Entry door separating from frame

[Bayfam8]

Our 2019 Forrest River Wildwood entry door is separating. It was always really hard to close and people would always ask us why, but we thought that’s just the way it was supposed to be. We should have known better because the door on the trailer we saw on the lot when we bought ours was already separated the same way ours is now. We took it in to an RV shop to see if it would be covered under our extended warranty coverage through Compass and they denied it. The RV shop suggested we contact Forrest River because they think the door was over tightened at the manufacturer. I would like to add our trailer has always been babied and is well cared for. I will call Forrest River and see what they tell me. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[SeaDog]

welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. So why didn't the RV place that looked at your rig fix it? If its a matter of the frame being tightened to tight remove the screws or drill the rivets to remove the stress and re-attached it. JMHO

[skytrash]

if it's the frame around the actual door and not the frame set in the wall, then your friction hinges are too tight.

i had this issue and the door eventually started falling apart.

i had 2 weeks left on the warranty and forrest river did send me a new door that i installed myself.

it took 5 weeks to get the door so i ordered and installed 2 regular hinges to keep it from falling apart until the new door arrived

btw a new door costs around $500, so call FR and see if they'll warranty it

[Bayfam8]

They offered to fix it, but it was going to cost $800 the RV repair shop suggested trying to get it covered through FR first before paying out of pocket.

[Bayfam8]

I believe the issue is that the hinges were too tight. There were no issues with the door closing when we first got the trailer except for the door being very hard to push closed. Now that the door is falling apart we have to strategically close it and then slam it shut.

[skytrash]

exactly the problem i had.
they are called friction hinges. the top and bottom ones are friction hinges, you can pop the top cap off and pour a little light oil such as sewing machine oil. might help.

you can also buy normal hinges, but it takes a dremel tool with a grinder wheel to grind off the heads of the rivets to replace. lipperts website. has instructions how to do it.

your best bet, is to see if forest river will warranty it, otherwise its going to cost about $800 to replace the door

[Larryneu]

I have a 2020 Wolf Pup 16fq that had the problem of the door frame separating from the door due to the friction hinges.
Since the warranty was expired I read up on the issue and repaired it myself.
The top and bottom hinges are friction style and after removing the 19 screws holding the door on I was surprised the door only weighed around 10 lbs.
Using a spring scale I found the friction hinges needed 63 lbs of force to move them. Way too much for the light aluminum frame that was glued to the foam door which caused the door to break loose of the frame on the hinge side. I had used wd 40, oil, blaster, etc to free the hinge but to no avail.
Removed the 4 screws in the bottom of the door and separated the frame as much as possible on the hinge side (up to the top hinge mount without bending the frame) and ran three 1/4" bead of Liquid Nail Extreme (white color) one bead along each edge where the door skin and Styrofoam meet and one down the center of the foam and then reassembled the door.
Then I used a 1/4" flat blade screwdriver to use as a wedge and taped it through the hinge pieces to relieve some of the friction. Set all four hinge plate to 35 pounds of pull to move them and reinstalled the door. Closed it and pushed in on the door on the hinge side to make sure it was set properly and left it for 3 days. What a difference. Door still doesn't slam, stays open in the wind and no more flex and separation on the frame.

[pcsdpo]

