Door wont close

[Bruceanast]

I have a 2020 Eagle HT 284BHOK and the bedroom door is extremely hard to close shut. Its been to the dealer 2Xs for "adjustment". They are able to adjust it to the point that you can close it with a lot of effort, but after a few trips down the road, it is again impossible to close.

After candidly speaking with the dealer he admitted of many others having the same issue. He said if they order a "new" replacement door, it will have the same issue.

Anyone else have this issue and/or have their issue resolved?

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Bruceanast

I have a 2020 Eagle HT 284BHOK and the bedroom door is extremely hard to close shut. Its been to the dealer 2Xs for "adjustment". They are able to adjust it to the point that you can close it with a lot of effort, but after a few trips down the road, it is again impossible to close.

After candidly speaking with the dealer he admitted of many others having the same issue. He said if they order a "new" replacement door, it will have the same issue.

Anyone else have this issue and/or have their issue resolved?

Have a finish trim carpenter look at it.

[Tunce the traveler]

Originally Posted by Cavie

Have a finish trim carpenter look at it.

X2

[Nature Ist]

With more detail, we might be able to give you a better idea what to do. Is the problem that the door won't close because it hits the jamb on the latch side - as if the door is too big for the opening? If so: is the door hitting the jamb by about the same amount from top to bottom vs just at the top or bottom? In either case, is the space between the door and the jamb on the hinge side even at the top, center, and bottom when the door is closed? (I know this may be hard to see.)

I just looked at the specs for your model and now realize you are referring to the exterior door. That is very different than an interior door.
The most likely cause of this condition is the way the door was installed at the factory, and may require complete removal of the door. Since this is a new unit, you may need to insist the dealer contact Jayco about having it go back the factory for repair: I wouldn't be too confident the dealer could remove and re-install it correctly. The problem could be that the aluminum framing for the rough opening of that door was made too tight, though it's more likely the door frame was screwed into the frame rough opening with too much space between it and the frame on the hinge side. Either way, the entire door and frame need to be removed and re-positioned, and doing so it would need to be properly sealed
during re-installation and most likely the screw mountings will need to be moved because the new screws will want to go back into the old holes.
I would put a lot of pressure on the dealer to get this resolved by doing more than "adjusting"

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by Bruceanast

I have a 2020 Eagle HT 284BHOK and the bedroom door is extremely hard to close shut. Its been to the dealer 2Xs for "adjustment". They are able to adjust it to the point that you can close it with a lot of effort, but after a few trips down the road, it is again impossible to close.

After candidly speaking with the dealer he admitted of many others having the same issue. He said if they order a "new" replacement door, it will have the same issue.

Anyone else have this issue and/or have their issue resolved?

I would guess this is a "friction hinge" problem.

The friction hinge was some engineer's brainchild, to keep from having to add a doorstop, door catch or some other mechanism to keep the wind from taking the door. However, it really just makes it flex when closing and therefore hard as "H E Hockey Stick squared" to latch. If your answer is to adjust the door latch for this problem, you will be in the repeat cycle forever doing that.

We obviously have this same issue.... I have to spray silicon on the door and screen hinges, at least once a year. Once I spray them and work it back and forth a couple of times, we are good to go.

One other thing is MorRyde and Lippert stairs can impede closing if the legs are set too high, but I doubt that is your problem from the description.

[Nature Ist]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

I would guess this is a "friction hinge" problem.

The friction hinge was some engineer's brainchild, to keep from having to add a doorstop, door catch or some other mechanism to keep the wind from taking the door. However, it really just makes it flex when closing and therefore hard as "H E Hockey Stick squared" to latch. If your answer is to adjust the door latch for this problem, you will be in the repeat cycle forever doing that.

We obviously have this same issue.... I have to spray silicon on the door and screen hinges, at least once a year. Once I spray them and work it back and forth a couple of times, we are good to go.

One other thing is MorRyde and Lippert stairs can impede closing if the legs are set too high, but I doubt that is your problem from the description.

Madmaxmutt: That's another interesting scenario: my friction hinge isn't causing any major resistance to closing after a little over a year. Did your's actually prevent you from latching the door or was is just that you had to push hard to swing the door? In my case, a good strong wind will swing it noticably.

[Bruceanast]

Hmmm... I will try spraying the hinges with silicone spray. It is the exterior front door. We don't have the issue with the rear door, just the front exterior door.

[Bruceanast]

It is the front exterior door. Can't really tell where its hitting if anywhere. It will close to the point that it trys to engage the latch, but is just short of latching. I have to put all of my weight to push it close from outside the coach. You cannot close it from inside without ripping out the handel or injuring your fingers. Its impossible. Its like the door is warped maybe...

