Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 14, 2025 ...

Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

August 17, 2014, 05:16:26 pm

Within the second mile of driving my very first RV, this door flew open and would not stay closed. Patched with duct and duck tape several times in the 1200 miles from South Florida to Oklahoma. But that is a story for the fire ring.
 
I have researched the forum and found two methods for repairing the problem. One is to attach the latch to a piece of aluminum and then rivet that to the area around the original position.
 
The other is to use JB Weld to epoxy the latch to the original position, possibly enlarging one or more of the holes to allow the latch to fit. This method sounds fairly straightforward, but I have two questions:
 
Are you really epoxying the latch to the interior fiberglass layer? Are we assuming it might never need to removed/replaced? Is that a safe assumption, or is subsequent removal readily do-able?
 
How are y'all holding the latch in the proper position while the slow-drying epoxy cures? It is fighting gravity no matter what you do with it.
 
Thanks for any information, hints, tips, or observations you can share with me. Ducky may still be recalled for additional undercover work and the duck tape is a dead giveaway.
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #1 – August 17, 2014, 06:51:43 pm

 Take the door off and lay it flat to do a proper solid repair.
JohnH

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #2 – August 17, 2014, 07:38:45 pm

Thanks, John; I had assumed it was riveted on. Maybe I will eliminate that habit in the next  70 years.
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #3 – August 17, 2014, 09:35:30 pm

Just checked, and the front bay door *is* riveted to the hinge. But, the hinge does look like it is mounted to the coach with three fairly large bolts against a metal strip which I assume sandwiches the other side of the hinge.
 
Actually, these three bolts look a lot like the Roloks (sp?) of bulkhead fame. If they are, can they be unscrewed and reused? Should they be torqued to a certain setting, or just tightened securely? Anybody know for sure?
 
So many questions, so little typing time.
 
Thanks,
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #4 – August 17, 2014, 11:25:12 pm

Trent,
I think you will find that the other leaf of the hinge is under the molding just above the hinge. The Roloks you see are holding the wall to the floor.  You will have to pull the molding off to access the screws that hold the hinge in place.  The hinge is aluminum and has one leaf reversed.  By reversed it looks like someone pulled the center pin out and flipped (end to end) one of the leafs and reinserted the hinge pin.  The molding has a bead of silicone on the top edge that you will need to reapply upon re-install.  The molding is also likely to be quite long.  If you don't want to pull the whole piece, I been able to lift just one end to get to the hinge screws.  Silicone on the molding and around the screw heads is important to prevent water from seeping along the screws and getting inside the interior of the steel wall tubing and rusting.
Just for reference, here's I post I made when I changed out my hinges to stainless and replaced the rivets with nuts and bolts:  Bay Door Hinge Replacement with Stainless Hinges

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #5 – August 18, 2014, 12:05:24 am

John,
 
Thank you very much for the detailed information and the link to the even more detailed messages. No rest for the wicked.
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #6 – August 23, 2014, 12:09:57 am

 
          Trent,
                    Just a quick atta-boy for JB Weld brand water weld two part epoxy comes in a 4 inch long tube, 6 bucks at wallymart. Cut off desired amount knead with fingers for a couple minutes and apply/stick to whatever needs fixed repaired. Great stuff no runs or drips just sticks and works in any position, sets up in about 15-30 minutes and you can wash off your hands very easily.  Bill 

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #7 – August 23, 2014, 01:05:42 am

Bill,
 
Thanks; sounds like what the doctor ordered!
 
I have only used the traditional JB weld, which does a great job after it cures. The downside is that it can take a loooong time to cure.
 
Will give the JB water weld a try.
 
I have used a two part epoxy for sealing plumbing leaks. Comes in a tube about 6" long (black and gray). Wonder if it might work? Never mind; JB it is. Had that door fly open on me about seven times on my 1200 mile RV initiation trip. Extremely stressful for two virgins, especially my wife. Don't know if we will ever be able to remove her fingerprints from the arm rests.
 
