1999 Fleetwood Discovery - Broken entrance door hinge

[Stubee]

Hi All -
I guess you could call my 1999 motorhome vintage, at least as far as parts go. Our Discovery 36T motorhome has a broken entrance door top hinge. I was hoping to simply replace the hinge assembly which also supports the screen door hinge. The hinge is 8 3/4" long, Amazon has the wrong hinge. One repair facility said that I had to replace the entire door and frame assembly; that a replacement hinge is not available any other way.

Looking at the hinge assembly closely, it appears that constant wind suction at the top of the door has stressed the hinge. The 3 screw frame mounting plate is cracked completely through. The door size seems small @ 79 3/4"h x 26 3/4"w.

Any ideas? If I replace the door and frame assembly, that'll be costly and I will still need to get a paint job to match the RV. Has anyone ever replaced this type of door hinge successfully? If so, how was it done?

Thanks in advance for your contributing thoughts!
-Stubee

[Skip426]

Check out this site for possible parts .


www.pellandent.com

[Stubee]

Thank you for your quick response! The website you provided has a large assortment of parts, unfortunately I could not find a listing for door hinges although they did have after-market doors.

Continuing my search I was referred to FleetwoodRVhinges.com by RevRV Parts. This is an after-market company that manufactures stronger hinges to the same specification of the original door. The door is described as a Phillis Entry Door and the company is no longer in business. Interestingly enough most well known class A motorhomes used this common (Phillips) door and so the better built after-market hinges will help more than just Fleetwood owners.

I will post here again after I've had a chance to install the just ordered hinge assy.
NOTE: This link from Good Sam provides valuable installation instructions with pictures:
https://community.goodsam.com/t5/tec...ics/m-p/223828

-Stubee
----------------------------------
1999 Fleetwood Discovery 36T, Freightliner XC, Allison MD3060, 275HP Banks Power
2004 Honda CRV, Blue Ox, M&G vacuum brake

[Skip426]

Thanks for posting the link , let us know how your repair comes out.

[D Gardiner]

At Stubee,
Not sure if your hinge matches this one, but here is the website:
https://www.fleetwoodrvhinges.com/pr...y-door-hinges/

Originally Posted by Stubee

Hi All -
I guess you could call my 1999 motorhome vintage, at least as far as parts go. Our Discovery 36T motorhome has a broken entrance door top hinge. I was hoping to simply replace the hinge assembly which also supports the screen door hinge. The hinge is 8 3/4" long, Amazon has the wrong hinge. One repair facility said that I had to replace the entire door and frame assembly; that a replacement hinge is not available any other way.

Looking at the hinge assembly closely, it appears that constant wind suction at the top of the door has stressed the hinge. The 3 screw frame mounting plate is cracked completely through. The door size seems small @ 79 3/4"h x 26 3/4"w.

Any ideas? If I replace the door and frame assembly, that'll be costly and I will still need to get a paint job to match the RV. Has anyone ever replaced this type of door hinge successfully? If so, how was it done?

Thanks in advance for your contributing thoughts!
-Stubee

[Stubee]

THANKS! I ordered one from the website you referenced. It looks like the right part and I am really grateful for your support. I will follow up with this thread after I've had a chance to install it and see if it works properly. I like the idea that it is a better part than the original. -Stu

[Stubee]

Thanks to all who posted, your information proved accurate and useful.

The upper door hinge replacement was obtained at Fleetwoodrvhinges.com
While pricey, they are worth it! I followed the link located on the above URL that directs you to a step-by-step replacement procedure. Be sure to not loose the backing plate located inside the door frame (we did) because we removed all three screws at once without placing a holding screw to keep the backing plate in place. [Luckily, the plate fell and lodged on the next hinge down] Also found that the backing plates located inside the door do not require holding screws to maintain the backing plate (Liberty 25 1/2" Door).
BTW, you will need an impact drill to remove these screws.

SPECULATION: The RV is 25 years old with 175K miles, the aluminum mounting plate on the top hinge segment fractured at the door frame mount due to stress, most likely wind suction.. Notably the aftermarket hinge is made out of metal instead of aluminum at both the top and bottom segments, the rest of the hinge is aluminum. I expect these hinges will outlast me and my motorhome.

We tried to recover the backing plate (1"x 2") with a powerful magnet without success. We removed the aluminum trim strip around the inside door frame to gain 1/4" access to the fallen backing plate which we retrieved using forceps. If you lost a backing plate you could fabricate one. I'd use a metal cover plate for a electrical box for material (its galvanized). Cut it to 1"w x 2"h. Use the existing hinge as a template to locate where to drill three holes to line up with the frame.

Hope this additional information will be helpful for others. And THANKS again for your support!

-Stubee
--------------------------------
1999 Fleetwood Discovery 36T, Freightliner, Cummins 5.9L