[Bruceanast]

Thanks! I am going to make a big stink that I have to keep returning for the same issue.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by Nature Ist

Madmaxmutt: That's another interesting scenario: my friction hinge isn't causing any major resistance to closing after a little over a year. Did your's actually prevent you from latching the door or was is just that you had to push hard to swing the door? In my case, a good strong wind will swing it noticably.

Originally Posted by Bruceanast

It is the front exterior door. Can't really tell where its hitting if anywhere. It will close to the point that it trys to engage the latch, but is just short of latching. I have to put all of my weight to push it close from outside the coach. You cannot close it from inside without ripping out the handel or injuring your fingers. Its impossible. Its like the door is warped maybe...

Ours makes it difficult enough that you cannot close it by the screen door handle at all. From the outside, you have to lean on it, to latch it. Bruce's explanation here sounds just like our issue, but it is not warped just flexing.

Without the silicon, the hinges are fighting you trying to close it.

[Bruceanast]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Ours makes it difficult enough that you cannot close it by the screen door handle at all. From the outside, you have to lean on it, to latch it. Bruce's explanation here sounds just like our issue, but it is not warped just flexing.

Without the silicon, the hinges are fighting you trying to close it.

So if I spray silicone on it, does the friction hinge still keep the door opened (even though a mild blow of wind will cause it to move).

[Bruceanast]

Looks like the door or door frame maybe warped. Notice the gap at the top and bottom, its fairly tight. The middle of the door, the gap is more pronounced or bigger.

Looking for a straight edge long enough to go from top of door to bottom of door to see if its the door or door frame/jam.

[2500RAM2020]

I had the same issue on my 2020 330 RSTS TT , the entrance door had to be slamed shut for the latch to work . After looking at the latch assembly it was the slam plate on the frame where the latch was hitting and not forcing the latch to move inward with out excessive force. I removed the slam plate and made a new one that protruded out a little more to allow a smoother movement on the latch assembly and it works fine. No more slamming of the door or complaints from the wife..

[ATX512]

The rear exterior door drives the wife and myself crazy. We have to slam it closed and keep pressure on it to engage the deadbolt lock. Honestly I do not want to deal with the hassle of taking it to the shop for this one issue.
I can see the heavy marks on the strike plate and have attempted to adjust it. Alignment is correct. Just wicked tight. We use the bedroom door 90% of the time now.

[curver900]

couldn't you just use a dremel and "expand" the strike plate width to accommodate the latch.. That is what I would do short of making them fix the uneven gap...

[mokurt]

Originally Posted by Bruceanast

Looks like the door or door frame maybe warped. Notice the gap at the top and bottom, its fairly tight. The middle of the door, the gap is more pronounced or bigger.

Looking for a straight edge long enough to go from top of door to bottom of door to see if its the door or door frame/jam.

Good point.
Might be able to remove the door and straighten it as a last resort or modify the jamb opening.

I would still work with the dealer if you have the time and patience.

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by curver900

couldn't you just use a dremel and "expand" the strike plate width to accommodate the latch.. That is what i would do short of making them fix the uneven gap...

[Nature Ist]

From your pictures it does appear the door is warped. If you sight it or use a long straight edge to prove that, I would insist on a replacement. If you adjust the strike plate to get it to latch more easily, you will almost certainly have little or no seal along the weather-strip gasket in that area; which will be a source of cold or hot air, certainly moisture (esp. in transit) and dust/road grime in transit.
I am guessing the door may have been warped when installed because usually, if a door is going to warp, it will warp the opposite way from the constant pressure when latched which causes the center to compress that area more than the rest.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by Bruceanast

So if I spray silicone on it, does the friction hinge still keep the door opened (even though a mild blow of wind will cause it to move).

Yes, it just isn't a fight to close afterward. At worst in your case, it is a 30 second $0.12 test.

The marks on the striker plates probably would not be there, if you were not having to force it and slam it.

[BrendaD]

This is quite an interesting question as I have been dealing with the exact same issue. I have a 2019 32BHS Jayco Whitehawk. In the 2019 summer (a short time of using the trailer) a technician tried his darndest to fix the problem and at first it seemed he had but then eventually, it was behaving the same. Jump a year ahead to now, just today in fact, I had a few choice words for that door! In fact, my neighbour popped over for a moment, stepped inside since it was cold and neither one of us could close it. I was embarrassed with my door (on a fairly new trailer) and he felt bad he had even stopped by. When he left, we managed to get it to close. Afterwards, I got by fairly well again. Interesting someone else mentioned silicone. and interesting they asked about the friction hinge as both my doors have this installed and both doors cause a problem. I just tend to use one way more than the other. I am glad I am not alone on this but sorry to hear others are as well, all at the same time. Seems to me by reading this thread, this is a problem that is way too common.