We have a 2020 NoBoundaries 19.5. Since day 1, the door has been a problem. First, it would open while travelling even though it was locked and the deadbolt was closed. I tried to get my dealer and FR to repair it under warranty, but I got ignored. Since I used to be a carpenter, I did some troubleshooting. The manufacturer didn't mortise where the bolt and deadbolt should enter the frame. It wasn't locking the door becuase the bolts never were fully extended so that they could "lock". I ended up mortising out the opening and that was fixed.
The door has always been a pain the the butt to close. You need to slam it shut or push it closed with your palm from the outside to get it to close. Again, no response from dealer or FR on fixing it. The strike plate also wasn't mortised into the frame and the round headed screws fastening the strike plate were both proud of the frame and constantly rubbed on the door as it was closed. Replaced the strike plate, still no joy.
Then, last summer when the temperature got close to 100, I couldn't get the door closed at all. If it was closed when the temperature was cooler, you could slam & push it to get it closed. I was really concerned with that if I was in the unit, the temperature got high enough that I wouldn't be able to exit the unit. I was looking up attorneys who'd take my wrongful death case if I was ever trapped in the unit if it caught fire (and more fully jammed the door). My beneficiaries would be rich and happy!
So, as I was getting the unit setup for this summer I decided that I'd have to fix the problem myself. I did some research, and saw that folks either loved or hated the friction hinges depending upon whether they got a working set or a defective set. Mine had no way to "adjust" them, so I got out the
Dremel and fixed it.
On the uploaded photos:
1) This is the Lippert Friction Hinge on my unit. Note the circled areas where a "pin" is shown on each hinge, proud of the hinge barrel. This is where the change needs to be made on my hinges.
2) Next is my handy Dremel with the heavy-duty wheel to "remove" the pins in the hinges.
3)This is the "removal" of the pin down to the hinge pivot pin. This needs to be done on each of the three "friction" blades of the hinge and repeated on the second "friction" hinge (6 total on my unit). I actually ground off the friction pin so that it was below the surface of the hinge pivot pin in the hinge.
4) This shows all three friction pins removed to the point that they show an "oval" outline which means that the friction pin has been removed from the side of the hinge pivot pin. Zoom in to see the "ovals" showing in the divot (where the steel hinge pivot pin is gray and the aluminum barrel is silver).

I'll probably "seal" these divots with black silicon seal to keep dust out of the pivot pin area.

The bottom line is that the door works much better now, although much of the friction is gone. But at least I can operate the door much easier and safer. The downside is the door no longer can withstand a wind gust without moving. I maintain that the design for this "friction hinge" is flawed probably because of the different expansion coeffiecients of steel (hinge pin) and the aluminum (hinge barrel). So, when the temperature changes, the fit between the steel pivot pin and the aluminum barrel changes either to the better or the worse (or in my case from bad to worse!).

Sorry that I didn't get the last two photos oriented correctly. The hinge pivot should be vertical.

[N8DC]

I hate my hinges also but I think before I had done the grinding thing I would have pulled one hinge at a time and found a machine shop to take an end mill and mill/drill the pins out. Much more eye pleasing . Of course the other option and I am looking at is just buy 2 new hinges. They are 11 bucks each now by the way .



Dave

[pcsdpo]

Please refer to my photos. 1) My hinges are fastened to the frame & door with a #12 assortment of fasteners, including rivets. 2) If you look you'll also see that there is the "pin" that is 90 degrees from the axis of the hinge pin, so you'd have a hard time "milling" the hinge pin out cleanly. Remember that this is a steel hinge pin in an aluminum tube. you'd be a better machinist than I to drill it out cleanly.
In the end, I "filled" my "grinding divot" with black silicone RTV that you'd never notice unless someone pointed it out.

[Insta-Gator]

So I have a 2021 Riverstone 39RKFB that I just purchased (Used) and the door is doing this. What is sad is that in researching this issue, I find posts going back several years. A logical person would think that on a luxury RV that FR would see the issues with these doors and do something about them! I have had good luck with going to FR for other items and they have been very helpful. My issue is that since I purchased this unti used, it would not be covered. My option is to try to get it replaced through the extended plan that I purchased or just bite the bullet and replace it with a new door and change/modify the friction hinges so that it doesnt happen again. My door is so far gone that I dont think repairing is even an option at this point.

[schreck2003]

Hi
I purchased a used 2020 wolfpup so the normal warranty has expired. Has anyone heard about a recall or anything for the issue of the door separating?

Is the only way to replace it though a dealership a.k.a camping world?

Is there a way to order the door and replace it yourself?

Thanks for your insights.

Mike