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Entry door and wind!

March 22, 2011, 12:09:48 pm

Yesterday I opened the entry door not realizing there was a good wind blowing from the back of the coach.  The wind caught the door and it blew fully open and stopped with a loud "thunk."  This has happened before on our 2003 coach and the door usually won't close easily after such an incident.  Normally the "scissor arm" on top of the PTL door is the problem (it gets bent) and just needs to be straightened (by hand) such that it clears the door jam and the door.  I did that, but it still hung up when the door came within about a half inch of being closed.  I could still close it, but it took a "slam" to do so.  After looking at the scissor arm more closely this morning I found that there was still a problem with it rubbing on the top of the door.  See the attached photo.  A further adjustment (i.e., bending it up a bit) created the clearance I needed and it closes perfectly now. 

There have been several past threads on door adjustments, but all were old.  So I thought I'd mention this here.  The sort of problem has got to be fairly common with these doors.

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Re: Entry door and wind!

Reply #1 – March 22, 2011, 12:31:00 pm

George,

I am glad you were able to fix this problem and want to thank you for posting your solution and the photo.  This is something that most of us can do when the need arises.

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Re: Entry door and wind!

Reply #2 – March 22, 2011, 09:37:13 pm

Sitting in windy Austin, I had the door taken out of my hand today.  We do not have the "scissor arm" that you folks do, but instead, we have a heavy canvas strap that attaches to the door and the door jamb (just above the level of the bottom step) that keeps it from opening too far.  I keep inspecting it, because it really serves a purpose!  Perhaps you could add something like it as an extra layer of protection?

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Re: Entry door and wind!

Reply #3 – March 23, 2011, 01:20:14 am

I suggest an installation of 1/2" braided nylon rope, adjusted to provide adequate dampening prior to end of travel. The nylon will stretch quite a bit and dampen the movement of the door before it reaches a breaking point.
In the desert southwest, hanging on tightly to the interior door handle has caused persons of lesser stature, to be flung quite a distance from their coaches, on windy days. Remember, LET GO!
You really do not want to mess with Mother Nature.

Regards,
Jon Twork

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