Door Gasket?

[Steve Hammel]

As I had stated previously I purchased the gasket with a 5/8" bulb and 3/16" grip. Others on here had tried 1/8" grip but felt that was a bit tight to go on the door. This afternoon I went over to see if it is possible to put what I purchased on the trailer instead of on the door. The gasket that I purchased will fit on the door with no problem the 3/16" is a perfect size however there is no way that the 3/16" will fit on the double thickness of the Scamp doorway. Following are pictures I took to show the difference. I do think this material would work great if you went 3/8" to 1/2" thick on the grip side.

Picture 1 shows how much depth we have to work with on the doorway.
Picture 2 shows how wide the grip is on the white trim on the doorway.
Pictures 3 and 4 shows the difference in size between the 3/16 wide grip I have and the white trim on the Scamp.

[Carol H]

Steve as mentioned I did manage to get the stuff I purchased over the double fiberglass section of the doorway but only by prying the edge of it open a bit more and then using a pair of pliers to squeeze it tight again once on.

PS could you please confirm where you purchased it from??

[SharonM]

I'll admit it. I'm a borderline idiot (or maybe not so borderline).

I'm not getting the full impact of the "bad news" there, Steve.

I want to put the gasket on the door itself, not on the frame area. I want to get all that foam stuff off the frame and remove the goo until it glistens white like Norm's does. So, is the stuff you bought PERFECT for putting just on the door, do you think? If so, that would not be "bad news" for me. I'm confused by your assessment, unless you really wanted the gasket to work specifically on the frame.

Sharon

[Steve Hammel]

Not terribly bad news, I just think it would be more professional to have it mounted on the doorway like the picture of the Escape trailer shows instead of on the door itself. Admittedly, when I ordered this stuff I had every intention of mounting it on the door so I got what I was looking for. Now however I think with the proper material I would prefer it on the doorway.

[Steve Hammel]

Carol I purchased it from Trim Lok Lock Seal 3 16 x 5 8" Bulb A Side Door Rubber | eBay

http://myworld.ebay.com/randpcarriag...p2047675.l2559

[SharonM]

Thanks Steve. Just placed my order with ebay.

S.

[Carol H]

Thanks Steve!

[SharonM]

OK folks, I installed the door gasket I ordered from ebay and ran into a problem. It went on fine, but on one section where the door is a bit "shapely" on the hinge side, the gasket would not stay on whenever I opened the door. I know the reason why: The rat fur is not uniform in thickness around the edges of the door, and in a section about 1.5 feet long, it is thinner than anywhere else and I can't fluff it up. I need to fasten the gasket. I don't want to use rivets, instead I'd like to use glue. I've got a big tube of Sealants Clear Lexel Adhesive Caulk. Should this do the trick? If not, what might work better?

Sharon

[Otters]

Sharon, there's a gasket glue that's sold at auto stores. Its black but works like rubber cement. Put it on both sides, wait a bit then stick it together. I also used just some plain old rubber cement on the new seam tape that doesn't stick worth a darn. It worked the well and I believe it would probably work on the gasket too. And since its clear, its not quite as messy if you are one who doesn't always color inside the lines. Good luck with it.

[SharonM]

Linda, that sounds good. Just one question here -- is this glue good on fiberglass? One side of the gasket will be glued on fiberglass, the other side will be glued on the rat fur.

S.

[Otters]

It is good on the fiberglass, but not sure about the rat fur. I don't have rat fur in mine. It did work for me though on the ensolite or whatever it's called. If there's a little place you can test it out it would be a good idea. Or maybe a rat fur person has has some experience with it and can weigh in here.

[Steve Hammel]

The inner skeleton of the part that grips onto the door skin is made of metal. Can't you just squeeze that part together a bit where it is looser to tighten it up?

[Donna D.]

I wouldnt glue anything to the rat fur and expect it to last. The rat fur is kinda delicate and if any pressure is applied to it for "pulling" it's going to pull it down/out and make a mess. Are you trying to apply the gasket to the door? I'd apply it to the body, there's no rat fur or anything in the door channel. YMMV

[SharonM]

I'll try that Steve. My finger strength was not enough so maybe I can use pliers somewhat gently.

[SharonM]

thanks Donna. If I can't squeeze the gasket tightly enough to hold, maybe I'll be able to run a tiny bead along the outside of the door, directly on the fiberglass, with some success and not hit the rat fur at all. It kind of amazed me how the thickness of the fur is so thin on that one section. I wonder why.

[Carol H]

Sharon its thin on that side due to how tight the door often is on the hinge side. I assumed it was due to years of compression on mine but as yours is fairly new perhaps they shave down that backing or something at the factory to accommodate for the that.

The problem you are having with it wanting to slip off is also due to how tight the fit is on that side and why the foam gasket Scamp installs often slip over on that side as well.

I have tried this mod with two different sized gaskets now and have not been able to get the door to closed unless someone is on the outside and pushing hard while I pull it tight on the inside. :-((( I camp on my own often so not always going to have someone to push on from the outside to shut it for me and I am not sure that when I do have someone with me they would be to pleased to know that after they help me close the door they have to sleep outside. I know some others who have done this mode have reported that they have had some difficulties with closing the door after doing this mode as well, but I am thinking that perhaps my door just fits tighter than some others. I have given up on this mode for this year as it was getting costly ordering different gaskets to try. I ended up ordering new foam gaskets from Scamp so I could go camping and not worry about not having any gaskets on the door if it rained. A bit disappointed due to having spent hours cleaning up around the door frame after getting rid of the old foam gaskets. Actually took a chance and went to NOG for 5 days without any gaskets, as I was waiting for my second order of attempting to find the correct sized rubber gaskets to arrive. Happy the weather was good :-)

What I have learned so far from attempting to do this mode is that the foam that Scamp uses around the door is only 1/2" thick and it easily compresses. Some of the links and photos of the gaskets that have been posted here are much thicker in total than that and they do not compress as easily. For this mode to work well on all Scamps I suspect that one needs to find a gasket that is no more than a total of 1/2" in thickness and made with fairly soft rubber to allow for good compression.

[SharonM]

Thanks for sharing that Carol. So far, I've been able to close the door myself from outside and inside. It's a little tight, but not bad. The seal is great. I'm going to stay with it for a while, but if it turns into a total pain I'll go back to the original setup and just order more foam. Hopefully, door warp due to the rubber gasket won't be in my near future, but I guess it may well happen. Sigh.

[Hambone]

Home Depot, Lowe's or any Home center sells that closed cell foam in varying thickness of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 in and varying width usually for less than 5 bucks a 10 ft roll, has worked for me

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by SharonM

Thanks for sharing that Carol. So far, I've been able to close the door myself from outside and inside. It's a little tight, but not bad. The seal is great. .

Good to hear! It is a great mod and it looks good as well. Just wanted to warn folks that not all Scamp doors are the same as far as tight fit and didnt want anyone purchasing as I did (twice) something of a size that wasnt going to work.

[Otters]

Sharon, if you've gotten far enough to know you don't have issues closing the door then the only issue is keeping the gasket on. The best solution I've seen is to just put 2 rivets at the bottom next to where the seams come together. Its tight enough that it keeps the gasket from coming off and no glue needed. I think Norm did that on his install. If you don't have a rivet gun, buy one because you'll need it eventually and its easy to use.