sliding door with a mind of it's own!!

[moisheh]

Our floor plan has 2 sliding doors for the shower/vanity area. One closes off the bedroom. It works properly. The other closes off the front area of the MH. It is posessed. Well actually it is not posessed but opens while going down the road. I have checked the bolt that holds it closed and it seems that the door is ableto wiggle a bit. The bolt then migrates upward and the door opens. Very dangerous as this door has a mirror on the one side. What can I do to prevent this? We will be at Monaco service in Sept. but would fix it myslef if I knew what to do. I am thinking it may require removal of the door which I do not want to tackle. Any suggestions other than screwing it open with a big lag bolt!!!!

[moisheh]

Our floor plan has 2 sliding doors for the shower/vanity area. One closes off the bedroom. It works properly. The other closes off the front area of the MH. It is posessed. Well actually it is not posessed but opens while going down the road. I have checked the bolt that holds it closed and it seems that the door is ableto wiggle a bit. The bolt then migrates upward and the door opens. Very dangerous as this door has a mirror on the one side. What can I do to prevent this? We will be at Monaco service in Sept. but would fix it myslef if I knew what to do. I am thinking it may require removal of the door which I do not want to tackle. Any suggestions other than screwing it open with a big lag bolt!!!!

[William Willard]

moisheh -- Try hitting the guide to bend it a little, to tighten it on the bolt -- Bill Willard

[moisheh]

WW: The guide consists of a wooden block topped with a metal plate. Don't know how you could hit it?? The plate is held down by 2 screws and I think I could get at those screws to remove the plate. There are 2 wooden blocks on either side of the door that act as guides. If they were closer to the door it would not be able to move as much. However the door has to come off to get at those blocks.

[Drifter]

moisheh, If I am reading you right you said that the door opens while driving. Why do you close the door while driving? I think that the latches were made to hold door open while driving. Do you always close the doors while driving, and why?

[Diplomat Don]

moisheh.....if you can't fix it, you could do a couple of things as a temporary fix until September. To keep it open, use a spring loaded curtain rod. To keep it closed, put a couple of pieces of stick on velcro at the edge of the door so that it sticks to the jamb.

[moisheh]

Drifter: Is the door closed or open? Is the glass half full or half empty. The door is meant to be open while driving. That would mean it is in the pocket. I guess I did not explain myself very well. I just know that I hear a bang and my wife says: That darn door is open. But actually she should be saying: The door has become unlatched is not in the open position! Bet that muddies the waters!!!

[glennb100]

We had a similiar situation with the roll out pantry in the kitchen. We would lock it securely, and after heading down the road for a few miles, it would come crashing out in the open position. Fortunately, we found a very simple fix before anything was damaged.

I partially screwed some wood screws into the bottom of the fixed part of the pull out cabinet. When the cabinet is stowed for travel, we stretch a rubber band from one of the screws, over the top of the latch that is supposed to keep the pantry secure and back down to the other screw. This provides enough tension to keep the latch in place and the pantry stowed during travel.

The bolt that secures your problem sliding door (our coach has the same sliding door arrangement as yours) is the same as the one that secures our sliding pantry. I suspect if you install two screws near the bottom of the door frame, you'll be able to use the rubber band trick to keep that latch secured (if you don't like the asethetics of the rubber band, a simple spring will also work).

[wilpower]

Check to make sure the hole for the bolt is "deep" enough, ours wasn't, allowing the bolt to wiggle up.

[moisheh]

glenb:

Excellent idea. Far better than using a 1/2 inch lag screw right through the door into the frame!!! Wilpower. THanks but I already checked and the bolt goes to the end of it"s travel.

[cb5300]

I had the same problem with my '07 Dynasty (same floor plan) The folks in Indiana just built up the wooden block under the door so that the latch couldn't jump out.