entry door issues

Has anyone had any trouble with the entry door being hard to open/close? It seems like our is always needing adjustment. Aside from the obvious adjustments, is there anything else to try?

Is the door itself binding or rubbing on the frame, or is it just the latch assembly?

The latch assembly on mine was a little stiff. I sprayed some silicone dry lube inside it and put a light coating of paraffin on the striker. It works great now.

AVid

I have tried all kinds of lubes on the latch, and you still have to pull the handle out to close the door. I will try some paraffin on the striker.

As far as actually opening, I put some 3 in 1 oil on the hinges and it makes the door swing nice and easy.

the latch assembly works smoothly and there is no rubbing, I think that my problem is with the door jam itself. I think that it may be getting out of adjustment while towing. I am going to make sure that all of the hinges are tight this weekend, because that could also be causing this (and it is the one area that I havent really checked yet).....

thanks

ffruff22 wrote:the latch assembly works smoothly and there is no rubbing, I think that my problem is with the door jam itself. I think that it may be getting out of adjustment while towing. I am going to make sure that all of the hinges are tight this weekend, because that could also be causing this (and it is the one area that I havent really checked yet).....

thanks

ffruff22,

If the problem seems to be the door jamb, your trailer frame might be flexed. When the rear jacks are engaged improperly, they can lift one side or the other of the trailer unequally and flex the frame. This can cause the door opening to flex too and that causes the door to stick. I had that happen on my last 5'er which had a rear kitchen with the door located in the middle of the trailer. I learned to keep the nose slightly down when leveling the trailer, then engaging the jacks until they just touched the rear blocks. I then raise the nose about one to two inches and the side to side level stays equal.

Might not be what you're looking for, but hope it helps.

schrowang, you may be onto something there. I thought it may be flexing from towing, or backing into certain tight spots. But it makes sense that it may be from my leveling procedure. I try your procedure for setting the jacks next time and see if that helps.

Thanks!

ffruff22 wrote:Has anyone had any trouble with the entry door being hard to open/close? It seems like our is always needing adjustment. Aside from the obvious adjustments, is there anything else to try?

Only when I am camping on a very unlevel site. I have to be careful not to twist the trailer when leveling it.

schrowang - good idea. May have to try that. One problem I have is that the door side jack needs to go down 1 and 1/2 turns after contact. The slide side has to down 1/2 turn after contact to be level. I wonder if your idea will work.