Latching top and bottom door together

CAG1976 · 05-26-2016, 05:25 PM

I tried searching for this and I saw a few threads with no pictures about this issue so I am just going to ask. Maybe I didn't use the correct search terms.

What is the best way to correct the seemingly typical problem of the bottom and top halves of the door not holding together with the factory latch system?
I can get mine to hold together for a while, but after a few times of opening the door they seperate again. It seems the bottom half sags down a little bit which puts slack on the factory latch system and then the latch just drops out of position. It could be bent.

I saw one post about a window hasp I think its called. Is that a bullet proof solution?

Do I just drill out the old rivets pull and rivet the window latch back in the same way?
This issue has been my biggest headache since I bought this camper and it doesn't help that my kids go in and out of the trailer all day.

Thanks,

Craigrrr · 05-26-2016, 08:14 PM

The threaded inserts are great, I use the cheapo HFT

http://www.harborfreight.com/45-piec...-kit-1210.html

**Bill** · 05-27-2016, 07:39 AM

CAG1876 -

The door halves are not set up properly. As you open and close them, they should not separate (or come together). This was first discussed by Denny_A in this VERY old thread
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...read.php?t=129
but now the photos are gone. So after reading it, take a look at the first two photos in this thread, showing the triangle on the floor near the door.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=16360
Here's what they mean.

The upper half of the door is attached to the wall of the front shell. The lower half of the door is attached to the wall of the box, or base. If these two walls are perfectly aligned, all is well - the two halves of the door will swing as one. However, if the two walls are not perfectly aligned - if the lower wall is leaning in or out - then the doors will not swing as one unit, but will spread out as you open or close the door. This is not good, obviously. In your case, if the lower door "sags down a little bit", it means the lower wall is leaning outward. You need to pull it back to vertical.

The triangle piece in the photos is used to adjust the lower wall, to make it lean in or out until it lines up with the upper wall.

Remove the wood triangle. That uncovers a triangular metal brace. You'll see the heads of two bolts that go down through the bottom of the brace, through the floor, and terminate in big nuts under the floor of the trailer. By tightening or loosening these nuts, you can adjust the wall, leaning it in or out. These nuts are most easily adjusted by two people, one person inside the trailer to hold the bolt head to keep it from turning, and one person outside the trailer, using a wrench under the trailer to turn the nuts.

How do you know when you are done? Hold both halves of the door almost closed, but do not latch them. Look at the gap between the doors, in particular at the outer end of the gap. Now open both doors to 90 degrees. Did the gap change? If so, you have some adjusting to do. If the gap changes A LOT, then the doors will separate when you open them, which is what you are experiencing.

I do not suggest trying to force the doors to stay together by using a big sturdy latch (handcuffs and leg irons!) If you do, the latch will force them to stay together, which means that something else has to give. I don't know what it is - but whatever it is, you don't want it to happen.

Straighten those walls! When you get them straight, your problem will go away.

Bill

[email protected] · 05-27-2016, 01:17 PM

the handcuffs and leg irons were for the kids to keep them from going in and out all day...I suggest a big sturdy tree for the ends of the leg irons...and one of those red rubber ball gags that straps in the mouth and around the head on each might be good too! That way the neighbors won't complain!

Tom

hoverlover · 05-27-2016, 03:02 PM

Hilarious, ... I missed it too.

CAG1976 · 05-31-2016, 06:27 PM

Bill, mine does not have that triangle piece or any bracket that I can see bolted through the floor. The only fasteners I can see are holding the stairs to the frame. They must have changed this adjustment procedure?

CAG1976 · 05-31-2016, 06:37 PM

And here is the underside pic around the stair area. I dont see anything that I can adjust under there.

**Bill** · 05-31-2016, 07:36 PM

You are right. I've never seen a TM without a triangle, so I don't know what to say. I'm thinking there must be a wall brace somewhere - maybe it is buried in the end of the couch? But you are right, I don't see anything underneath.

Bill

CAG1976 · 05-31-2016, 07:48 PM

I will check behind the drawers. Might be time to call TM.

CAG1976 · 05-31-2016, 08:05 PM

Nothing under the couch.
I was looking at the way the door and hinge are screwed to the swinging frame and it appears it was installed with the top half of the lower door set towards the inside of the camper by almost a half inch vs the bottom half. It seems to be held in by 6 acrews. I took a pic and where my thumb is it shows how far its set to the inside of the trailer. Its not perpendicular for some reason. But by the time it reaches the bottom that gap is gone where my thumb is. I wonder if that is what causes my sagging from open to close.