Thanks,
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #8 – August 23, 2014, 01:13:51 am

  Trent, Another quick fix for those flying doors is a bungee hooked on the inside, worked for me on my battery door, quite a eye opener looking in mirror and seeing the door sticking out into the other lane!!!  Bill

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #9 – September 16, 2014, 02:46:02 am

Update: I forgot to mention that I was able to accomplish the repair without removing the door. I just removed the two struts. They are held on to the ball joint by a spring clip that circles the attaching rod about 3/4 of the way around. In the closed position it is what holds the rod to the ball socket. Disconnect them by prying the clip partially out from the back until it releases from the socket; then slide the rod off. Strongly suggest holding a finger over the clip so it does not come all the way off.  

I wound up using regular JB Weld. I will explain and illustrate what I did  and how I did it. In the process, I came up with some more questions/comments about the original installation of the latch assembly in this bay door.

Picture 1 shows the latch area on the door. I had already removed the gasket/rubbery material from the fiberglass surface. Note that the fiberglass around the holes had popped out. Some of this came off with the "gasket", but I suspect most of the damage occurred in the process  of the latch and its rivets being pulled from their mooring.

Picture 2 shows the latch area after cleaning the area with Wash Wax All Degreaser. The holes still have a rubbery substance that seemed to be a layer between the outside and inside door panels. This was extremely hard to remove. I wound up using drill bits held and turned by hand because I was afraid an electric drill may get away from me. I also used a pointed pick (part of a set of four) that had something of a twist shape. This let me get it in and under the rubber to try to pull it out. It could be that this was not a layer, per se, but something that was injected into the holes during the assembly process. The rubber pieces appeared to be a round cylinder, probably inside the rivets at one time.

Picture 3 shows the latch assembly with the rivet heads still attached (green circles). I do not know how they were still attached, but seemed to be very secure.

Picture 4 shows the back of the latch assembly with the four rivet bodies (red circles). A close look at these reveals almost NO shoulder. IMHO this latch was ready to come loose from the day it was installed! If the rest of the latches are attached the same way, we can all expect to have them come loose on us; it is just a matter of time.
 
After cleaning out the rubbery substance from the holes, I had expected to have to drill the holes larger. This was not necessary as the lack of a substantial shoulder allowed the rivets to fit into the holes after they were cleaned out.

Picture 5 shows the latch attached in the proper location, with JB Weld. I applied it generously to the areas around the holes and between the holes to strengthen the damaged fiberglass. I then attached a couple of clamps to keep the latch secured in its proper position.

Picture 6 shows the door and clamps ready to spend the night curing. Since this repair is important to our future happiness (I am almost out of duct tape), I intend to let it cure at least 24 hours. I expect to be able to reattach the latching lever (post with a cotter pin) and the rod from the remote locking mechanism. We hope to be able to enjoy our Foretravel travels without worrying about a bay door flying open.

I wrote this description to show y'all how simple a door latch repair can be. If you have any questions or additional comments, please let me know.
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #10 – September 16, 2014, 02:09:14 pm

Trent:
In looking at your pics, I see rivets sunk into the JBWeld.  Are those new rivets or did you use the existing, expanded rivets?  Did you expand new rivets without peripheral resistance?  Am I missing something?

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #11 – September 16, 2014, 02:29:01 pm

Don,

The rivets are the original (failed) rivets. They appeared to be firmly attached to the latch bracket; I don't know how. As you can see from the pictures, they had not expanded very much at all.

The JB Weld is all that is holding the latch assembly in place now. Based on my experience, that should be enough. I put enough JB Weld into the holes to reinforce the remaining fiberglass and to grip the old rivets. If I am right, I hope that I never have to replace the latch.   (Actually, I think the latch mechanism attaches to the bracket base with three bolts, which is how it is adjusted if needed.)
 
Trent

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #12 – September 16, 2014, 09:22:36 pm

We have reattached pulled out latches with new split soft rivets we got from Foretravel, using a regular rivet gun.

Quote Selected

Re: Door Latch on the Front Driver-side Door

Reply #13 – January 09, 2016, 10:36:32 am

Yes I know this post is old but just informing Trent that those rivet heads could have been just drilled out with a drill bit just large enough to cut thru the head . The back expanded part then falls off and leaves the plate clear for new pop rivets.
JohnH

Quote Selected