sagging door

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The door on the trillium is sagging about a half inch. I don't know what to do about that as I can't even figure out where the sag is coming from. Any thoughts?

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Hi Maggie
I read something on Bolerama about how to fix that problem.
Remove door and reset it as best you can,then shave top of door to the conture of top opening.

I am going to try this method as soon as I can find another door incase it don't work.Idea sounds good and i think it will work.Door should fit better than it did coming out of factory.
:wave

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Shave the door? Oh dear. I"m curious how that works out for you. My door closes and latches ok. Just looks a tad crooked. I would fix it if I could. But if requires anything too major I'd live with it. I wish I could figure out why it's crooked. I assume it was straight originally. The hinges are in the original place so where does the play come from? Thanks for the reply and good luck with your project.

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before you go cuting away check your door hinges. they may be worn or screws may have come lose. I have heard you can get replacement hinges from the new trillium company for about 80 cn dollars. i plan on ordering some for my sagging door next month.
Al i wish my door was the only thing worn and sagging LOL
ps what part of Va are you in? iam outside va beach

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Maggie
Our door looks crooked too. Very close to the frame at one corner and huge gap at other. It latches and closes just fine though and doesn't leak. Hinges are not loose. Nothing looks like its been altered. In all probability it came from the factory like that.

The Trilly doors are really nothing like the Bolers. Ours are made in two pieces, the outside skin, and the inner molded part and the two are resined together. The inner molded skin helps the door hold its curve. If you start shaving off the top you will end up with a gap between inner and outer. You don't want that.

If the crooked look really bothers you, try removing the hinges from the door frame and realign. You'll probably find that the new holes would be so close to the old that you'd end up with loose hinges.

If it were me, I'd leave well enough alone.

Nancy

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<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ef38bcf5f5fdtrillium 1300 door.jpg/>
Al
Just replaced my hinges looks better not perfect at least the bottom of the door is not rubbing the side anymore.
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f09d6be445d1newhinge.jpg/>

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Most of the Trilliums I've seen are starting to show a slight sag.
Just like us , age catches up, But it is not Fatal!!!

Generally with the Trillium it is worn hinge pins or worn hinges.
for the hinge pins, I have seen the guide holes drilled to a larger size,
and bolts that fit snug cut to length and put in.
I have also seen the hinges removed, the hinge mounting holes re-drilled and then put back on the trailer slightly on an angle to keep the door straight. And I guess if you can afford it , you could get new hinges.

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Thanks everybody. We are getting close to making a screen door and I thought it might not go well if the door sag was a symptom of something else. I really like the do nothing plan, but I'll look into the larger pin idea. We are trying to be thorough and solve problems when we see them. But I don't want to wait till everything is perfect before we go camping. This is supposed to be fun right?

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:yep Ab-so-lute-ly!!

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Al V's picture really helps show the problem and can help people describe what to can be done. As you can see in the picture, the door is moving in 2 directions. The top hinge is moving to the left and allowing the door to drop and sag. The bottom hinge is moving to the right and allowing the door to do the same. Also to note, the hinge is also wearing and allowing the door to go straight down, if you look at the hinge you will see where all the weight is and it wears there. Al's picture does not show it but I have a huge gap at the top of the door and very tight at the bottom.

I did a little repair on my hinges with JB Quik (epoxy). It was the day before we were to go camping and I realized the door wouldnt even stay closed on the catch at times and I really studies it for a while looking for a good fix. Seeing no good fix, I took the pins out of the door and held it up to the trailer to see what I could do. The top hinge needed to go up 3/8 of an inch and the bottom one needed 1/4 inch. That was way more than I could shim and I could have redrilled but didnt bother due to the fact that I definatly need new hinges. I figured just tightning up the sloppy holes and building up the wear surface would have to do.

Doing the holes was pretty easy. I mixed up a little epoxy and slathered it in the hole, dont wory about it being pretty. JB Quik is claimed to be a 5 minute mix but I found 9 to be the last workable minute for it. Right at 9 going into 10, I used a drill bit to gently take out the excess epoxy, remember, top hinge keep the bit to the right and vice versa on the bottom so it will help raise the door. After that I put a gob on the bottom of both hinges where the door part of the hinge rides and it wears, again dont worry about being pretty. After it was totaly dry I used a file to smooth it and remove some materal as it was so high now it wouldnt allow the hinge to be put back together.

All total it took about a hour to fix due to the speed setting of the JB Quik (I usually recommend JB Weld but I was pushed for time). It is not a great way to fix the problem but works.

Maggie, your door will continue to sag more and more untill it hits the camper when closing or failes to latch (mine hit at the bottom on the inside and cracked a chip out). Adding a good grease will help slow it though. Open your door about 2 inches, grab the edge and lift, you will see the slop in the hinges. If there no slop (there will be) it could have been mounted that way from the factory (unlikely due to the molding not lining up and that would stick out like a sore thumb) or the rest of the trailer is saging some causing the door to not fit perfectaly. If you truly have no slop, Nancy is right you can remount the hinge but I disagree with her in the holes causing problems. It is common practicse to add a hardwood dowel and epoxy to take up the space that the previous holes made and to put in a pilot hole for the new screw.

HTH
Rich - Trillium with the saggiest hinges on the planet

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Hi All
This is how the hinge holes on this unit were drilled from factory.(Must have been a Monday--1st Unit).
1st Photo is bottom hinge holes and 2nd is top holes.
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ef4ba985fd98h1.jpg/>

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ef4baae92debh2.jpg/>

Bottom holes not straight and not same distance in as top holes.Did not see this till I took door off.

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Those drill holes would explain alot. I'm thinking now my door might be in "factory" condition. Some of my cabinet hinges were way off I guess a half inch on the door is not so bad. If it works at all don't fix it...my new trailer motto. oops I just saw Rich's post. Alot of what he said sounded pretty familiar. The chip out the bottom front for example. Time to take another look. Thanks.

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Hi Al,
We're near Charlottesville.

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Hi Maggie
I did what i proposed to you about door sag.Took a long time but it works.See photos on "A project begins".

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Hi Ches,
You did a beautiful job on that door. It is very satisfying to make something better. I really enjoy seeing everyone here willing to tackle these problems and solve them.

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I to have a 1978 Trillium 1300. My hinges were bad and I had replaced them from Kason. I installed them with nuts and bolts but this required making holes in the door and wall. Since I seem to be rebuilding mine (very slowly) I did not think it would be a big deal. I can post pictures if you like. My door is very solid now.

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Orginally posted by Maggie O.

Hi Ches,
You did a beautiful job on that door. It is very satisfying to make something better. I really enjoy seeing everyone here willing to tackle these problems and solve them.

Thanks Maggie

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I have replaced 4 of the 6 hing screws with stainlees screws and nuts on the inside i covered the expoed treads from the machine screw with an acorn nut this prevents things getting hooked like seat cushions and my skin
Al

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Orginally posted by Steve DeWeese
I installed them with nuts and bolts but this required making holes in the door and wall. Since I seem to be rebuilding mine (very slowly) I did not think it would be a big deal. I can post pictures if you like. My door is very solid now.

:yep I would like.

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Just replaced my hinges looks better not perfect at least the bottom of the door is not rubbing the side anymore.
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f09d8b0e7effnewhinge.jpg/>