Entrance door has seperated.

[Ol Poopypants]

I haven't used my G-town this season due to using my vacation fund for an Alaskan cruise. I store the mh at my house, inside my machine shed. I'm in it weekly, making sure there's not any moisture or mouse activity happening.
Early June, I notice that the entrance door was getting hard to open and close. Towards the end of June, I almost had to use a crowbar to enter the unit. After I was in the unit, I noticed that the door had separated at the lower right hand corner.
I got it to the dealership, which I've always been very happy with the service department, on July 6th. It's still there. On the second phone call to the service department, I was informed that Forest River doesn't keep doors in stock--they are made on demand.
(It's a 2013.)


I've been on the forum for a few years and (to the best of my memory, which isn't the best memory) I haven't come across anyone writing about this problem.

I'm assuming moisture was the cause but I know there wasn't any moisture inside the unit. I contacted FR and the door isn't covered by warranty.

[JohnD10]

I've noticed that the entrance door on my 2015 5'ver has warped this summer and is bowed out right were the door latch is.

A couple of months ago I moved to the hot spot of the southwestern US of A (Yuma AZ) and I was thinking this was due to the extreme heat here (101.5 right now - cold front went through last night ).

[Iggy]

I know of one person here in Arizona this has happened to on his 2011 Georgetown.
What he had was the fiberglass interior cracked and separated from the foam filling inside.
The crack went horizontal below the window and above the door locks.
All he did was use something to kind of fill in the crack and painted it.
It has been holding for at least 3 years.


I also found a replacement 72" x 28" door that may work if you need to replace.

https://www.rvautoparts.com/V0000401..._p_295254.html




Not sure if the Georgetown door is 28" or 30" wide?



LINK

[Ol Poopypants]

Well, JohnD, I'm glad it's "cooled down" in your area, but that's still a bit warm for me!


Iggy, I'm a bit ashamed to say that it never dawned on me to hunt down a door and replace it myself. I've jotted down the link. Thanks!

[Iggy]

I'm sure being in Illinois helps because you are a short drive to Elkhart where you can find anything for your Georgetown because all trailers and most gas motorhomes are made there.

[kenandterry]

We just went through having to have our entrance door professionally repaired, because the interior surface had a spreading crack and the inside and outside door surfaces were separating. They’re vacuum bonded during manufacturing.

Be very very careful. The size, curvature at the top, the width, the location for the door handle assembly, the number and design of the hinges........
VERY VERY DIFFERENT YEAR TO YEAR MODEL TO MODEL

I KNOW....I CHECKED.

Replacing a door, let alone matching the swirly design on the outside is a nightmare.

Be careful......IM JUST REALLY SAYING HERE!

[Ol Poopypants]

I've been thinking about my door and I've come to realize that for the past year or so, we have had to "slam" it to close it. We were in if for 2 weeks in December at WDW's Fort Wilderness Campground and the last few days it wasn't closing on the first slam.


I don't need any nightmares--I want the door fixed correctly the first time. As I've stated, I've been very happy with the service department at Pontiac RV, so I'm going to bite the bullet and pay the $1,300 estimate.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by Ol Poopypants

I've been thinking about my door and I've come to realize that for the past year or so, we have had to "slam" it to close it.

We were in it for 2 weeks in December at WDW's Fort Wilderness Campground and the last few days it wasn't closing on the first slam.

I've always closed my camper doors by pulling the handle to the open position, closing the door, then releasing the handle so the latch doesn't get slammed every time the doors are closed.

Less wear and tear on the latch is my reasoning for this, not to mention less noise.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Ol Poopypants

I've been thinking about my door and I've come to realize that for the past year or so, we have had to "slam" it to close it. We were in if for 2 weeks in December at WDW's Fort Wilderness Campground and the last few days it wasn't closing on the first slam.


I don't need any nightmares--I want the door fixed correctly the first time. As I've stated, I've been very happy with the service department at Pontiac RV, so I'm going to bite the bullet and pay the $1,300 estimate.

Never slam an RV door. They aren't built to take it. Adjust the door latch so it works as it should. May require a little filing.

[John s.]

