Compartment Door Screws

[Flanz]

Today was to be a ride day on the Harley up here in beautiful Michigan. Prior to getting the bike ready I decided to take a quick look at one of my compartment doors that needed to be readjusted. Been meaning to do it, but wanted to get a sense of what it would take to do this.

This is when I decided that the door needed my attention immediately. There where two #12 screws with their heads missing on the top hinge and one of the screw heads that holds the piston to the coach missing. The bottom hinge had one #12 screw that also had one of the heads missing. The hinges take three screws, top and bottom. While the piston takes two on the coach side and four on the door side.

Since I had a box of #12 X 1" hex head screws I decide to replace the ones on this compartment door. I drilled out two of the three screws and then replaced all of the ones on the door. I also readjusted the door and all is good. Until I looked at all of the other doors and screws. What I found wasn't pretty.

I found a lot of missing heads and when I went to remove other screws the heads just fell off. It took very little effort to have these screw heads fall off. But, all in all, most of the screws came out and were replaced. So, I spent the day removing and replacing all the screws that came out without breaking. I now have about 15 or so screws that will need to be drilled out and replaced. I'll also have to put my slides in to replace the screws on the end of the pistons that connect to the door. I haven't even tried to take them out, should be fun. Picked up and "easy out" today at HD. Hoping that this will help remove the broken screws.

So, here's a few pictures of what I found. First picture shows some of the heads that broke off. Second picture shows the worst door. Apparently whomever puts the doors on snapped of the heads of the two end screws and just put three screws into the adjustment area for the door. And the last picture shows what the screws look like after 2.5yrs....

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it was needed and hope that it helps.

So, I'd suggest that if you have some spare time on your hands, check the screws that hold your compartment doors on. I know I'm glad I did...

[ditto]

Wow...good thing you carry xtra screws with you!

[brobox]

Paul, thanks for the heads up. It looks like the Tek screws that were used were not of the highest quality, or the air guns used to install them were set to high. The slide stop blocks screws were like that on the Classic.

[Flanz]

Originally Posted by ditto

Wow...good thing you carry xtra screws with you!

Fortunately, HD and Lowes are just about everywhere we travel. A quick ride to HD and I had what I needed to repair the doors. Now I’ve got enough parts, as well as a few more tools, to complete the repairs.

If I continue to repair issues on our coach, this winter you’ll be borrowing tools from me.....lol

[Gary.Jones]

Flanz

Well, that is a strange find.... cant remember how long it has been since I have found a screw with the head severed, particularly something like a self-capping screw.... doesnt that almost have to be poor quality in the manufacture of those screws..... could simply be a very bad batch from some manufacturer.

Maybe that is a dissimilar metals problem......?

Have you found the easy out is capable of removing the shanks, or are you going to have to "drill" them out and use larger screws?

Gary

[brobox]

Gary, I have seen on the factory tours that Entegra has a bin full of pneumatic guns to send out to be rebuilt. It is easy for those air guns to loose the calibration and over tighten screws wringing the heads off.

[50sbuckeye]

I am currently having the same problem with 3 of my doors. The strong arm fell below the door when shut, that's how I spotted it. I think I will replace them all........

[Flanz]

Originally Posted by 50sbuckeye

I am currently having the same problem with 3 of my doors. The strong arm fell below the door when shut, that's how I spotted it. I think I will replace them all........

Good idea, replace them all while you can. That’s what I’m doing. Don’t want to have to go,through this again or worst case have a door fall off either while driving or when I open it.

It’s also nice to be able to do the work before you have to do the work. Since we’re fulltimers I can manage my repairs and down time. I’ve replaced enough screws on the doors so that I don’t have to worry about a major issue. This way I can repair the remainder of the screws at my leisure.

Good luck and let me know how you make out....

[Flanz]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Flanz

Well, that is a strange find.... cant remember how long it has been since I have found a screw with the head severed, particularly something like a self-capping screw.... doesnt that almost have to be poor quality in the manufacture of those screws..... could simply be a very bad batch from some manufacturer.

Maybe that is a dissimilar metals problem......?

Have you found the easy out is capable of removing the shanks, or are you going to have to "drill" them out and use larger screws?

Gary

Not strange at all. I’ve talked with at least one other owner who had to replace screws on their doors. And there’s one that responded to the thread. I’m sure there’s more out there. This isn’t a “one off”.

Take a look at the doors and screws on your coach. You’ll see no dissimilar metal issues at all. Don’t think it’s a batch issue, just a combination of crappy screws and too much German tightening....Good’n tight. Not sure how often Entegra checks and calibrates their equipment, but I assume this is part of it. When I was running my floor all of our equipment was done quarterly. If a problem came up I did it sooner and dug into whatever it was, but this would only happen IF a worker brought it up OR our quality engineer and or inspection process found it.

[ditto]

My 16 Anthem had the same issue, thats why i had the screws to give paul earlier this year, glad he stocks them now! PJ told me that production was over tightening them. Production now use a new pre calibrated tool.

[Flanz]

Originally Posted by ditto

My 16 Anthem had the same issue, thats why i had the screws to give paul earlier this year, glad he stocks them now! PJ told me that production was over tightening them. Production now use a new pre calibrated tool.

Yup, thanks Joe. As of yesterday, I’ve replaced 90 screws out of approximately 120 that hold the doors on. I think this will get me to Florida this winter were I’ll replace the rest. Too much nice country to ride up here.

This has been a good lesson for me. I noticed one of my compartment doors out of alignment and wanted to fix it. It’s been like this for about a year. Little did I know I was going to have to replace all of these screws.

I think we dodged a bullet today....

[brobox]

Paul, It sounds like they had one of the screw guns out of the "to be repaired" bin that I saw on the tour. This was a large standup rolling bin half full of air tools. I had to ask what it was for and was told these are to be picked up for repair. They must really go though the air tools up there.
I bought a box of 144 tek screws when stocking my MH when it was new. I have very few of those screws left and I have not changed door screws. It is amazing owning a MH how many of those screws get used.

[Flanz]

Chuck, the way I see it, I’m glad that I found this issue before it turned into a major disaster. At this point, we own the coach and now everything is on our nickel and I’ll do whatever it takes to fix any and all problems because we really like this coach. We’re fulltimers and can’t run home to sit and ponder how or what we’re going to do with the coach....We need to fix it and move on. The bride is happy that all I do is roll up my sleeves and have at it....Problem solved!!

That said, the point of my post was to give any and all Entegra owners, no matter the year or owner, a heads up on what I was experiencing. I’d hate to hear that someone lost a door due to something I knew about and didn’t mention it. I really hope that anyone who has read this thread has actually gone out and looked at the screws that hold their door in place. And if it’s a problem, they’ve addressed it.

Update: The easy out was a waste of time! I decided to drill out the screw shanks. Purchased a couple of high quality drill bits and drilled out three screw shanks without a problem. One of the holes ended up being a little larger than a #12 screw so a just used a #14. No problem, will slowly finish this off and close this chapter and move on.

[brobox]

Good heads up Paul. It was a post like yours that that pointed me to the slide stop block screws. Half of mine were broken off.