Baja taking it's toll. Need some fixes.

[telebrewer]

I can't figure out why my back left storage area door has drifted so far to the right. I have to slam the door shut with my palm and it's getting worse. I tried hammering the hinge to the left, didn't work. It's also has resistance just to get it almost closed.

My back door formica is just about to pop out of the door frame on the outside. The corners are getting gaps in them.

Can I put corner braces in all four corners? Anyone have this experience? Anyone have any pictures of their fixes? Some pix are posted.

Thanks.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103821406086958539475/Camper?authkey=Gv1sRgCJPX56yJnJ6ayQE

 

[M1010 Mike]

If I had to venture a guess, there are some welds that broke in the rear wall (under the skin) and is allowing the wall to "expand" and causing these issues.Being yours is a '94 model, it's likely got some miles on it and there has been reports of earlier ones having this weld breaking issue. I recall another member redoing his earlier FWC and building it to fit a flat bed. When he deskinned the frame, he found a number of broken welds on the front and back walls. These are the walls that get most of the twisting forces and hence likely to fail over time. I think he rewelded some and added bracing to other areas.Bad part, you are likely going to have to deskin the wall to fix it correctly or take it to FWC to have them fix it. Good luck.

 

[WyoIDI]

I used to have a fifth wheel with compartment doors that looked just like those. My Grandby that I have now is older and doesn't have those types of doors so I'm not completely sure about what style hinge you have. Anyways, almost all the doors ended up getting worse and worse until they would no longer shut. I ended up drilling out the rivet and popping the plastic stopper off the top of the hinge and sliding the open door up and out of the interlocking hinges. Once I had it out I could see that the problem was the fact that door side of the interlocking hinge had been flattened out and was not as tight of a curl as it should be to keep the door tight enough in the frame. I ended up taking needle nose vise grips and rolling the "curl" in the hinge tighter like it used to be. In retrospect I'd would probably try to replace the hinge with a new one. Re-forming the old one was a royal PITA and will probably straighten out again due to metal fatigue, but when I slid it back in with a little grease and used a small screw to secure the plastic stopper it worked like new again. I've since sold the fifth wheel and got the unit I should of to begin with, so I can't attest to the fix's longetivity. The hinge is a poor design in my book, but being able to fix it might save you from tearing your camper apart to see what the frame is doing. Hope this helps.

 

[rotti]

The entry door on my old Grandby looked like that after 15 some years and finally it just collapsed/disintegrated. I had it replaced with a new one but I have no recollection of what it cost. When the door does go it is sudden and ugly so be forewarned.

Any cracks in the camper skin around the corners on the doors or windows? That is usually an indication of frame weld issues. I would contact the FWC service dept. for a more definitive answer.

Good luck. Washboard roads suck!

 

[UglyScout]

My rear door looked like that until this spring when I bought and installed a new one. I treid everyhting to get it/keep it square - but by the end I couldn't get it to latch at all and stay shut.

 

[telebrewer]

Has anyone put corner braces in? Rivited or bolted?

 

[MarkBC]

I can't figure out why my back left storage area door has drifted so far to the right. I have to slam the door shut with my palm and it's getting worse.


I used to have a fifth wheel with compartment doors that looked just like those.


Me too!
All I have in that compartment is the propane tank, and that's bolted down, so nothing is going to fall out...but it still bugs me. People tell me, "Hey, your rear compartment is open, buddy!" "OK, thanks."

In my case I'm sure it's not the camper frame at fault, so maybe I'll try WyoIDI's fix, if I can manage it. Thanks.