looking for advice on how to realign the door

[Anna Adamson]

We recently purchased a 13' 1978 Boler that looks like someone lost the battle with the wind or something because it has a horizontal split near the door bend and the lower hinge side doesn't fit the frame properly. It looks like the wind will catch it as we drive.

We are looking for advice on how to realign the door to 'suck into' the frame properly.

[Brian B-P]

I doubt that the visible damage is the result of the door banging open, since the middle of the door would typically hit the belly band, and there's usually nothing down at the bottom for the door to hit, unless some other object (not part of the trailer) was sitting there.

But it's the fit which is being asked about...

The door doesn't look misaligned on the hinges to me. Instead, it looks like the curved bottom of the door has been pulled down by years of gravity at work, and forced out by the weatherstrip. The hinges are likely worn and causing alignment issues as well, but I think the problem shown in the photo is the changed shape of the door.

This is a really common problem with the Boler/Scamp design. There are a lot of discussion threads full of repair and reinforcement ideas... the trick is finding them. I suggest that people post links to their favourite to help Anna (and me, for when I get around to fixing mine, which perhaps has not gone quite as far), rather than reproducing all of the information.

[Donna D.]

Warped Scamp Door

Autopsy and Resurrection of a Scamp Door, Photos of door damage & repair

Sagging Trillium Door Fix, Fill old holes,re-drill for hinge relocation

74 BOLER: I fixed the door gap.

Trillium crack

scamp door - anybody try hanging it on the left?, any reason not to?

Body sag

Entry door gaps

whew...

[Anna Adamson]

Wow! Fast response time- thanks so much for the help. We will go through the links and try to come up with a solution that will work for us right after we deal with DH's 'realignment' tomorrow on his knee!

Thanks again,
Anna

[Brian B-P]

Excellent, Donna!

This type of thing - the need for a reference to past threads on a particular subject - comes up often enough that I have been wondering if some sort of index could be created. The problem, of course, is doing it effectively without making a lot of work for someone. If anyone has a potential method, I suggest that they post it... but not here, in the Feedback to the Webmaster subforum instead.

[Roy in TO]

We are looking for advice on how to realign the door to 'suck into' the frame properly.

As Donna indicated there are many causes for door problems. I can't really tell from the picture other than what appears to be a horizontal crack. Any chance you could post more pictures from different angles showing more of the door?

[Benny K]

Hi, one of the things that I did that helped a lot was to remove the square chromed tubing on the hinge side inside the trailer and straigthened it somewhat....just left some bend in it.....replaced the tubing using new stainless steel screws....the ones I removed were rusted quite a bit.....the straighter tube helps to pull the wall of the trailer straighter in turn......our little eggs tend to sag in unsupported areas like where the hinges are mounted......if you check the curve at the latch side, which is supported by the closet, and compare to the hinge side, you`ll see quite a difference....also if you make a cardboard template and compare the two sides of the trailer you`ll find the side where the counter is curves a lot less then directly across where the door is.....one person on this site compared the boler to a balloon being pused down on....the sides bulge out.....this effect can cause your hinges to push the door out further from the body at the top and bottom of the door.....I also made wedges out of sheet aluminum that I used to tilt the side of the hinges tighter to the Boler body....hope this helps in some way.....also you can drill a few small holes into the bottom of your trailer door where the bottom edge of the wood reinforcement ends to let any possible water in there to leak out and lessen the weight of the door, which happens in some cases, and also tends to straighten the door to cause a condition as is shown in your pic.....good luck in your attempt to fit the door better....Benny

[Roy in TO]

Hi, one of the things that I did that helped a lot was to remove the square chromed tubing on the hinge side inside the trailer and straigthened it somewhat....just left some bend in it.....replaced the tubing using new stainless steel screws....the ones I removed were rusted quite a bit.....the straighter tube helps to pull the wall of the trailer straighter in turn......our little eggs tend to sag in unsupported areas like where the hinges are mounted......if you check the curve at the latch side, which is supported by the closet, and compare to the hinge side, you`ll see quite a difference....also if you make a cardboard template and compare the two sides of the trailer you`ll find the side where the counter is curves a lot less then directly across where the door is.....

I made a wood template Benny.
On my trailer the area with the square tube matched the template exactly. The deviation of the "squished balloon analogy" only starts at the ends of the square support tube, the tube actually holds that area of the side in the correct curvature. Straightening the tube somewhat compensates for the bowing elsewhere, and will work, but it does not make the door and the body match perfectly. OTOH if the tube was longer on both ends many people would not see the problems with their doors.

When I catch up on posting pictures and details of my fixes and mods, I'll post the pictures in sequence when I get to the door fix. If someone wants to see the template shots now, PM me and I will post some in this thread.

BTW, on my Boler American the closet and sink cabinet are not the ultimate supports we have all been led to believe. They help, but they are not fully connected to provide the best structural integrity.

[GuyB]

Warped Scamp Door

Autopsy and Resurrection of a Scamp Door, Photos of door damage & repair

Sagging Trillium Door Fix, Fill old holes,re-drill for hinge relocation

74 BOLER: I fixed the door gap.

Trillium crack

scamp door - anybody try hanging it on the left?, any reason not to?

Body sag

Entry door gaps

whew...

Thanks for grouping all that Donna you get a hero cookie

Guyb
Cochrane

[Donna D.]

Thanks for grouping all that Donna you get a hero cookie

Guyb
Cochrane

You're welcome Guy. I just uploaded a 16 page PDF on fixing Boler... or any aircraft-style door into the Document Center. Hope all this info helps!
Boler Door Fix

[Erik J]

You're welcome Guy. I just uploaded a 16 page PDF on fixing Boler... or any aircraft-style door into the Document Center. Hope all this info helps!
Boler Door Fix

i just read through that pdf.
this guy did an excellent job redoing that door, but it sure was a lot of work.
nice workmanship to boot.

my door has the same issues. i think i'll go with one of the other methods using the all-thread to pull it back into shape.

[james kent]

Hi, one of the things that I did that helped a lot was to remove the square chromed tubing on the hinge side inside the trailer and straigthened it som..Benny

There was never a piece of tubing support behind the door framw in our trailer. When I made the screen door frame, I mached the profile of the closet side. I then removed the hinges, filled the holes and replaced the hinges about 3/8" higher. This made a world of difference. The screen door frame took all the flex out of the side and raising the door removed the gap at the lower edge.