Door latching issue-Great Dealer Service

MarkoPolo · 05-25-2013, 08:37 PM

We have noticed that the "new" style door handle on our 2922KD would not stay latched. I could lock the dead bolt and that was a work around.
Took our TM back to The Car Show for some other warranty work. Bed was mounted crooked and water pump was possessed and would not shut off

Also had the 2 1/2 " lift kit installed. I asked that the door alignment be checked as I suspected that was the cause of the latch not holding.
When we picked it up, Will showed us by opening the unit that the latch worked as it was supposed too and he felt we just didn't have it quite level.
We get home and opened the TM and leveled front to back. The door latches normally. But to level side to side where we store it, we had to lift the door side quite a bit. Because of the lift, I needed to use a stack of lynx levelers to lift the door side. Did the rear first and when I did the front, I got to a certain point and the scissor jack "released" with quite a thunk and dropped at least a couple of inches. After my heart rate stabilized, I figured I must have caught on something to trigger that drop. Well, two more times lifting the front jack and it did it each time! This was an Ah Ha! moment to me as I think this was happening all along, but without the lift, it was subtle and maybe just settled when you stepped in the trailer.
I called The Car Show and spoke with Will (the service manager) and explained the situation. Rather than have us drive back to Colorado Springs (120 miles), he asked I send a photo to ascertain which scissor jack our unit had. I called him yesterday to see if he had gotten the photos and he said he had one in stock and would send it as a warranty replacement. I was hoping to have it by next weekend to replace it before our next trip.
Imagine my surprise (and real satisfaction) when the new scissor jack appeared on my door step less than 24 hours after the phone call.
Put it on tonight, the new one holds! I will say the extra weight of the slide out does stress the front jacks and a level site would really be a benefit.
Sorry for the long post, but thought others might discover the same problem and this might help diagnose it easier.
And, I know it has been said many times on this forum, but The Car Show is the BOMB! That is way above and beyond the standard for good service. Our experience with Dave, Kate, Jeff and Will have been nothing but completely first rate. I cannot recommend doing business with these folks highly enough.

05-26-2013, 06:15 AM

I don't understand how a scissors jack can "release" like that. Could you tell exactly what was wrong with it? Maybe a photo showing the problem?

MarkoPolo · 05-26-2013, 09:10 PM

Bruce,
I am not exactly sure what happened. It is possible that the jack "unscrewed" rapidly, but it seemed too fast for that to be the case. Frankly, it made such a loud "thunk" when the TM dropped that my attention was not on the jack itself. Part of me wanted to do it again to try and see what happened, but I was worried I might damage the trailer. My best guess is that the screw was partially stripped and when cranked past a certain point and with enough weight on it, it slipped back to where the threads were not stripped. I don't have a photo, but visually a portion of the threads looked brighter and maybe that was the area that allowed it to drop. When I have time I will look closer at the old jack, but I am just glad to have it work correctly.

MarkoPolo · 05-28-2013, 08:31 PM

I did some internet research on this door latching problem and found that some folks feel using the scissor jacks to level can slightly twist the frame and that will cause problems with door latching. Even after several careful tries to level with the jacks, counting turns, etc. I still could not keep the door latched--it would pop open.
I got out my old Bal leveler and it would just fit around my 15" Goodyear Marathons. So I leveled with the BAL, fine tuned with the stabilizers and now the door stays latched. And the TM is very stable. So this will be the standard operating procedure for me now. I doubt I will be on as steep a slope as I am here, but this did the trick!! I thought the forum might like to know how I solved this problem and it could be an alternate method if your door won't latch. I think you could drive up on lynx levelers on the low side and get the same result, but the BAL leveler is so handy. And to think I was "this" close to giving the BAL to a friend with a Coleman pop up.

countrygirl · 05-28-2013, 08:40 PM

Thanks for your post. It is enlightening! Do you by chance have a photo of the steep slope your were own when you decided to use the balance leveler?

MarkoPolo · 05-28-2013, 08:49 PM

Countrygirl,
I doesn't really look like that much of a slope, but I bet the low side tire is at least four inches off the ground with the BAL leveler. The yard is sloped to keep water away from the house foundation. If I get a chance, I will take a photo later this week.
Mark

countrygirl · 05-28-2013, 08:55 PM

We have been thinking about why things get out of alignment on TMs and could just be by use/wear and tear...or it could be really tricky camping spots. One place we camp actually slopes slightly forward, slightly backwards and a good deal on the door side. We hace use the lynx levelers and it is always a challange. Since a 15 inch tire works with the balance leveler maybe we will try that. We won't camp there again till late October though.

Our door currently works flawlessly and we want it to stay that way.