Skylark entry door strut

[Discovery]

Hi everyone.

The wind caught our TT entry door and it snapped the ball end of the strut at the door, and ripped the ball pin out of the door threshold. Local RV dealers have no fix for the threshold nut's stripped threads to enable the 10mm ball to be replaced.

Still on the search for a replacement strut as original part number NLA.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Jagiven]

My TT is in storage for the winter still, so I cannot just go look at it. As I recall your threshold looks like mine.

My strut lost its strength I bought a new strut on amazon, dealer told me to buy a 20 lbs, 20 inch unit. I think it is too strong, I would preferred something like a 15 lbs strut. I used my existing ball, I just unthreaded the caps on my new strut and used the old mounting hardware.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A couple years ago I also had the ball come out of the threshold. I recall it was an easy fix after sitting looking at if for a few minutes, but I do not remember what I did.

If the ball is not damaged, you an install it in a new location in the threshold or fill and fix the current location (that is what I did).

Good luck.

FYI, I'll be picking up the TT from winter hibernation in a couple weeks. If you do not have it figured out, ping me after April 3rd.

[Discovery]

Thank you Jagiven

I agree that 20lbs seems too much. I too am looking for slightly less.

The ball from the door is same as the one that pulled out of the threshold. It won't even start to thread. Going to borrow a thread chaser to see if that fixes it. Also rv shops advised i won't be able find the original ball that has a slotted top and no integral "nut" .

I'm sure I'll figure something out but if you think about it maybe reach out after you're TT is unveiled for the season. We're in Okanagan area of B.C. and seeing a lot more units on the road these days.

Cheers

[JFlightRisk]

If your OE strut matched the specs on this one, it's the same one on our Jay Flight.

https://www.amazon.com/RV-Designer-G...002XM5E6S?th=1

The next thing is to find a comparable Nutsert to replace the stripped out one, or get a Helicoil and get it back to functional.

[Jagiven]

There was nothing special about the ball or cap. I unthreaded the cap that came with my strut and screwed in the OEM cap.

We use a LOT of struts at work. It would not be hard to look on McMaster-Carr and find something that will work. Amazon will be cheaper to purchase from than McMaster-Carr.

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/gas-struts/

[JimD]

Back in 2019 a wind gust ripped the threaded section out of my Greyhawk's door. I ended up buying some special threaded rivets, a tool to insert the rivet, a new ball end, plus a 10 pound strut. Also installed a lanyard on the top of the door to prevent it from happening again.

I had to use the old strut ends but they simply unscrewed. Regarding the special tool, you can actually install the threaded insert without it by using a simple threaded bolt and some nuts. The 10 pound strut was the same as the original.