Sliding door off the rails

Triathletedave · 08-07-2012, 08:58 AM

I own a 2012 Surveyor SV-294 with a sliding pocket door to separate the quad bunk area from the living area. Over the past few trips, I have noticed that the rear edge of the door will come completely off of the rail if it is opened too wide, or gets bumped when it is in the fully open position. The most recent incident happened just a single day after the warranty expired!!

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, is there an easy fix? We leave on a 2 week trip in a couple of days, and I won't have time to get it to the dealer. I'm not sure of:

1) how to get the rear wheels back up onto the track; and,

2) How to prevent this from happening again.

Any thoughts, or am I stuck taking it back to the dealer? Maybe I should just remove the door until I can get it back to the dealer.

bill and theresa · 08-07-2012, 10:17 AM

Don't know if yours is like mine but I have 2 sliding doors for the bedroom. one kept falling during travel. the inside edge would fall off. I found by taking down the wood trim on top I could access the rollers Each roller has a plastic lock that turn to lock the door on the roller.This particular one kept turning during travel and dropping that edge of the door.I was able to lock it and apply hot glue to it and it has never fallen again.

Triathletedave · 08-07-2012, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill and theresa

Don't know if yours is like mine but I have 2 sliding doors for the bedroom. one kept falling during travel. the inside edge would fall off. I found by taking down the wood trim on top I could access the rollers Each roller has a plastic lock that turn to lock the door on the roller.This particular one kept turning during travel and dropping that edge of the door.I was able to lock it and apply hot glue to it and it has never fallen again.

Unfortunately, that is not the case with ours. On our sliding door, the wheels remain attached to the door, but fall throug a gap in the metal rail at the back side of the rail (inside the wall). the front wheels are fine, but the rear wheels keep falling through. My arm is not skinny enough to reach all the way into the wall cavity to slide the wheels back into the track. Not sure what else I can do at this point.

Chicken Legs · 08-07-2012, 12:11 PM

I had same problem but keep the plastic lock in place by using a plastic wire tie around lock and trimmed excess. Works ok.

Triathletedave · 08-08-2012, 08:55 AM

I took a few pictures of the door this morning. As the pictures show, the wheels are still attached to the door, but the rear wheelset has come out of the rail. There is no way for me to reach into the opening to re-align and slip the wheels back into the rail. I think I'm stuck going back to the dealer.

caper · 08-08-2012, 09:05 AM

The rear wheels look bent. Our have fallen off because the stop would be bumped off the track while traveling. I used the awning hook too get the wheels back on the track. You will need to reinstall the stop at the back end of the rail or the door will keep falling off. You can purchase new stops at your local hardware store. The stops are the same as used in pocket doors in a house. It is hard to do but can be done if you take your time.

Triathletedave · 08-08-2012, 09:09 AM

I'll bet you're right. The end stop must have been loose and got pushed off when it was bumped. I'll have to remove the door first, but that looks easy. The hard part will be re-mounting the rear wheels and then mounting and securing the new stop.

Know anyone with super long and skinny arms??

Triathletedave · 08-08-2012, 02:35 PM

Just heard from Forest River (Surveyor Warranty). They denied the warranty because they claim that it could not be a manufacturer defect, even though this happened within the warranty period. Since the rollers did not 'fall apart', they say it is not a defect. WTF!! If the 'end stop' inside the wall fell apart, isn't that the same thing?

Does anyone have a contact name and number for someone at Forest River who can handle this properly. I am seriously disappointed with the service level I've received so far.

Triathletedave · 08-09-2012, 08:29 AM

Update:

I took the door out, and used a flashlight to see if the 'end-stop' had come off of the rail. Turns out there never was an end-stop installed. Someone had just stuck a finishing nail past the end of the track to keep the wheels from falling out! When the nail fell out, there was nothing to stop the rollers from coming right out of the track.

I had to put in a proper end-stop after I got the wheels back in the track. It was very tricky, but I got it done.

I am SO disappointed with the quality standards of Forest River, and the very quick dismissal of our warranty claim. I was hoping for a well built product and strong customer support, but have been sorely disappointed in both so far. I just hope that nothing else goes wrong with our unit.

surv294 · 09-29-2012, 08:01 PM

I just joined and noticed your issue. I had the same issue recently with my 2010 Surveyor 294. Here is how I finally fixed it:

removed the door (the remaining roller easily disconnects from the door).
leave the track alone.
removed the door's offending roller and mount (2 screws) and repositioned the mount approx 1" towards the center of the door.
with a short broom handle with a hole in the end (or equivalent), placed the roller back in the track. I stuffed the hole with aluminum foil to cinch the roller tight before I reached in.
bring the rollers into the open doorway, line them up with the door roller mounts and re-attach.

cobiker · 05-18-2015, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triathletedave

I took a few pictures of the door this morning. As the pictures show, the wheels are still attached to the door, but the rear wheelset has come out of the rail. There is no way for me to reach into the opening to re-align and slip the wheels back into the rail. I think I'm stuck going back to the dealer.

Similar situation on our Windjammer 3008W. Sliding door between bath and master, one of the top rollers of the door has fallen off, so it's just hanging by one of the roller now. Not sure how to get the other roller off to take the door off. The support on the bottom, looks to have been relocated several times. Not very well supported into the wall, nothing behind it.

Any help appreciated.

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