Community Forums

crowleytj · 03-07-2014, 01:39 PM

Our new 2014 Anthem RBQ appears to suffer from chassis twist, the 2 rear passenger doors have both opened a few times while moving in campgrounds at under 5 MPH. We checked the doors prior to departure and all were well secured when pulled on with a foot. Drove over 100 miles and pulled into a paved campground, went around a corner and the rear door on the passenger side flew open. I've check the latch all appears well with enough latch to hold the door. The only thing I can think of is the chassis is twisting allow the latch to separate from the door ketch. Thought the "X" frame was supposed to prevent flexing.

Anyone else had this issue?

Tom Crowley
2014 Anthem RBQ

Mac99 · 03-07-2014, 01:46 PM

Don't know your chassis, but I think it would be impossible to
prevent any chassis from flexing, or a wheel would come
off the ground ! JMHO, not an expert.

KIX · 03-07-2014, 01:52 PM

Suspension is what keeps wheels on the ground

Steve Ownby · 03-07-2014, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crowleytj

Our new 2014 Anthem RBQ appears to suffer from chassis twist, the 2 rear passenger doors have both opened a few times while moving in campgrounds at under 5 MPH. We checked the doors prior to departure and all were well secured when pulled on with a foot. Drove over 100 miles and pulled into a paved campground, went around a corner and the rear door on the passenger side flew open. I've check the latch all appears well with enough latch to hold the door. The only thing I can think of is the chassis is twisting allow the latch to separate from the door ketch. Thought the "X" frame was supposed to prevent flexing. Anyone else had this issue? Tom Crowley 2014 Anthem RBQ

Large, heavy vehicles are subject to chassis flex. This is the reason for manufacturers to specify the order of events for deploying slides and levelers. Semi monocoque chassis which only Newell and Foretravel build now are the stiffness champs but are expensive to build and somewhat heavy.

DSL417 · 03-07-2014, 03:25 PM

Gotta believe something else is going on. I'd discuss it with the CS folks at Entegra rather than speculate. Others have had their doors come open on the highway, but never heard that it was chassis flexing as the cause. Is it happening slow speed over curbs, slopes; what is it about the conditions driving slowly in Campgroundsthat leads you to believe flexing?

By the way, welcome to the forum and to Entegra. Hope you enjoy your coach as much as we do.

loisjop · 03-07-2014, 04:06 PM

Entegra went to a different type door somewhere in the middle of 2014 production. All the doors on the Anthem and Cornerstone now are like the Aspire doors. The catch is totally different that they were on the original doors. They are now like a house door so I suspect that's the problem the catch doesn't engage far enough. Noel

MRUSA14 · 03-07-2014, 06:34 PM

I seriuosly doubt that chassis twist is the cause. Entegra is one of the best in that regard with X-bracing in its chassis. Plus the circumstance of just driving through a campground at low speed is unlikely to cause much twist. I second the thought, look harder at the door catches.

crowleytj · 03-07-2014, 07:00 PM

OK, lets look at this from a Mechanical Engineering perspective. Low speed campground driving is quite a bit different than hiway driving. Turns are much tighter and bending twisting moments are also quite different and in many cases much higher. If I can't open the door with a pull in excess of 35 ft lbs, and the door pops open on a tight turn in the campground, it almost has to be a twisting force on the chassis allowing the door and the catch to separate enough to no longer be in contact allowing the door to open.

Now as an engineering project strain gauges placed at a number of points would allow the forces to be understood. Not sure I want to take the time and expense to do that. So I suppose it comes down to a few options, the door latch are misaligned (I'll work on that in the AM) or the chassis is missing an "X" brace or the chassis has a degree of chassis flex, that will require the addition of additional bracing to correct.

Yes, I understand this is not a Monaco Semi-monocoque construction. When originally looking the Entegra "X" chassis design, it appeared as though flexing could occur, However I listened to the sales talk:-(

I'll let the group no what I find out with further investigation. Had hoped I wasn't the 1st to have the issue.

Tom Crowley