PTL door closing

[redbaron73]

Last week I met up with Soundguy63 at the newmar service center. He was getting work done on his Ventana, and one item was to address the door popping open while driving.

Before he flew in, and since I had time to kill, I was inspecting his work to see if he had any issues with the work performed.

I noticed right away that his door was very hard to close to the 2nd position.

On my 2019 dsdp I can close it with my pinky and it will get to the 2nd position. His coach required me to use a full open hand and to follow thru on the closure..not right at all.

Surprisingly, his service writer said that this is the number one complaint they get, and nothing can be done. You just have to slam it hard.

Since my coach was here, we demonstrated the closing with a pinky. We discovered that my pinky is a bit stronger than soundguy63, as he had to use 1 additional finger, but the point was made.

I then shared the proper adjustment instruction YouTube video with his lead, and amazingly, 2 hours later the door was able to be shut with 2 fingers,and no slam or follow thru.

There is no reason for any door on any newmar to require slamming. The fact that they tell us it does is just wrong.

Only the front electric bay requires extra pressure since it is sealed.

[TheRod]

RB,

Would you post the link to the YouTube video? We have had our door looked at twice, once by Techs at TransWest and again in April at the Service Center.

Both times, we were instructed to "slam" the door which we do (as we have no other option), and prevents the door opening going down the road. We have what is apparently a small air leak at our door. Wonder if this is a symptom. Getting low in the stairwell at speed, it is in what I believe the lower third of the door and it is quite irritating. Upon inspection of the seals, I have not been able to locate the source or reason, nor was TransWest or the Tech at the Service Center. It is especially noticeable driving at highway speed with a crosswind.

Thanks for all you share, it's invaluable.

[redbaron73]

http://ptlengineering.com/how-to/

The mov a bolt must be adjusted properly, and the deadbolt must be loose enough that it truly floats up and down.

When adjusting the mov a bolt, only move 1 position at a time, as the right position is the one that does not require a slam, but the next one does. If you are 2 or 3 off from the slam, then you will get wind noise.

My door stays shut, can pull it close or push it closed with just a pinky, and it has no noise.

Soundguy63's 2019 vemtana can now do the same after north trail and newmar service center both said not possible.

[RJ51]

For anyone that wants to do this adjustment on a 2017 Newmar.


Went to adjust mine today because I'm getting tired of slamming the door to close all the way.
I took the wood trim off, which wasn't too bad by the way, just drilled a 5/64" hole in the plugs and used a small screw to pull them out with a pliers.


Got the mov-a- bolt assembly out only to find out I have the non adjustable one. I will order the new one tomorrow.


The non adjustable one has been discontinued, now I know why.
The 2017's and earlier models seem to have the old ones, not sure about the 2018's and up.


So just a heads up for anyone contemplating doing this on the 2017's a least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgpC99ef28&t=2s

[redbaron73]

I know all 2019 have the adjustable version. This leaves 2018 as the question?

[NealC]

Was googling to try and find where to buy the adjustable mov a bolt (still not found) but came across this:

https://comnet2.newmarcorp.com/insta...013DRENTDR.pdf

Edit: found it on the PTL web site, part number as shown in the video above

[wishalls]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

Last week I met up with Soundguy63 at the newmar service center. He was getting work done on his Ventana, and one item was to address the door popping open while driving.

Before he flew in, and since I had time to kill, I was inspecting his work to see if he had any issues with the work performed.

I noticed right away that his door was very hard to close to the 2nd position.

On my 2019 dsdp I can close it with my pinky and it will get to the 2nd position. His coach required me to use a full open hand and to follow thru on the closure..not right at all.

Surprisingly, his service writer said that this is the number one complaint they get, and nothing can be done. You just have to slam it hard.

Since my coach was here, we demonstrated the closing with a pinky. We discovered that my pinky is a bit stronger than soundguy63, as he had to use 1 additional finger, but the point was made.

I then shared the proper adjustment instruction YouTube video with his lead, and amazingly, 2 hours later the door was able to be shut with 2 fingers,and no slam or follow thru.

There is no reason for any door on any newmar to require slamming. The fact that they tell us it does is just wrong.

Only the front electric bay requires extra pressure since it is sealed.

Let’ Hope that the entire Newmar service staff is quickly trained on the proper method to adjust the door. Thanks to RB for the first training class

[Stuart W]

I recommend to first try and remove the 3, 1 inch rubber bumpers between the door and screen and test closing the door

Some are 13/16

[bydnar]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

I know all 2019 have the adjustable version. This leaves 2018 as the question?

My 2017 VTLE 4037 has the adjustable Mov A Bolt and how nice it is! Ridiculous to slam as per Newmar instructs. The adjustment is a bit of trial and error, but very worth the effort.

[Dutch Star Don]

I'm sure Newmar knows how to adjust the door properly, as I learned it on my own 6 years ago. I think they just may play dumb on occasion, because they don't want to mess with pulling the interior door frame off.

Think how much money in service time and complaints they would save, if they would just put a removabal decortive plate on the door frame. Something like the PTL plate, but nicer.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by Stuart W

I recommend to first try and remove the 3, 1 inch rubber bumpers between the door and screen and test closing the door

Some are 13/16

Newmar tried to tell Soundguy63 the same thing. This created different problems, namely the movement of the screen door and rattling noises. This may be due to other alignment issues, as this was done prior to fixing the problem with the door popping open.



When properly adjusted, these do not need to be removed, and the door does not rattle or have any wind noise.


I never tried removing them from my coach. Do you have rattling of the screen door when this is removed? Any adverse side effects that you have noticed?

[Stuart W]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

Newmar tried to tell Soundguy63 the same thing. This created different problems, namely the movement of the screen door and rattling noises. This may be due to other alignment issues, as this was done prior to fixing the problem with the door popping open.



When properly adjusted, these do not need to be removed, and the door does not rattle or have any wind noise.


I never tried removing them from my coach. Do you have rattling of the screen door when this is removed? Any adverse side effects that you have noticed?

Ok I should have been more specific, sorry
1)First step remove the 3 bumpers from the door
2) try and shut the door, if the door shuts better go to next step
3)go inside the MH with rubber bumpers in Hand make sure the door is completely shut, try and insert the rubber bumpers between the screen and door. You may find only one or more is to big.
4) grind or cut the oversized bumpers to fit
5).reinstall all bumpers
Newmar made available the 13/16 bumpers as a first step before adjusting the striker. I have seen this make an amazing difference. Especially on 2017 and 2018’s

[Stuart W]

To add to this thought. The screen door bottoms out on the inner door jamb, the rubber bumpers get sandwich between the door and the screen. If the rubber bumpers are to large they keep the door from closing all of the way. Slamming the door is actually compressing the rubber bumpers to fully close the door.

[RJ51]

Originally Posted by NealC

Was googling to try and find where to buy the adjustable mov a bolt (still not found) but came across this:

https://comnet2.newmarcorp.com/insta...013DRENTDR.pdf

Edit: found it on the PTL web site, part number as shown in the video above

I searched quite a bit but it seems PTL is the only place to get it $66.99. Newmar probably has them but I'd hate to hear the price so I'll just order from PTL