Basement Doors

[Lee Welbanks]

Today I went out to service the Aqua Hot, went to open the big door for the Aqua Hot and the latch didn't feel right but the door opened. After it was open I forced the catch closed and it the latch handle again and nothing, would not open the latch. Took the inner panel off the door and found that the wire link from the latch handle to the latch had came off, cause the cheap keeper had come off the wire link. Make a long story short, made a new link threaded with a nut on the end.
So now I think: how would you get this door open without the latch working? With this door you could take the hinge off from the compartment in front of it. Now on the other side I have the utility/water bay big door and that swings up and if that latch failed you are not getting the door open as you can not get at any of the hinges or swing arms. So I removed the catch on the coach side so the door latch doesn't work. The door is so heavy there is no way it will move going down the road. Only drawback is that the door can't be locked.

I have no idea how many Beavers have these swing up doors on the utility/water bay but I'd be looking to see how to get it open if the latch fails. All the other doors you can get at some way or the other but not this one.

[john brunson]

Send DW in from the other side with a flashlight and a flat head screwdriver.  Honest it works

[Lee Welbanks]

John,

I can do that for the three middle doors but not the back two big doors because you cannot get at the back side of the door. All the plumbing and a stainless steel panel on the utility side and the Aqua Hot and coach tanks on the other. The two big front doors where the fuel tank and propane tanks are I can get at the hinges if needed.

[Gerald Farris]

Lee,
You will be surprised at how much force is exerted on your bay doors while traveling at highway speeds, especially when passing a large truck with a crosswind. I do not think that your bay door will remain closed under all conditions without functioning latches. I have seen thousands of dollars in damages to coaches from bay doors opening while traveling and striking objects and other vehicles. A unsecured bay door can be expensive as well as a serious safety issue. 

The procedure that I use for opening a non-functioning bay door latch if the inside of the door is not readily accessible is to unbolt the adjacent panel from the bottom and swing it out enough to access the plastic plunger with a punch or screw driver to release it or use a medium sized angled pick through the gap between the door to release it.

Gerald   

[Bill Sprague]

".... do not think that your bay door will remain closed under all conditions without functioning latches"

Departed a campground with everything closed up.  BJ and I both checked.  Drove over an expansion joint at the approach to the Tacoma Narrows bridge.   A passenger side bay door opened like a short wing.  It was  no match for the massive upright that supports the bridge.  Pulled over at the end of the mile long bridge.  I was worried that it bounced off a car, broke a windshield or caused a wreck behind me.  Apparently it flew off like a frizzbee into the water below.

We were departing for an extended trip.  What to do?  We went to Home Depot.  They custom cut a piece of plywood to my dimensions that I attached to the aluminium frame with self tapping screws.  While I was getting the plywood, BJ was getting green paint.   A few months later we got a new $1000 bay door from Westcraft in Tacoma.

In hindsight we probably left with only one of the two latches fully engaged. 

[Jerry Emert]

Or, Bill, it just sprung open on it's own!  I do the Beaver knee to each door every time we leave somewhere and so does my wife after me.  Not often but every now and again I will be driving happily down the road and notice one door or another in the open position.  Fortunately I've never hit anything with it.  It is just another one of the idiosyncrasies we have learned to live with.
Jerry

[Joel Ashley]

I have to support others opinion here, Lee, that your door’s weight is no guarantee it won’t open on it’s own.

Like the others I’ve had a finicky latching door bounce open on the road.  A BCS tech closed it after working in there, but apparently didn’t ensure both latches caught.  I was aware of that particular door’s touchiness, but it wasn’t on his radar, and though I did a visual walkaround before departing I assumed all was okay and didn’t leg-nudge each panel.  A bump between Bend and Redmond kicked it out enough for the struts to take over and lift it.  Thank goodness a passing vehicle alerted me to it a few miles out of town as it’s forward location on the coach put it just out of my mirror’s view.

Joel

[Lee Welbanks]

Joel, As heavy as this utility door is it will not open, the struts will not lift it, all they do is barely hold it open. I would rather take a chance of it opening compared to not being able to get it open. This door swings up and our, there is no possible way to get at any of the swing arms or any of the latch without it being open.

[Jerry Emert]

Lee, you might want to consider some type of small external latch or possibly a small hasp.  If you mount on the bottom lip of the door out of sight it may take care of both concerns.  Good luck.
Jerry

[Fred Cook]

I drove my coach yesterday home from Saint Louis, about 100 miles after having some aqua hot service done. When pulling off onto the exit I felt vibration and was thinking this is bad.... When arriving home a few miles later I noticed two of the basement doors were opened on top. They are the longer doors that pull out then up. I don’t know how they opened and I did not notice they were not shut properly when taking off.  I have not driven it again and I am hoping that was causing the vibration.

[Lee Welbanks]

Lee, you might want to consider some type of small external latch or possibly a small hasp.  If you mount on the bottom lip of the door out of sight it may take care of both concerns.  Good luck.
Jerry

Jerry,  I could fab some kind of a keeper but I'm not worry that the door will ever move it is too heavy. Just for jiggles I just went out and put my gauge on it to see how much pull it takes to pull the door out too even be able to lift it up. 42 lbs to get it to move, trust me its real heavy, this door is 58" wide by 32" tall. And there is no way wind can get behind it to push it out.
I'll let the forum know in April when we leave for Calif if it even moves.

[Joel Ashley]

Okay, I believe you... that’s a large heavy door.  But sans latches it may not seal as intended.  To keep road dust and moisture out, as Jerry suggests I’d at least mount a couple adjustable draw latches at the bottom, like you probably have on your waste tank bay, to pull the bottom in and compress the seal a bit.

Joel

[Lee Welbanks]

Okay, I believe you... that’s a large heavy door.  But sans latches it may not seal as intended.  To keep road dust and moisture out, as Jerry suggests I’d at least mount a couple adjustable draw latches at the bottom, like you probably have on your waste tank bay, to pull the bottom in and compress the seal a bit.

Joel

Joel, I believe as heavy as this door is and how the struts pull in down and in it should seal pretty good. We'll will see what it does and go from there.

[Mike Shumack]

I had a side-hinged basement door open on me too. And I've only driven my coach four times now. I learned, and now use, the "Beaver Knee" method. 

I was thinking that it would be nice to have "door open alarm" for all the baggage doors. It would not be too hard to install a contact switch on each door, wired in series, back to a light/alarm in the cab. At least this way I'd know about it as soon as one opens.

I'll add that to my list of modifications I want to make.

[David T. Richelderfer]

My experience     http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,6872.msg49195.html#msg49195