What is the secret to making the door close without slamming it?

[scottandanna]

Originally Posted by 0rion

yeah....if you figure this one out be sure to let the rest of us know. I'm tired of threatening the kids.

I will...

Can't work on it until the wife wakes up. The house is such a mess with all of our stuff in boxes, that we decided to sleep in the trailer last night. So when she gets up and moving, I will try a couple things and see if I can't make it work.

[scottandanna]

OK, that helped a bit. Still not as smooth as I would like.

The striker plate did not have as much range of movement as I had hoped, but I pulled the top out as far as it would go, and pushed the bottom in as far as I could, tightened it down, and tried the door.

It would actually close with just a firm pressure. It still comes to a complete stop when the jamb hits the striker, but then, just pressing it firmly snaps it closed without having to open the latch.

Still going to try more stuff. I want it to close with no more noise than the click of the spring-loaded jamb popping back out.

If I cannot pull the jamb in a touch, so it strikes on the curved part and not the flat part, then I might use a dremel and extend that curve on the jamb.

I hope I am using the correct terms, here.

Striker is the plate on the non-moving part.

Jamb is the spring loaded rod that pops out and holds door closed.

[TQ60]

You just need to go "csi" on it...

The "machine" is a simple one but made cheaply with less than optimum parts materials and skills.

First determine if the moving parts move freely and if not some metal filing to clean up casting or other things to make the latch move more freely.

Carefull on lubrication as wet stuff can attract dirt and worse yet...grease can migrate to exposed areas and get transfered to operators and "management" rows on that...

Teflon or dry graphite...

Next is alignment.

Cover the door strike area with a layer of masking tape so you can see where the parts touch then adjust as needed.

If you are a tinkerer then lots of little things that can be done to improve it.

One note is a door on most rv are built for minimal cost and weight so there is a lot less mass moving so a little stickiness in the latch can effect how a light weight door moves.

[scottandanna]

Here is what I have. You can clearly see where the striker is hitting, and it seems that if it was hitting about 1/16" further out, it would slide easier. It is almost flat where the contact first starts on the jamb.

As for rotating the striker, that has helped TREMENDOUSLY!

We are loading the trailer up getting ready to take off, and have had to pull it closed with one hand many times, and it is closing way better.

Now, instead of slamming, I just pull it till it stops, then one firm pull and it comes closed without any drama and not too much noise.

I still want to get it quieter, but will likely not get to do any more work today. We are hot and tired from putting stuff in storage, and are done for the day.

And the wife is napping in the trailer again. We both got overheated from working so hard. And it is HOT! Trailer A/C running full blast, set to 73, but cannot cool below 85 (at the thermostat, which is high on the wall near the sunny side, so it is really about 78 with very low humidity).

[scottandanna]

OK, found my main problem...

My door has a gas shock at the bottom to hold it open, in case of wind, or whatever. We are parked at an RV park in Dalhart, TX on our way to Colorado, and a similar model pulls up next to me, and his door has no shock but a latch that catches when it is open, to hold it open so wind won't slam it back and forth.

So I pulled off my shock, and here is what happened...

FWIW--I noticed I was starting to see light at the bottom hinge of my door a couple weeks back. This will fix that, as well as the slamming.

With shock installed, it was pushing the bottom of the door about 3/8" against the door frame.

With the shock off, the door squared up and there was an equal gap all along the leading edge of the door. No longer hitting at the bottom, and no longer hitting the striker at an odd angle.

Also. The screws holding the striker are already stripped, so I need to put new ones in, and make that thing stop moving around.

Shock is off, door closes MUCH easier now. I need to buy one of those flip-over latches to hold the door open, now, like my neighbors.

I also need to glue or screw or something to keep the door square, and to fix the broken attachment at the bottom corner of the door that the shock caused.

Any suggestions on what would work better to hold that corner together?

[TQ60]

Look upward from bottom to see if there are places for screws to grab.

Often extruded aluminum has a slot in it for this.

If not carve a piece of wood that will fit inside.

Use real soft stuff to make a pattern then use end of a broom handle.

Epoxy in place then pull into place then drill hole and countersink then screw together.

Use stainless or treated for decking drywall screw.

[joshuajim]

I hate the door slam also, so I took the engineering approach to solve it. First I removed the latch mechanism and completely disassembled it. The first thing I found was a ton of hardened grease and dirt in the movement. I always used non petrolem lube so I can only assume that the grease was from the manufacturer.

That's when I realized that the manufacturer realized that that would happen over time and put a strong return spring to overcome the resistance.

I replaced the factory return spring with one that has about half the pressure and now the door closes and latches just like a residential door. You can just pull it shut and it latches.

Now what will happen over time as dirt accumulates? Time will tell.

[scottandanna]

Originally Posted by joshuajim

I hate the door slam also, so I took the engineering approach to solve it. First I removed the latch mechanism and completely disassembled it. The first thing I found was a ton of hardened grease and dirt in the movement. I always used non petrolem lube so I can only assume that the grease was from the manufacturer.

That's when I realized that the manufacturer realized that that would happen over time and put a strong return spring to overcome the resistance.

I replaced the factory return spring with one that has about half the pressure and now the door closes and latches just like a residential door. You can just pull it shut and it latches.

Now what will happen over time as dirt accumulates? Time will tell.

Good idea!!!