I have a 2012 360 DS and my door is cracking on the inside also I had the door replaced when it was brand new because of buckling I don't want to go thru that nightmare again they had my rig for 8 weeks and even now I still am finding spots of over spray. Be careful of who you take it to and keep an eye on the progress. Good luck.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Ol Poopypants

I've been thinking about my door and I've come to realize that for the past year or so, we have had to "slam" it to close it. We were in if for 2 weeks in December at WDW's Fort Wilderness Campground and the last few days it wasn't closing on the first slam.


I don't need any nightmares--I want the door fixed correctly the first time. As I've stated, I've been very happy with the service department at Pontiac RV, so I'm going to bite the bullet and pay the $1,300 estimate.

What are going to do the door?

Totally remove frame and door and replace and paint it?

Just curious.

[Ol Poopypants]

Finally, we can all get a good night's sleep--I picked up my unit yesterday! New door, screen door, frame and door closer. $1,300 and seven weeks. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

[John s.]

Thanks guys my door is still working fine it just looks crapy on the inside maybe I can find a thin material and skin over it. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Ol Poopypants

Finally, we can all get a good night's sleep--I picked up my unit yesterday! New door, screen door, frame and door closer. $1,300 and seven weeks. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

At least take a few pictures so we can see how well they did.
How does it shut now?
Do you have to slam?
How did the paint job come out?

[Ol Poopypants]

I own some farm ground here in east central Illinois but I don't farm it. The farmer who does it for me has to have his basement replaced at his house, so yesterday, I ran it over there so they can live in it until Thanksgiving. I have put a Post-It note in my pickup to remind me to snap some photos.
I'm glad I'm not on a trip. I hooked up the water line and had a line pop off of the cold water nozzle in the cabinet. It was an easy fix but time consuming because it's the first time for that issue. Then I couldn't get the hot water heat to ignite. I have a half tank of propane, according to the gauge, but then I wasn't able to lite the cooking stove nor start the generator. This morning, Mr. Farmer called our local propane distributor, They came out and discovered that a "safety device" was frozen up and wouldn't allow propane out of the tank. He by-passed it and now everything requiring propane functions. Because his dad worked for in the winter months, they didn't charge us.

Now I'm sure I'm going to catch crap for allowing the tech to by-pass the device. However, from my days of being a hot air balloon pilot, and my brother-in-law delivering propane for the same company, I know that everybody PHYSICALLY handling propane has to have some training and pass a test to be certified. Having said that, I sure the tech wouldn't have by-passed it if it wasn't a safe, temporally solution.
I don't know what that device is. It has a push button, which I wasn't able to push in, with a couple of wires attached to it. I'm thinking it's a alarm. I'm sure someone (Iggy?) will be able to enlighten me.

[wvphil]

The safety device from my understanding is to cut the propane off if a leak is detected and alarm set off by the propane / co2 sniffer inside the coach. If this is bypassed it will not turn off the propane feeding the device that may be causing excessive c02 inside the coach say if a furnace malfunctions.

[Ol Poopypants]

Leak detector: The service manager at the dealership just called me--he just off the phone with Forest River and 2013 was the last year Forest River installed the propane leak detector. The service manger told me not to worry about it, so I'm not going to.



It's raining for the next couple of days, so once it stops, I'll snap some photos of my replacement door.

[Ol Poopypants]

When i dropped the unit off on July 6th, I had a trip planned--leaving on August 16th, and I mentioned this to the service manager. I also mentioned that if it would help speed things along, I would be okay with a plain white door. My wife is a "money hoarder", so the less money spent, the happier she would be, which makes me happy. I also didn't want to worry that the paint would not match the body paint due to 5 years of fading on the body paint.
With all that typed, I'm happy with the all white door.

[Ol Poopypants]

I'm floored that I managed to attach the photos on the first try! Cubs are on--gotta go.

[JohnD10]

I discovered that my door did not warp from the excessive heat down here in Yuma, Arizona...

What happened is that the door jam piece where the latch engages somehow had slid outward, thus making the center of the door bow out in the middle where the dead bolt goes into the door frame when it locked.

I adjusted it to where it should be and now the door closes up and seals again!