"Door Holder-Opener Arm"

[nodine]

Originally Posted by roscoesdad

Mine has been loose for the past 2 yrs. After reading this fix I went out to inspect it. It has a buldge in one of the arms that fits into a recess in the other arm. I took pliers and bent the arm with the buldge up, so it would fit into the recess tight. Works great. Will see how long it lasts.

We did the samething 3 1/2 years ago and still works.

Bob

[RustyTools]

Thanks, to all and for all, for what's turned out to be a very informative thread. Last new arm I bought was over $120!

I think I'm going to try the 'rivet' fix next. Doesn't sound too 'destructive' as far as bending anything. I'd tried the bending/twisting concept before, and got it so messed-up I couldn't make it work again at all (which is why i know how much new ones cost).

TIA

[YC1]

Originally Posted by RustyTools

Thanks, to all and for all, for what's turned out to be a very informative thread. Last new arm I bought was over $120!

I think I'm going to try the 'rivet' fix next. Doesn't sound too 'destructive' as far as bending anything. I'd tried the bending/twisting concept before, and got it so messed-up I couldn't make it work again at all (which is why i know how much new ones cost).

TIA

You will have to drill out four pop rivets on top of the door but they are not hard and easily replaced. You might want to try an experiment and just drill the center of the large rivet and install the pop rivet without using a drift punch to expand the rivet. The lump of the rivet might be enough by itself. Might be worth a try.

[Butchcsdy1]

Originally Posted by roscoesdad

Mine has been loose for the past 2 yrs. After reading this fix I went out to inspect it. It has a buldge in one of the arms that fits into a recess in the other arm. I took pliers and bent the arm with the buldge up, so it would fit into the recess tight. Works great. Will see how long it lasts.

Newbie here. Mine sticks OPEN also ( of course, not until I reach the bottom of the stairs holding three very active Yorkies on leashes who are straining to wet everything in sight!) forcing me to try to get back up to the top step to "whack" the arm to let the door close.
Any fixes for the "stuck open" problem?
BTW, Roscoesdad, we also have a 2005 HR with a '95 Miata M. Small world.

[roscoesdad]

Originally Posted by Butchcsdy1

Newbie here. Mine sticks OPEN also ( of course, not until I reach the bottom of the stairs holding three very active Yorkies on leashes who are straining to wet everything in sight!) forcing me to try to get back up to the top step to "whack" the arm to let the door close.
Any fixes for the "stuck open" problem?
BTW, Roscoesdad, we also have a 2005 HR with a '95 Miata M. Small world.

How about that. Us pulling a Miata is a small group, but both with HR and both pulling a 95M is rare.
From looking at my door attachment, I would suggest doing the opposite of what I did. Get a ladder and look the attachment over. You will see one bar with a buldge and the other bar with a depression. When open, the buldge sets inside the depression. Bend the bar with the buldge away from the bar with the depression just a small amount. That should loosen it up enought to work as designed. You may want to try using a small amount of grease or oil between the 2 bars before you bend anything. That may cause the bars to slip in and out easier.

[docj]

We didn't have a problem with the release mechanism but the rivet on ours kept coming out like everyone else has noted even with several efforts to "crush" it into place.

Recently while we were having some remodeling done, it came out once again and after thinking about solutions the shop spot-welded a washer to the bottom of the rivet. It's been a couple of weeks now and so far it has held well even with the door having been "ripped open" a couple of times by winds in Kansas. I can't think of any downside for this fix; originally the two pieces of metal were joined by a rivet that wasn't supposed to be removable.

[H. Miller]

Originally Posted by docj

We didn't have a problem with the release mechanism but the rivet on ours kept coming out like everyone else has noted even with several efforts to "crush" it into place.

Recently while we were having some remodeling done, it came out once again and after thinking about solutions the shop spot-welded a washer to the bottom of the rivet. It's been a couple of weeks now and so far it has held well even with the door having been "ripped open" a couple of times by winds in Kansas. I can't think of any downside for this fix; originally the two pieces of metal were joined by a rivet that wasn't supposed to be removable.

Are the holes "wallowing out"? The top of our door and the frame are very close - an additional washer width would rub in bad places.
Rivets come in lots of diameters - drill the holes to a "clean-up size" and install new larger diameter rivet, stainless steel of course

[JimM68]

I did mine today, as described above.
Drilled out the 4 3/16 steel rivits holding the arm to the door, and unscrewed from the foor frame.
Drilled a 3/16 hole thru the center of the pivot rivet.
Put a drift punch thru the hole and beat on it until the rivet was tight again.
Put a 3/16 steel pop rivet through the hole.

and put it all back on.

It works great, just like new.

[ottffss]

Not sure what your door holder-open-thingee configuration actually looks like, but here's a solution I used on a PTL Industries door holder-open-thingee used on many rigs.

I traced the outline of the thingee on a piece of 1x3 pine, routed out a cavity that the thingee drops right into, used a Forstner bit to make round depressions into which I glued round magnets into. This new thingee slips on the open door thingee, the magnets hold it fast to the thingee and now even a hurricane won't budge the door. I think it cost me $2.00 for the magnets.

[RustyTools]

ottffss - what a terrific solution! So much for complicated, over-thought ways to do a simple job. Kudos!

H, Miller - you mentioned the very close tolerance between door and frame. We have that too, and I find I have to get the coach on very level ground even before trying to 'fine-tune' with the jacks. Have you come up with a solution to the spacing problem?
I've looked at the door and frame and don't see any adjustments or way to make it better.

[moisheh]

I think the Monaco arm is some type of stainless. A magnet might not work deopending on the alloy.

[rpasetto]

Originally Posted by YC1

I drilled a 1/8 inch hole through the middle of the rivet. Then placed the arm over my vice with the jaws just a bit wider than the 1/8 inch. Using a drift punch inserted in the hole I tapped it until it tightened up nicely. Then I inserted a pop rivet from the bottom of the hole. The rivet keeps it tight and the little extra bump seems to help hold it open.

After I replaced it with a new one from Monaco I tried your fix on my old one. Drilled a 1/8" hole in one of the rivets and pounded a punch in the hole the rivet started to expend but eventually cracked! Perhaps I was too heavy handed, or maybe it was because the hole I drilled was a bit off center. Now I'm still holding on to the old arm, trying to find replacement rivets.

The new arm works fine; hope it lasts until I can fix the old one.

[texnet]

Those rivets are called "tinner rivets". I haven't purchased any but did do some research and Home Depot, Lowes and other local hardware type stores did not carry any or didn't carry any that are large enough to use. I found several sources by googling tinner rivets and found some of the tools on Ebay.

[rpasetto]

Originally Posted by texnet

Those rivets are called "tinner rivets". I haven't purchased any but did do some research and Home Depot, Lowes and other local hardware type stores did not carry any or didn't carry any that are large enough to use. I found several sources by googling tinner rivets and found some of the tools on Ebay.

I remember reading about tinner rivets in another thread... went to some steel suppliers and haven't yet been able to find them in stainless steel. (I was able to find a supplier of stainless steel pop rivets to install the new door check arm atop the door... only had to buy 100 of them ) They didn't have tinner rivets.