cargo doors side or top hinge

[peterson]

What are pro and con of side hinge cargo doors vs top hinge cargo doors?

[garykk]

Had them both, would not go back to the swing up doors..side doors are a lot easier to use

[lllkrob]

Originally Posted by garykk

Had them both, would not go back to the swing up doors..side doors are a lot easier to use

+ 2

[TonyMac]

x3 Side doors make one wonder why anyone would build swing-up doors. The swing-up doors need two higher pressure gas struts per door to hold the door open, and these struts need sturdy anchoring positions. My side opening doors have little wimpy struts that hold the doors open, actually only one per door. I can get to the contents easier because the door is not in the way, imagine your kitchen cabinet doors swinging up. If you have pass-thru under your slide, the doors are not on the slide, they are on the coach, and under the open slide, side opening is the only sane answer.

[96 Wideglide]

I've had both, currently have side openers, and while I do prefer them to swing up, they do have cons.
I have wide bays, so you need a fair bit of space alongside to open them wide open. If you have a slide tray, the door needs to be wide open to slide out tray.

I've also on two occasions had a door swing open on me while braking .
Need to really make sure they are firmly latched and locked before traveling.

[VSPA]

Originally Posted by garykk

Had them both, would not go back to the swing up doors..side doors are a lot easier to use

Got both styles on my Itasca 35F, hate the swing up ones, always a pain to hold open, especially the one under the bedroom slide. If there were any way to convert to side opening, I would do it.

[Robmat]

Didn't know you could choose what you wanted . . . on mine under the slides they put side hinged doors and on the others lift up doors that come up to 90 degrees and on the two doors on the compartments that come out with the one slide are lift up but open almost all the way up. Much rather prefer the side hinged doors as they are much easier to load and unload.

[TBS-POPS]

I wish i had side swing doors!!!

[Easyrider]

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

I've had both, currently have side openers, and while I do prefer them to swing up, they do have cons.
I have wide bays, so you need a fair bit of space alongside to open them wide open. If you have a slide tray, the door needs to be wide open to slide out tray.

I've also on two occasions had a door swing open on me while braking .
Need to really make sure they are firmly latched and locked before traveling.

Interesting points that I have never considered every time I've been jealous of side openers! Glad you brought this up, I'd still rather have the side openers but don't feel quite as bad about my swing ups now.

[BillL]

I've had both. Side doors are much better IMHO for generall access. I do have one that van be a little stubborn to open, but no big inconvenience. Wouldn't want swing up doors again.

[vsheetz]

Like most everything, pros and cons. From having both I much prefer the side opening. But there are times the door length and room needed to swing open are a problem.

[chuckftboy]

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

I've had both, currently have side openers, and while I do prefer them to swing up, they do have cons.
I have wide bays, so you need a fair bit of space alongside to open them wide open. If you have a slide tray, the door needs to be wide open to slide out tray.

I've also on two occasions had a door swing open on me while braking .
Need to really make sure they are firmly latched and locked before traveling.

I also prefer doors that swing up. My last coach had swing up doors and they only needed 24" to open. My current coach has side swing doors and many of them are 40" long so when I park in my garage, they won't open all the way, I only have 36" clear. Also when one of them is open, I have to close it to walk down that side of the coach.

The doors on my 2 previous coaches opened all the way up so I never had to bend when accessing stuff inside. But side swings cost less to manufacture with shorter hinge's, less shocks and 1 small latch, so they are now an industry standard.

[Hikerdogs]

We have both styles on our 2013 Adventurer, and it seems both can have downsides. The water compartment and a couple others on the drivers side are hinged on the side. The water compartment one must be 4 feet long or longer. It takes up a lot of room when open.

We also have top hinged doors under the bedroom and full wall slides. They're ok, but you have to make sure the cable that limits the opening height is connected if you want to open and close the slides with the doors open. If the limit cables aren't attached when closing the slides the tops of the doors can get caught on the slide trim and damage both. So far we've been careful to be sure no doors are fully open when closing the slides. I just hope we never make the mistake.

[stan5711]

I got swing up,the older I get the more I hate them.