Screen door sticking at top corner

[moshe1436]

On my 241QBXL the entry screen door gets stuck on the latch side of the door at the top corner every time you open or close it. The problem seems to be worse when using the stabilizers which make me believe the frame of the trailer is flexing and causing the door to jam. The outside door is fine and is not a problem.

To give the screen door clearance I either need to cut off a section of the top corner or try to lower the door 1/4" on the 3 hinges. I hesitate to file off or cut the top of the door and lowering the door on the hinges is going to be a challenge too!

Has anyone experienced this problem and fixed it? If so how did you fix it? Many thanks!

[swampdonkey772]

Originally Posted by moshe1436

On my 241QBXL the entry screen door gets stuck on the latch side of the door at the top corner every time you open or close it. The problem seems to be worse when using the stabilizers which make me believe the frame of the trailer is flexing and causing the door to jam. The outside door is fine and is not a problem.

To give the screen door clearance I either need to cut off a section of the top corner or try to lower the door 1/4" on the 3 hinges. I hesitate to file off or cut the top of the door and lowering the door on the hinges is going to be a challenge too!

Has anyone experienced this problem and fixed it? If so how did you fix it? Many thanks!

Whenever my screen door stuck i had to tweak the stabalizers to get everything squared up. Mind you this was on a manual stabilizer rig

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by swampdonkey772

Whenever my screen door stuck i had to tweak the stabalizers to get everything squared up. Mind you this was on a manual stabilizer rig

Had to do the same thing on our old 2007 Jayco. Manual stabs and I'd go around tweaking them while the wife watched the door. Usually found a combination that would square everything up.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by swampdonkey772

Whenever my screen door stuck i had to tweak the stabalizers to get everything squared up. Mind you this was on a manual stabilizer rig

Yes, mine is also equipped with manual stabilizers. I have tried adjusting the stabilizers to the point where they're almost useless, causing a lot of movement inside the camper - and the door still sticks!

[swampdonkey772]

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

Had to do the same thing on our old 2007 Jayco. Manual stabs and I'd go around tweaking them while the wife watched the door. Usually found a combination that would square everything up.

I will not miss those days. Then having to go back every couple of days to true it back up. Hopefully my new trailer is different

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

Had to do the same thing on our old 2007 Jayco. Manual stabs and I'd go around tweaking them while the wife watched the door. Usually found a combination that would square everything up.

I guess I'll have to be more patient with this and get my DW to do the same thing! The funny thing is don't think I put that much weight on any of the stabilizers but it's probably a "balancing" act between all of them! Sounds like "fun!"

Thanks!

Mo

[swampdonkey772]

Originally Posted by moshe1436

I guess I'll have to be more patient with this and get my DW to do the same thing! The funny thing is don't think I put that much weight on any of the stabilizers but it's probably a "balancing" act between all of them! Sounds like "fun!"

Thanks!

Mo

Yeah. Usually it will be opposite corners that you'll need to tweak

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by swampdonkey772

Yeah. Usually it will be opposite corners that you'll need to tweak

Thanks for the tip.

[Carpercb]

Often this is the result of the screen door sagging from road vibration or whatever. There is no diagonal support for any screen doors I've seen. That said if you open the door and lift up On the outer corner modestly you may be able to correct the sag. I know it has worked for me many times.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by Carpercb

Often this is the result of the screen door sagging from road vibration or whatever. There is no diagonal support for any screen doors I've seen. That said if you open the door and lift up On the outer corner modestly you may be able to correct the sag. I know it has worked for me many times.

No, the door doesn't sag. The trailer sags!! I think you have it backward.

The door sticks at the top on the latch side. I have tried to pull down on that side to stop it, but the door is very rigid and it won't move. Afraid to go to heavy on it -- I don't want to collapse it!

Thanks anyway for your thought.

Mo

[bobsteele]

One other thing you should check: you may need to tighten the screws that hold the door together. Sometimes the horizontal screws that hold the side to the cross pieces can back out just enough to cause a jam. I've seen it happen.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by bobsteele

One other thing you should check: you may need to tighten the screws that hold the door together. Sometimes the horizontal screws that hold the side to the cross pieces can back out just enough to cause a jam. I've seen it happen.

Thanks -- I'll check that!

[JohnD10]

I think the earlier poster was talking about having to slightly pull down the door as they can warp slightly top to bottom.

I've had to do this with a couple of TT's over the years...

And have to do it a couple of times per week on the screen door of my park model home!

I've tried to adjust the screws and all of that...but grabbing the door and (in my case) pulling the door knob side of the screen door up with a little force bends it back up for a couple of days.

That being said, my old 1978 Coachman TT had this very issue as a previous owner had struck the entrance steps on a curb or something and ripped them completely off and bent the frame of the trailer!

