Door hold-open cam doesn't hold

[Dudley do-right]

I have a small problem, and I don't know how to properly identify the part I need, in order to try to look it up.
At the top of the entry door on our '06Apex40MDTS, there is (for want of a better word) a cam-arm that latches the door in the open position. There is a notch in that piece that falls into a corresponding spot in the mechanism, preventing the door from swinging closed in a moderate breeze, etc. Over time, part of this little protruding notch has worn down to the point where it no longer prevents the door from closing. I have to use a stick, or whatever is at hand if I want the door to remain open.
Does anyone know about the possible availability of this piece? If necessary, I guess I can remove the piece, and get it welded up, and then ground back down to match the original shape....

[Old Scout]

...as is often referenced in this forum, PTL made all the door accessories for WRV....they are very helpful and will help you ID the right part for your model of door....but they are kind of proud of their products and replacement parts.....$$$$$$

[Ljwt330]

I had a similar issue with the exact part on another coach. What I did was use a vice-grip to squeeze the notch closed, just slightly. Worked perfectly. The trick, of course, is to press the "ears" together by a small amount. This is where the vice-grip helps as it not only provides the leverage to squeeze the ears, but you can adjust the pressure in small increments.

[Old Scout]

...just to clarify...WRV used at least two different models of door latch thru the years so the model of your door will/could make a difference on how you fix it/what part to order.....

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

...just to clarify...WRV used at least two different models of door latch thru the years so the model of your door will/could make a difference on how you fix it/what part to order.....

If your are referencing my post, it was a different coach, not my Alpine. I understood the OP's post to mean the arm on my former coach which had a notch and a pin to hold the door open. Sounded like what he was describing. The new/replacement arm for the Alpine is now the arm with the notch and pin arrangement as described by the OP and also what I replaced on my Alpine when a dealer tried to force the door closed without using the door latch handle.


Specifically, an arm that looks like this: Note the "ears" on the left arm. If his is not like this, then, of course, my advice is not useful.

[Janet and Todd]

I had to replace the original hold open assembly after Freightliner forced my door closed too. They no longer sell that original installation (the one with the vertical rod and horizontal piece of metal that is forked and braised onto the rod). I had to remove all the original hold open assembly and replace it with the one pictured above.

[DrDaveMA]

The best thing you can do is as Dean said above, reach out to PTL and they will ask you to send them a picture. From that they will identify the part you need and send it to you. I had the wind catch my door while I was in Montana Years ago, After trying to adjust it I finally called PTL, sent them a picture and got the right part. Since I installed it it has operated perfectly.

[Dudley do-right]

Thanks all, for your input...upon closer inspection, I found a sticker on the inner jamb that identified the part number, and name of the company. I got on their web site and looked up the device in question, and it was not listed as being available any longer. so before calling them, I took a shot at repairing my device, and was successful in doing
so.
Dudley Do-Right, '06Apex40MDTS

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by Dudley do-right

Thanks all, for your input...upon closer inspection, I found a sticker on the inner jamb that identified the part number, and name of the company. I got on their web site and looked up the device in question, and it was not listed as being available any longer. so before calling them, I took a shot at repairing my device, and was successful in doing
so.
Dudley Do-Right, '06Apex40MDTS

After reading this last post and rereading your first post, I now realize you were originally talking about the OEM door arm mechanism on the Alpine and not the replacement offered by PTL.

The PO of my Alpine had that mechanism damaged by a repair shop which replaced it with the new version shown in the picture posted earlier. I also repaired the OEM part so that it functioned once again, but the cam had worn just as you described in your original post (which I now understand completely).

I am still thinking of repairing the OEM arm and reinstalling and am curious how you repaired the worn cam. I had intended to add a bit of welding rod to the lobe, file to proper shape, and reinstall. How did you fix the worn cam?

[Dudley do-right]

Not being a welder, what I did was take my trusty Dremel tool with a flexible power shaft and metal cutting disc and dress the worn notch back as far as necessary to make it square again.This of course caused there to be a gap in the mechanism, which made the door close about 1/3 of the way before the notch "made up" and stopped the door. Now, with the door fully open, you can see how much of a gap you have made by dressing the worn side. It will probably be somewhere around a 1/4", maybe a little more. That small gap allows for a pretty big arc of swing on your door. So how to fill that gap: I went to the hardware store and bought a pkg. of small inside corners, (4 to a pkg.). Then using my Dremel again, I cut up one of those corners so it looked like a capital "L", one leg about 1/2", and the other about 1/8", maybe 3/16", and the width about whatever fits in your notch when you lay it on top of the rotating piece that you originally dressed. What you do now, is see how much space you have left to fill to make your notch tight again I just mixed up some JB Weld steel re-enforced epoxy and used it to fill the open space under the short leg of the ell, and also as an epoxy/glue to hold the "L" down against the rotating catch. Once the epoxy filler under the "L" sets up, your holding latch should work like new. I just put some heavy paper under the assembly to keep the epoxy up in the space until it sets up. Its no big deal to get most of it out after the stuff hardens.

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by Dudley do-right

Not being a welder, what I did was take my trusty Dremel tool with a flexible power shaft and metal cutting disc and dress the worn notch back as far as necessary to make it square again.This of course caused there to be a gap in the mechanism, which made the door close about 1/3 of the way before the notch "made up" and stopped the door. Now, with the door fully open, you can see how much of a gap you have made by dressing the worn side. It will probably be somewhere around a 1/4", maybe a little more. That small gap allows for a pretty big arc of swing on your door. So how to fill that gap: I went to the hardware store and bought a pkg. of small inside corners, (4 to a pkg.). Then using my Dremel again, I cut up one of those corners so it looked like a capital "L", one leg about 1/2", and the other about 1/8", maybe 3/16", and the width about whatever fits in your notch when you lay it on top of the rotating piece that you originally dressed. What you do now, is see how much space you have left to fill to make your notch tight again I just mixed up some JB Weld steel re-enforced epoxy and used it to fill the open space under the short leg of the ell, and also as an epoxy/glue to hold the "L" down against the rotating catch. Once the epoxy filler under the "L" sets up, your holding latch should work like new. I just put some heavy paper under the assembly to keep the epoxy up in the space until it sets up. Its no big deal to get most of it out after the stuff hardens.

Thanks for the reply--very ingenious Anyone not familiar with these door mechanisms would probably get lost in that description, but it made complete sense.


I'm no expert welder, but good enough to add material to the end of the cam, I believe, resulting in basically the same outcome as you. I was curious as to if you faced the same issue which is to square-off and build out the end of the cam.



Thanks again for your response.

[mwallin]

We used the CC gas shock mod on ours.Unlatch the door and gas struts will do the rest.Will try to take some pics

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by Ljwt330

Thanks for the reply--very ingenious Anyone not familiar with these door mechanisms would probably get lost in that description, but it made complete sense.


I'm no expert welder, but good enough to add material to the end of the cam, I believe, resulting in basically the same outcome as you. I was curious as to if you faced the same issue which is to square-off and build out the end of the cam.



Thanks again for your response.

Just be sure to remember the Vansco’s are sensitive to welding on the coach, best to do it off on a bench.

[Jeep401]

Originally Posted by mwallin

We used the CC gas shock mod on ours.Unlatch the door and gas struts will do the rest.Will try to take some pics

I would love more info on this. I had this on my last motorhome and really liked it. cc?