Quote:
Originally Posted by 7mtn
Hi All, has anyone done a mod that limits how far the door opens? I was camped at a site and the wind was howling and when I opened the door, it went flying out of my hand and swung around, flexing the door hinges .
I've seen some mods that others have done using a gas strut, but nothing specific for Winnebago.
I am not one for re-inventing the wheel, so if anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated. I looked at the 3-ts T-21 Door Stop, but not sure I want to put that on and have it sticking out, whereas the gas strut would mount on top of the door into what I hope would be pretty solid material. Or is there something I am overlooking or not aware of?
Appreciate the feedback.
Thx
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7mtn,
Well Sir, yep, I've come up with an idea that I've been testing out now for a couple of years and so far, we're real happy with it. We live near 3-Ts and, yeah, we both really don't like their remedy for Winnabago/Itascas poor design of a door limiter. They (3-Ts) like it because, they've made money off of it. But, just like your experience with the wind, putting that stop, that low and on one corner only, you're asking for trouble if the wind kicks up rapidly.
Yep, I too like the gas strut idea. But, I spoke with a person who's supposedly "in the know" for Winnebago products and, his thoughts on a gas strut up top, were that it would be attached to the weakest point of construction of those type of doors. And that would be just above the glass. I'm not totally sure I agree with that. I've seen a few other coaches, like a couple of Country Coaches with an almost identical door and door-window arrangement and, they had gas struts up above them that linked to the door jamb on the outside.
When those doors were opened, they were held in place very positively. I'm still thinking about it. As for my plan, well, here it is. When on the FD for 30 years, we had very expensive fire trucks. They had the latest and greatest gadgets, bells and whistles. But, when it came to door limiters for those big, heavy doors, it was about as simple as one could get. All they used was a couple of sections of very thick webbing. The webbing was attached to the door and the interior side of the door jamb via a bunch of bolts and a flat plate. With a minimum of two on each door, those doors couldn't go beyond a given degree of opening, if they wanted to.
So, I adapted that webbing plan to suit our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP. In the pictures below, you'll see how it, (the plan) is devised. I started off with one piece of nylon, 1" webbing and well, it worked but, it was not as strong as I wanted. So, I jumped over to THREE pieces of 1" Nylon webbing. Now that, is much, much better. We can park facing down hill and our heavy door, won't go past about 85 degrees of opening. I set it up so that the limit is about that, not 90 degrees.
When you're talking leverage, the "Wind" has a ton of it. So, this is why I did not want the door to go to 90 degrees. This is a choice thing. If you adapt this plan, you can make it so it (the door) stops where you want it to. Our original door limiter is still in place. The webbing is what does all the limiting now though. See what you think.
Scott
Oh, almost forgot. The webbing/straps, are attached to the door, INSIDE the plastic panel that is screwed to the door. The plastic panel must be removed to do this project. And, the webbing has no effect on that plastic panel when it's re installed. And, the metal plates that hold each sewn in loop, also don't have any effect on the door closing clearances.
Scott
P.S. In looking at the photos, you kind-a have to zoom in on them to see just how they're attached and how they look on there. They're black which, blends in with the interior color of the innards of that door. Sorry about that.