03-31-2021, 07:58 AM
This is true confession time. The entry door on our coach has ALWAYS dragged a bit when opening and closing. I just learned to bump it with my knee when opening. It never got very high on my “fix” list.
@"Lee Dove" got me thinking I need to fix that. I recently visited with @"bikestuff" , and his door opens and shuts like a vault door.
So, I got door envy.
My door was not scuffing on the sides but rather the bottom of the door was dragging on the stainless steel door sill that Newell used for ever. Since the rivets holding the sill down had sheared I suspected something was going on. I removed the sill, and like most things Newell, it is a jigsaw puzzle to remove. I found the steel under the sill had rusted a bit, just enough to scale and flake. But the scaling raised the door sill a bit. Wirebrushed and painted the steel, reinstalled the sill. No more scuffing.
But wait, the door has always been a bit cocked, in that the top sticks our about 1/4 inch when the bottom is flush. Rhonda doesn’t like to slam the door to get the top deadbolt to lock. Ok, what to do about this? The hinge has 29 screws on each side, and I figured it I could slot the holes in the hinge I could pivot the door to align it. A carbide milling bit on a Dremel works, just wear gloves and eye protection because it generates a million SS splinters. I milled the top half of the holes in one direction and the bottom half in the other while leaving the very center hole alone. That way I could just pivot the door slightly on the hinge. After realigning the door, and tightening down the screws, I put a few rivets in the top and bottom to prevent the door from moving in the enlarged holes. Ok, maybe more than a few.
Now it just goes CLUNK!! Rhonda is going to skin me for not doing this a long time ago.
@"Lee Dove" got me thinking I need to fix that. I recently visited with @"bikestuff" , and his door opens and shuts like a vault door.
So, I got door envy.
My door was not scuffing on the sides but rather the bottom of the door was dragging on the stainless steel door sill that Newell used for ever. Since the rivets holding the sill down had sheared I suspected something was going on. I removed the sill, and like most things Newell, it is a jigsaw puzzle to remove. I found the steel under the sill had rusted a bit, just enough to scale and flake. But the scaling raised the door sill a bit. Wirebrushed and painted the steel, reinstalled the sill. No more scuffing.
But wait, the door has always been a bit cocked, in that the top sticks our about 1/4 inch when the bottom is flush. Rhonda doesn’t like to slam the door to get the top deadbolt to lock. Ok, what to do about this? The hinge has 29 screws on each side, and I figured it I could slot the holes in the hinge I could pivot the door to align it. A carbide milling bit on a Dremel works, just wear gloves and eye protection because it generates a million SS splinters. I milled the top half of the holes in one direction and the bottom half in the other while leaving the very center hole alone. That way I could just pivot the door slightly on the hinge. After realigning the door, and tightening down the screws, I put a few rivets in the top and bottom to prevent the door from moving in the enlarged holes. Ok, maybe more than a few.
Now it just goes CLUNK!! Rhonda is going to skin me for not doing this a long time ago.
Richard and Rhonda Entrekin
99 Newell, 512
Maverick Hybrid Toad
Inverness, FL (when we're home
)
