will try the light access solution Bud…thanks. If not, will probably screw a steel plate onto the coach behind where the strut now attaches to the coach then screw the strut onto the steel plate.