Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 09, 2025 ...

Basement door rivets

April 13, 2025, 12:36:30 pm

My basement door where the electric/water hookup is has busted out where it's riveted to the hinge. I will take it to a boat repair near me to see if they can fix the broken edge. What size rivets will I need for repair or should I go with bolts? I was also thinking I would see if a reinforcement piece of metal strip could be attached at that lip? Thoughts?

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Re: Basement door rivets

Reply #1 – April 13, 2025, 01:24:43 pm

Here's a couple of pictures, the left side has obviously been a problem given the number of rivets vs. the right side

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Re: Basement door rivets

Reply #2 – April 13, 2025, 02:06:09 pm

Check to see if the air struts are too high pressure, which can break hinges

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Re: Basement door rivets

Reply #3 – April 13, 2025, 02:16:11 pm

I have repaired two doors with the same damage.  If my memory is correct, I used 3/16" rivets.  I did line the inside of the fiberglass angle with an aluminum strip (1/8" thick x 3/4" wide), cut length to fit.  Fastened strip to fiberglass with JB weld before drilling.  So my rivets were longer than factory installed rivets.

jk

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Re: Basement door rivets

Reply #4 – April 13, 2025, 07:26:14 pm

I used a piece of flat aluminum as a backer for the new 3/16" rivets. I first filled the damaged holes with jelly resin and drilled some new holes. Didn't have enough good fiberglass left without some filling. I took the belt trim off to remove the entire door and repaired it on a work table. An extra set of hands was helpful. Followed up with a quick coat of white paint. 

I had to redo the strut arm brackets too as they also pulled out. I used a metal plate to spread the load for the strut bracket and used expanding rivets as the door has a gap or air space. Didn't know if it would work but has held up to full time use for three years.

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Re: Basement door rivets

Reply #5 – April 18, 2025, 10:10:34 am

I used stainless screws with nuts.

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