door problem

[john in flushing]

the lower portion of the door on my 75 13' scamp has lost its curve so it is not in line with the body. I'm certain that others have had this problem & it seems like someone else had used a cable and turnbuckle to pull up the lower edge of the door. There should be a better way. I'm thinking of using 2 pieces of wood cut to the curve of the body and screwed to the inside of the door. Thanks for your ideas.

[Carol H]

John if you use the search function on this site - use the bottom Google option for best results, you will find lots of different approaches to fixing the problem.

To get you started there is a document on Scamp door repair in the Document Center which was done my a party who does some pretty amazing fiberglass trailer restores. The original thread that the document was posted can be found at Scamp Door Repair and Mods.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by john in flushing

the lower portion of the door on my 75 13' scamp has lost its curve so it is not in line with the body.

The problem is more likely your body has "bulged", while your door has retained its original shape. It is a known weak spot in design/fabrication where the body attaches to the frame at the hinge side of the door under your front bench. Other things to look for are a weak floor or cracked frame.

[solarscamp13]

New 85' scamp owner with the same problem. The door has a 2" gap at the bottom, sags to the left, away from the hinges, and the latch barely engages. It doesn't leak, but dust and invasion by mice and squirrels when it's parked are my concern. A new door from scamp is $385. If this "body bulge" is the issue, I don't want to spend money on a new door and not have the problem corrected. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[john in flushing]

Thanks to those who replied. My trailer is presently at our son-in-laws house and we still have lots of snow, ice and/or mud. As soon as conditions are better (in Michigan?) I will bring it home to begin work and will advise what I did and results. We intend to take it on a trip from Michigan out through Utah, Nevada, northern California and home by way of Montana and other points. A year ago we were out to Nova Scotia and points in between.

[David B.]

John, when you do find the problem & get it fixed, you might want to apply automotive style door gasket around the door opening as well as the door. This double (almost interlocking) seal method eliminated all dust intrusion on ours. Scamp also sells a "clip?" from their parts dept. that pulls the bottom leading edge of the door in toward the trailer body. You can click on our avatar an go to our album to see more pictures on this and to see other mods we did to our 13' Scamp.
PS John, my wife & I grew up in Flint.
Happy Trails
Dave& paula

[RogerDat]

Look under the front bench on the hinge side. May find the body is pulling away from the floor. There was a post with pictures of a replacement for the metal tube on the hinge side, which I can't find.

Member made a wood form matching curve at corners (where strongest for least bowed) and used those to check and found fair amount of side bow around the door. Think he made brace to pull it back to true.

This post on making a screen door has the curved side rails that could perform that function of holding the sides to the correct curve. http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post208077

And this post might be of use too. http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...oor-53380.html

BTW - David I really really like that door seal and trim, on my to do list for spring do you recall what it was called or where you purchased it? Checked out your album too some nice stuff there.

[Raz]

Search trim lok bulb seal on eBay. There is a fellow who sells it buy the foot in various sizes. Raz

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

Member made a wood form matching curve at corners (where strongest for least bowed) and used those to check and found fair amount of side bow around the door. Think he made brace to pull it back to true.

That might have been me. Had a hard time finding the post. The links from the original thread seem to have gotten lost in a site upgrade at some time. So much for cross referencing.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post141634

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

That might have been me. Had a hard time finding the post. The links from the original thread seem to have gotten lost in a site upgrade at some time. So much for cross referencing.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post141634

That was EXACTLY the thread I was talking about. Wealth of information on solutions in the links in some of the posts to that thread. In addition to your excellent work and pictures. I'm betting your door frame will hold until the frame falls apart.

[RogerDat]

From what I have read unless door has become water logged from water getting into the wood like substance between the inner and outer panels the doors themselves are less often the problem than the body or hinges. Door will be heavy if water is inside. Drilling a small hole out of sight in the bottom will confirm if water comes out or sawdust is wet. Plug hole after of course.

What is inside that door is what you have to attach to for any shaping or pulling into shape you do to the door. I would not call it robust material, sort of a particle board on mine. Know a drill goes through it with very little resistance.