During that process one of the corners of the entrance door frame had cracked and busted on the weld (aluminum), and when the trailer was hitched up or parked without the jacks on it (old screw jacks), the door frame rested on the top of the door, and it was very hard to get that door opened unless I jacked that corner of the TT up just right, which was a little too high but made the door open freely.

If you look at the photos below you can see how the door is not shaped right...and look at how the door side on the back corner is lower than the rest of the rear bumper to the off-door side.

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by moshe1436

Thanks for the tip.

Thankfully our new trailer, a 9999lb toy hauler is fairly Ridgid compared to the old "lite" which had the screen door binding issue regularly.

I started with standing the trailer on level pavement without the stabilizers down, off the hitch and leveled on the tongue jack only. Then I tweaked the hinges until I liked the way the door worked.

From then, always tried to park on level as possible, level with hitch jack. And then use equal pressure on the stabilizers.

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by Tom48

Thankfully our new trailer, a 9999lb toy hauler is fairly Ridgid compared to the old "lite" which had the screen door binding issue regularly.

I started with standing the trailer on level pavement without the stabilizers down, off the hitch and leveled on the tongue jack only. Then I tweaked the hinges until I liked the way the door worked.

From then, always tried to park on level as possible, level with hitch jack. And then use equal pressure on the stabilizers.

I suspect my "Cruise-LITE" is quite flexible and all the suggestions to tweak the stabs is the only way it will get better. We noticed the last time out it seemed to be much worse, and it could have been from not being very level. I always use the tongue jack to help with the stabilization but maybe that is putting too much pressure on the front of the unit.

I'll just have to mess around with the jacks - but it sure sounds like a lot of "messing around!" On the other hand, the sticking door is REALLY an annoyance. Won't know about this until the next trip out.

Thanks for confirming what I suspected all along, but couldn't believe the trailer would really flex that much!!

Also thanks to JohnD10 for your response.

[moshe1436]

This is a follow up post from my original post regarding my sticking screen door.

Since the last posts on this thread/topic we are now out camping again. I have spent countless minutes messing with the stabilizers on my Cruise-Lite TT. All without success. No matter what I do I can’t free the screen door from sticking at the top on the latch side of the door. I can stop it from sticking by pushing against the hinge side of the door. This would fix it and I have tried to bend the “Z” hinges but they are hardened aluminum and even hammering on them is a waste of time! I guess there’s no answer other to keep adjusting the stabilizers or cutting off the top corner of the door, which seems like the only solution.

My question is how much weight can you put on the stabilizers? I hate to crank on them too much in fear of bending them!

[swampdonkey772]

Originally Posted by moshe1436

This is a follow up post from my original post regarding my sticking screen door.

Since the last posts on this thread/topic we are now out camping again. I have spent countless minutes messing with the stabilizers on my Cruise-Lite TT. All without success. No matter what I do I can’t free the screen door from sticking at the top on the latch side of the door. I can stop it from sticking by pushing against the hinge side of the door. This would fix it and I have tried to bend the “Z” hinges but they are hardened aluminum and even hammering on them is a waste of time! I guess there’s no answer other to keep adjusting the stabilizers or cutting off the top corner of the door, which seems like the only solution.

My question is how much weight can you put on the stabilizers? I hate to crank on them too much in fear of bending them!

My stabs were steel scissor. I thought on some i was going to break the frame when i had top get the door squared up. They can take it. Mine if i rember correctly was tight then 3 or 4 more turns. Thought i was hoping to have to get the breaker bar out to get it correctly

[moshe1436]

Originally Posted by swampdonkey772

My stabs were steel scissor. I thought on some i was going to break the frame when i had top get the door squared up. They can take it. Mine if i rember correctly was tight then 3 or 4 more turns. Thought i was hoping to have to get the breaker bar out to get it correctly

Interesting! Mine are also steel scissors type but I never viewed them as very strong! I will try it again and see what happens. A job for tomorrow! Thanks for your response!

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by moshe1436

Interesting! Mine are also steel scissors type but I never viewed them as very strong! I will try it again and see what happens.

Don't do it!

On my previous TT I had it all leveled out in my side yard and decided to give one more extra crank on the tongue jack just to snug things up.

And SNAP!

Busted one rear scissor jack in half...a $100 mistake!

Oh...I forgot to mention...I had just bought the TT brand new 5 hours earlier and just put it in my yard for the very first time when this happened!

[JohnD10]

Scissor jacks are not load capable, but are only for stabilizing.

If you need to adjust for weight handling, either get a decent bottle jack or those screw up jacks (I still carry mine in my 5'ver).

See them in this photo: