Door seal (bottom of the door)

[Civil_War_Buff]

I know that I am not alone on this, but I find that the rubber seal at the bottom of the entry door doesn't! We bought a draft stopper, but I don't see that as a long term solution. I have been thinking of how to retrofit the door with a hinged gasket of some sort that will flip up (and out of the way) when the TM is closed, but when opened up the seal will drop down and lay against the lower edge of the door frame.

I was hoping that Larry L. or Bill have already addressed this....and then all I would have to do is implement. ;D

Anyhow, does anyone see any problems with my design approach?

Thanks,

Larry

We had a similar problem until we changed the way we level the TM. We were using the corner stabilizers to level and this evidently torqued the TM frame and caused the misalignment. Now we level the wheels with one of the "Lego" style plastic level kits first then use the stabilizers to stabilize. The door seal now covers the gap.

Mark and Mary Ann in NC

Ditto Mark and Mary Ann. When we level according to the TM Owner's Manual primary method the door has problems. I have been using a tongue combination side to side - front to rear level on pop ups for years that indicates which side to raise and by how many inches. We use the legos to level from side to side before we ever unhitch. We installed one on the TM and it works so much better and every thing lines up. Again we only use the sissors jacks to stabilize after we have leveled.

[G-V_Driver]

Prior to the TM, we owned several pop-ups over the years. Most, if not all, of the owners' manuals included strong warnings about attempting to use the stabilizer jacks as leveling jacks for all the reasons mentioned in the posts to this site.

Perhaps the nomenclature istself should be instructive as to how they are to be used, i. e "stabilizer" being a device that keeps the corners from bobbing up and down while the occupants move about inside the trailer and "leveling" being the a totally different process.

Anyway, it makes sense to do it that way and we have carried that technique over to the TM. I built four blocks about 6" high with an 18" handle to make the stabilizing process easier. With a lift kit installed, I found the stabilizer jacks had to be extended a long way, and on a sloped site the jacks on the down-hill corners may not reach the ground.

[Civil_War_Buff]

I tend to agree that pop-up manufacturers warn against leveling the trailer with the stabilizers, but on the TM they are not stabilizers, but leveling jacks. I have had many instances where the trailer was almost level and I just used the jacks as stabilizers, but I still have the gap. Is this indicative of always being low on the door side?
The trailer is usually quite level (in the ring), but I still have the gap...however, I am thinking maybe the frame isn't "square" anymore.

Larry

[Bill]

[quote author=Civil_War_Buff link=board=1;threadid=1800;start=msg12736#msg12736 date=1080580073]I find that the rubber seal at the bottom of the entry door doesn't! I have been thinking of how to retrofit the door with a hinged gasket of some sort that will flip up (and out of the way) when the TM is closed, but when opened up the seal will drop down and lay against the lower edge of the door frame.

I was hoping that Larry L. or Bill have already addressed this....and then all I would have to do is implement. [/quote]Larry -

I don't recall having this problem, and my TM is stuffed into the garage at the moment, so I can't examine it. When I get it out in a couple weeks, I will check it.

Rather than a hinged flap, which I see as kind of elaborate and maybe damage prone, how about screwing some kind of a squishable seal to the bottom of the door? When you close the door, this would seal against the floor, rather than the outside of the door frame. When it is time to close the TM, it would simply slide across the floor as the door moves to the stowed position. "Squishable seals" are used on overhead garage doors, and I think I have seen smaller versions in the Weatherstripping area of Home Depot, Lowes', or whatever.

Or is that what is already there? For some reason, I can't picture it for the life of me.

Bill

[Cateye]

How about foam tubing used to insulate pipes....available at home centers...comes in different O.D.'s.....just an idea

[Bill]

Bulb seals! That's it! I knew if I thought about it long enough, I could come up with the real name (rather than squishable seal).

For an example, and maybe a source, go to http://www.mcmaster.com, and put page number 3212 into the Find box.

Bill

C_W_B, most of the rubber seals on my door were flattened out of shape. In one area a small amount of it came loose from the door.

Last year I replaced the seals around both half doors with a self-adhering foam rubber weatherstripping. It has served quite well except on the bottom of the lower half door it tends to slip vertically. I think that because of the trailer's design the TM doors endure a lot of hard wear. Routine door seal replacement might be something that we just have to do every so often. ???

[fcatwo]

I think the seal takes a set (like windshield wiper blades) when it stays crushed under the door while the door is pushed in for storage. We have a vinyl floor and I sometimes reach in and reverse the direction the seal lies under the door during shut down. It helps it seal on the next setup but is not a permanent fix. It takes another "set" when stored again if you forget to reverse it.

I agree that a piano hinge and rubber flap would be better.

Frank