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Topic: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270 (Read 1293 times) previous topic - next topic

Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Is it possible to install the hinges that bring the doors up instead of folding up? I'm sick of hitting my head on these darn things
Eric and Lisa; Milwaukee, Wi
1996 Foretravel U270

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #1 –
They mount both on the door and coach quite differently. It would be a major project. How far open does your door go. I would try to increase the open travel more for more headspace. May only need longer struts and new struts mount location to accommodate longer struts.

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #2 –
I would think it could be done, it would be big job and you would need to find the hardware, maybe
from a RV wrecker
Peter and Frieda Morin
1999 36ft. U320 Foretravel
Build # 5436
1998 Suzuki Sidekick Sport

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #3 –
Bill Chaplin had some of his bay door hinge assemblies changed out prior to his passing. The problem is finding the proper hardware as IIRC Foretravel had none available. But to answer your basic question Yes it can be done

Mike
Pamela & Mike 97 U 320

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #4 –
Quote from: dsd –
They mount both on the door and coach quite differently. It would be a major project. How far open does your door go. I would try to increase the open travel more for more headspace. May only need longer struts and new struts mount location to accommodate longer struts.

Plus the bus-style have an added substructure that adds a horizontal bar between the lift arms and the mechanism of the bay handle is different, so it would require replacing those as well.
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #5 –
I have the hinge up doors and despise them. I call them the scalpers.
I make sure I have a hat on when I need to go under the door because I know I will eventually raise my head up and scalp myself on the exposed door hardware.
Horrible design!
1995 U320C SE 40'
Jeep 4x4 Commander - Limited - Hemi
"The Pack"  Yogi and Diesel our Airedales -  Charlie our Boxer/Akita mix. Gone but NEVER forgotten Jake our yellow Lab.
NRA Law Enforcement Firearms instructor - Handgun/shotgun
Regional Firearms instructor for national Armored Transp. Co.

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #6 –
I looked at the hinges on a 90's American coach ,Dream or Tradition model . The Pantograph  hinges they use look like they would be a good fit.
91 GV U300 Unihome 40' Build 3811
6V92TA Detroit

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #7 –
Way too much work and time. wear a padded hat! ha ha
1996 U295-36, Cummins 300hp, 8.3. Build number 4864. Vin number 1F97D536XTNO54271. Purchased October 31, 2019.

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #8 –
I took the lower ball mount on the wet and raised it from roughly 17" to top of to 16-1/2 sure made a big difference, on the storage bay I put on 20" x 70 lb shocks because of the vents,
1999 36 ft U270
Build 5465

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #9 –
What pound force are the original struts? Does anyone know? Are they labeled? Not at my coach right now...
Brad & Laurie

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #10 –
Quote from: fatheeler –
I took the lower ball mount on the wet and raised it from roughly 17" to top of to 16-1/2 sure made a big difference, on the storage bay I put on 20" x 70 lb shocks because of the vents,
So if you were changing struts you could buy longer struts and relocate ball so they would still close and fully open even more to the point the hinge was almost be against its limits to open. Actually a great idea and although I have the preferred hinges in several positions I'll look into this for all the other same hinges. Thanks for the simple great idea. For Me a hat insures I will hit my head. Like the door is out of view and doesn't exist till I hit it again, and again, and again.

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #11 –
 On my GV - I found this worked:

Smaller hinged doors: 70lb

Medium & Large hinged doors: 80lb

Pantograph doors: 100lb

Front gen compartment: 180lb (difficult install!)
2000 Foretravel GV320 4010 #5717
"SuperDutyFiver" on most other boards

*** East coast based - literally "all over the east coast!"

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #13 –
Quote from: SuperFore –
On my GV - I found this worked:

Good point - it depends on the bay door size and type (hinged or bus) what lift strength is needed/recommended.
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #14 –
Quote from: Michelle –
Good point - it depends on the bay door size and type (hinged or bus) what lift strength is needed/recommended.

My install took a lot of trial and error - even when reading posts about what others have found worked, I'm not sure if all of these lift ratings are super accurate... Sticking with the same brand developed consistency for my process of figuring out what worked. I can say for sure since I have one broken stanchion on my small battery compartment door that the single 70 on there right now holds the door up but not great... 2 50s would probably work on my coach's small doors.

I'm assuming when my coach was resold back a few years ago at the mothership that they replaced the struts on the engine compartment cover - those are the only ones I haven't changed.

I should note that I used 7.5" 20lb struts on all of the interior cabinet doors.

I really like the idea of tweaking the mounting locations to get a little more height, but do agree I'll find something to bang my head on no matter what I do! 😂

NOTE: I definitely feel that finding the proper lift strength is important as a strut that has too much lifting Force can create the situation where it acts as a lever and puts too much pressure on the hinge.
2000 Foretravel GV320 4010 #5717
"SuperDutyFiver" on most other boards

*** East coast based - literally "all over the east coast!"

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #15 –
Quote from: SuperFore –
NOTE: I definitely feel that finding the proper lift strength is important as a strut that has too much lifting Force can create the situation where it acts as a lever and puts too much pressure on the hinge.

Another excellent point  ^.^d

A number of years ago, folks were finding a strut that was cheaper by a $1 or so than what FOT parts had for the interior cabinets.  Turns out those were too strong and mounting brackets were being pulled out of the cabinet framing over time.  Some opted to install only 1 strut (instead of 2 where applicable) to compensate, but that caused torquing of the cabinet hinges.
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Upgrade to hinges on bay doors? 96 U270

Reply #16 –
Quote from: Michelle –
Another excellent point  ^.^d

A number of years ago, folks were finding a strut that was cheaper by a $1 or so than what FOT parts had for the interior cabinets.  Turns out those were too strong and mounting brackets were being pulled out of the cabinet framing over time.  Some opted to install only 1 strut (instead of 2 where applicable) to compensate, but that caused torquing of the cabinet hinges.

 Also pay attention to how your doors seal up after changing struts - two of my doors needed a little bit of adjustment and/or gasket replacement...may have had nothing to do with actually changing the struts but I think it did.
2000 Foretravel GV320 4010 #5717
"SuperDutyFiver" on most other boards

*** East coast based - literally "all over the east coast!"