Fixing a door -- 1973 Scamp

[LurkerDan]

Just bought this camper, and the biggest issue I need to figure out is the door. The door is terribly misaligned. There is a crack in the frame above the door that was fixed, don't know if this is related and don't know if the fix was done well. I have posted a bunch of pictures of the door and the crack/fix, can post more. Because of the misalignment, the door doesn't latch/lock, and doesn't seal.

I don't need the fix to look perfect, I just need to be able to latch/lock the door (even a padlock, if that is the simplest ugly solution) and need it to seal reasonably well. Any ideas and suggestions welcome. Please talk to me like I am a complete idiot. I am not particularly handy and have never spent more than 5 minutes in a camper before buying this, so I'm truly, truly clueless.

The door/camper



A close-up of the door



The crack fix



Another of the crack fix



You can see the gap on the upper left of the door



I didn't post pics of the door strike/latch, but can if someone wants to see that to offer help.

[Brian Bran]

I could be wrong but it looks like you might have a little body sag going on there.It looks like the door frame itself is sloping left to right causing the door to sag.
Here's a detailed writeup for what I'm talking about.http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...sag-34620.html

[Greg H]

Well that repair is kind of cheesy, you're going to need that rain guard above the door or you might be able to swim in there when it rains. And the hinges are probably shot. Scamp parts online.

[Donna D.]

CHECK THE FRAME. It looks like the frame may be cracked just forward of the wheel well. We've seen some misaligned doors. But, for one to be that badly out of whack, it's more than a hinge problem. But, don't worry... even that is repairable.

[LurkerDan]

Thanks Donna. Pardon my sounding like an idiot, but I did say that I was totally clueless: how do I check the frame? Also, what specifically is "the frame"?

[Hambone]

I would take a board and place it on your belly band and you should confirm the hinge side is dropped down ( at least from what im seeing from the pictures) look under trailer, frame damage? has body come apart from tabbing? wow and i thought the fit on my door was bad, now I feel like i hit the lottery!!!!!

[Donna D.]

Dan, the molded body of the trailer sits on a metal frame. It almost looks like a trailer frame for a boat trailer. Get a large piece of cardboard (if you don't have a creeper) and get under the trailer with a flashlight and look for cracks. They could look like wrinkles in the metal all the way to real cracks. Like Tom mentioned, the belly band. The front section (ahead of the door) looks like it's lower than the main body belly band. That can be an indication of a frame problem

[LurkerDan]

Thanks Donna.

Here are some pictures I took:

The frame right at the door:


The frame ahead of (in front of) the door. Don't know if this looks normal or not, a piece of metal does appear to be welded here.


That welded piece in front of the camper


Same piece seems to be on the other (non-door) side


Again, under the camper, non-door side


And here are closeups of the hinges:
top hinge


Bottom hinge

[Greg H]

In the fifth picture from the top, is that a crack at the far left in the picture?

[Hambone]

Dan, no that isn't normal looking frame, it has had for some reason some very extensive reworking

[Donna D.]

Those metal extra pieces on the frame are from the factory. Check the frame on the non-hinge side of the door.

On Edit, it looks like the body is crashing down on the frame. Look at the left side... behind the battery box, third picture.

[Hambone]

Good eye Greg, looks like crack to me also...........behind the ...........metal strap.......and welding droppings

[Hambone]

defiantly not factory welding

[LurkerDan]

I went out and looked at that spot, it doesn't look like a crack, but it does look like two separate pieces of metal. As if that "welded" piece is connecting two pieces.

[Donna D.]

You should see the ones on my 1988... terrible weld job. My welder says, who ever did it was a "dobber." But, they're holding. And, came from the factory that way. Maybe they put interns to that job before allowed to work full frames?

[Hambone]

Dan, for some reason whether it is a crack or not the main frame should be continuous from the coupler in the front all the way to the bumper of trailer, mine a 16 foot has a short piece of angle welded right about where your problem is, mine came from the factory that way, would have the angle on the bottom and outside of the trailer, not straight pieces or that other piece that seems to be welded on and is hanging down about 2, 3 inches,

[Donna D.]

The welded piece on the top is what I'm curious about. The body is getting crushed right there too.

[LurkerDan]

I am going to try and take some more pics tonight, highlighting the areas that y'all asked about.

Also, I doubt it matters for this discussion, but apparently my trailer is a 1991, not a 1973. I can't edit the first post any more to change that.

[Hambone]

Dan, if you determine that your frame is welded properly, then i would follow Brians link doing the template thing, your door looks square in the opening its the opening that out of wack, its that corner of the body that has sagged, due to I suspect the frame crack...

[Brian Bran]

Originally Posted by Hambone

Dan, if you determine that your frame is welded properly, then i would follow Brians link doing the template thing, your door looks square in the opening its the opening that out of wack, its that corner of the body that has sagged, due to I suspect the frame crack...

Yeah,it looks to me like the frame is ok and the body is sagging on that corner.