Grab bar modification?

Camping World has a grab bar made for a screen door. I was wondering if this bar- silver with black ends- could be mounted on the TM door of a 2720?
It would facilitate opening and closing it, but I wondered if there are any clearance issues. I saw in another thread where someone had mounted a smaller handle, which suggests to me it may be possible. Thoughts?
Thanks.

[ThePair]

We use one of those suction-ended grab bars for the door, just stick it on when we want it, and pull it off for transport. I haven't tried a permanent installation, but looking at the setup I think the only issue would be the clearance of the open side of the lower door when folding it in. Watch the next time you set up/break down the TM, and you'll see the lower half of the door pivots inward, and needs to get past the stove side. If a bar were too close to the side, it could interfere.

As long as you keep the bar far enough from the edge, there shouldn't be an issue.

I added 2 grab bars that I probably got at Home Depot. One went horizontally at the top inside of the bottom door. The other went vertically on the top shell next to the door. The install was very easy the clearance was no issue. We use the one on the door to help close the door and as an exit assist when the door is not latched. The one on the shell is used as a grab bar when entering. Both work very well.

Scott O,
Sounds good, any chance of you posting a picture or two?
Thanks.

[MarkoPolo]

I just bought a suction cup bar to place vertically on the top shell next to the door. Apparently the Kystal Kote exterior has just enough texture for the suction to last only a few seconds. I then read another post with some concerns of the suction de-laminating the aluminum from the Styrofoam center, so maybe its better that it didn't work.

Originally Posted by MarkoPolo

... concerns of the suction de-laminating the aluminum from the Styrofoam center, so maybe its better that it didn't work.

That's not going to happen. (Suction cannot delaminate the skin.)

Edit: I think it would be unlikely for a suction cup to cause delamination, because the forces are spread over a larger area.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by MisterP

That's not going to happen. Suction cannot delaminate the skin.

I think I would disagree with that. It is not the suction itself that is making the problem - it is the fact that you can grab the skin and pull. If you put a screw or a well nut into the skin and pulled (assuming the threads didn't strip out), the skin would bend outward and pull away from the styrofoam core. I think???

As a thought experiment, put two suction devices on the wall, one on the inside and one on the outside. Now pull them apart. Assuming the styrofoam slab itself doesn't split, then one wall or the other will pull away from the core.

If you put only one suction device on the wall, and pull hard, I still think it will delaminate if you pull it hard enough, because the aluminum is more flexible than the styrofoam, and will pull up in a bubble at the suction point. And also because the inner skin won't deform to follow the outer skin.

As I say, its just my thought, and I might be wrong. But I'm not willing to try it! If I were to install a grab bar, it would be one with screws.

Bill

Originally Posted by Bill

I think I would disagree with that. It is not the suction itself that is making the problem - it is the fact that you can grab the skin and pull. If you put a screw or a well nut into the skin and pulled (assuming the threads didn't strip out), the skin would bend outward and pull away from the styrofoam core. I think???

As a thought experiment, put two suction devices on the wall, one on the inside and one on the outside. Now pull them apart. Assuming the styrofoam slab itself doesn't split, then one wall or the other will pull away from the core.

If you put only one suction device on the wall, and pull hard, I still think it will delaminate if you pull it hard enough, because the aluminum is more flexible than the styrofoam, and will pull up in a bubble at the suction point. And also because the inner skin won't deform to follow the outer skin.

As I say, its just my thought, and I might be wrong. But I'm not willing to try it! If I were to install a grab bar, it would be one with screws.

Bill

Bill - I don't disagree with your thought experiments, but they create different forces on the lamination than a single suction cup. A well nut by design must have a hole drilled to put it in place. This will weaken the wall/foam interface at the hole. In addition, pulling on a drilled nut creates a point source load that deforms the aluminum wall and will tear the adhesive.

Two suction cups, if strong enough and pulling in opposite directions, creates a tensile effect and at some point I would agree the interior foam would probably tear.

A single suction cup, on the other hand, distributes the load over a few square inches. Since the wall is not fixed or secured on the inside, the wall will flex slightly and distribute the load over a larger area. Could it fail? Sure, anything is possible. But it's unlikely, which probably would have been a better choice of words for my statement.

Paul

[Bill]

Paul -

You might very well be right. The limited-area argument is a good one. I suppose it also depends on how much the grab-bar user weighs, and how hard he hauls on the bar. It just isn't something I would try, since if the glue bond does fail, it would be a pain to reattach the now-slightly-stretched aluminum skin.

FWIW, there is a shallow bubble in the skin of my TM, about 18 inches across, on the curved area near the front window. For no known reason, the aluminum skin debonded from the foam below it. Nothing I can think of will rebond it - and the factory has no ideas either. It is not too ugly, so I pretend I don't notice it.

Bill

moaboy, our TM is currently in the garage and is blocked by the car. I'll try to get a picture of the outside bar this weekend.