Over time our eggs act like a marshmallow, they squish a bit from gravity. Think about what vertical support there is if you have a front couch/bunk model, closet on latch side of door and the twisty support under the kitchen cabinet on street side. Door opening makes the wall a bit weaker in that part of the wall too.

If the door hangs low on the latch side suspect hinges are the most probably cause, if it gaps at the bottom and it's an older one suspect body bulge (I can relate to that older I get more I bulge too).

The stock foam weather strip from Scamp is 1/2 inch for the top and sides but 3/4 inch for the bottom, so even new they have more gap along the bottom edge. That stock weather strip by the way is not very good. Does not tend to hold up well.

If you have a chance to post some pictures that might help people assess your situation.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by David B.

JScamp also sells a "clip?" from their parts dept. that pulls the bottom leading edge of the door in toward the trailer body. You can click on our avatar an go to our album to see more pictures on this and to see other mods we did to our 13' Scamp.
PS John, my wife & I grew up in Flint.
Happy Trails
Dave& paula

Dave how does the clip work? When you close the door does the edge of it somehow go into the clip? Hard to tell from your pictures.

I btw tried do the automotive door seals attached to my door based on another detailed thread on this forum on how to do it ... tired two different sizes and sadly both made it extremely hard to close the door. I know someone else reported the same problem. Not sure if the age of the trailers plays into why or why not it works for some and not others. Ended up just replacing the foam gasket Scamp puts around their doors with a rubber D gasket and it worked pretty well at sealing it up.

[David B.]

Carol, the door does actually go into the clip, and as it is being closed, the leading edge of the door is being guided closer to the trailer. Newer Scamps have this along with some sort of a "rub protector" on the lower door corner. I had used a large fender washer attached with a small bolt to achieve the fiberglass protection.
To overcome the difficult door closing, I just leaned against the door with my shoulder/arm while first turning the knob until the door was completely closed, then letting go of the knob. It appeared to be even easier after about a year of use.
Dave & Paula

[Carol H]

Thanks David I might see if I can order one from them.
From your pictures it appears to be on the hinge side of the door (right side) but from your description of how it woks that doesn't sound right... humm so is on the bottom of the left side?

[David B.]

Carol, It is on the hinge side and it is mounted to the body, not the door. The swing path of the door catches it and is guided tighter to the body.
Dave & Paula

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

I'm betting your door frame will hold until the frame falls apart.

That might be the case. Though there is still a bit of body sag. I'm considering the upright for the screen door mod. I want to review the situation.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

That might be the case. Though there is still a bit of body sag. I'm considering the upright for the screen door mod. I want to review the situation.

Interesting. Trilliums come with a fiberglass pillar on the hinge side of the door. At first I assumed it was for roof support but it flattens out at the roof curve. Perhaps it's real purpose is to stiffen the wall to prevent sag and door fit issues. Raz

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

That might be the case. Though there is still a bit of body sag. I'm considering the upright for the screen door mod. I want to review the situation.

Does tend to work out better when one thinks a bit, then measures twice and cuts once.

I will be replacing my hinges, already replace the ball and pin. Some effect but the aluminum is clearly worn.

Front couch coming out as part of floor covering replacement, replaced bunk mount wood due to falling apart so figure I better check couch mount wood too. Figure I'll be doing some reviewing of my own around that door frame. Like the screen door but want to see what is what first, and get approval of screen door from management too.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by David B.

Carol, It is on the hinge side and it is mounted to the body, not the door. The swing path of the door catches it and is guided tighter to the body.
Dave & Paula

Thanks David for the explanation on it... will call Scamp.

[Nelmes]

I had the same problem, and used a few different solutions to fix it.

First I found water in the bottom of the door, so draining that helped a little.

The hinges were worn, so I replaced them.

The metal brace on the inside of the wall, on the hinge side of the door I replaced with a shaped piece of wood. This helped reshape the side, also gave a screen door mount and supported the bunk bed.

Last I shaped a couple pieces of wood on the bottom of the door to mount a magazine and bug spray rack. This also helped the door hold the right shape.

Used it last summer and it worked great.