Door Rattle - 04 Horizon

arkaussie · 02-01-2007, 02:38 PM

I am aware of the Kit to stop this problem but I haven't seen one. I seem to have the coated locking pin but don't know about the other Rubber stops and where they go.

It sure seems to me like the outer skin is rattling by hitting the inner panel of the door. The plastic parts of the door stop have been broken (previous owner) and the outer skin is slightly bent because of this when the door must have blown wide open. I have checked new units and the outer skins seems just as free as mine is. I do not have any loose rivets but wonder if I need to have the outer skin glued to the under panel.

Anyone have any experience or good ideas?

arkaussie · 02-01-2007, 02:38 PM

I am aware of the Kit to stop this problem but I haven't seen one. I seem to have the coated locking pin but don't know about the other Rubber stops and where they go.

It sure seems to me like the outer skin is rattling by hitting the inner panel of the door. The plastic parts of the door stop have been broken (previous owner) and the outer skin is slightly bent because of this when the door must have blown wide open. I have checked new units and the outer skins seems just as free as mine is. I do not have any loose rivets but wonder if I need to have the outer skin glued to the under panel.

Anyone have any experience or good ideas?

BucknJeff · 02-01-2007, 11:31 PM

You are correct!

The outer skin rattles against the door sub frame. Its worse when its really windy. The solution is to disassemble the door, and place a buffer between the door skin and the subframe. I used indoor/outdoor carpet, held in place with industrial spray adhesive.

Did the trick!

I drilled out the rivets from the sides and bottom, then pryed the door skin away, applied the carpet fix, and re-riveted.

arkaussie · 02-02-2007, 03:49 AM

Thanks so very much. There seems to be a lot about the striker bolt and only one mention I found on the skin rattle.
I did take the inside apart but there is nothing to see there so I think when we get settled for our summer job I'll get into it.
I was thinking about going to a body shop and checking on some glue to do it. If you say you could put outdoor carpet in there then I guess there is a space to fill. Did you use a piece the full size of that area and I am to assume that your rattles are now gone?
I have sweating inside the door which runs out the bottom in the cold weather, I'm thinking the carpet might help with that as well. When I took the inside apart it was cold and the inside was all wet. There is insulation in there but it is not a complete panel. I may even check out putting a piece of something on the inside over the whole area. I'm thinking about that foil bubble wrap.
Looks like we have the same rigs, including the outside color. Hope you are as happy with yours as we are with ours. We have fulltimed in it for the year that we have had it.
Currently we are at Lazydays for a few days then will go to the FMCA rally at Brooksville. So far we haven't seen anything we really would want to have over the 40AD.

Gary CA · 02-02-2007, 05:34 AM

Lindsay: The door rattle is a easy fix. While I was at 3Ts getting my handling kit put on, John asked if the door rattled. He simply drilled out a few rivets on the bottom of the door skin and took a industrial caulking gun and a long clear tube an shot a tube of silicone between the skin and the backing. He put in new rivets and also replaced my door striker with a teflon coated one. I've had a quiet door for several years now. Good luck.

arkaussie · 02-02-2007, 08:21 PM

Thanks Gary, I'm thinking of going the mat route as that would give me a little extra insulation which I would like to have. It is good to know that there are other doors out there with the same problem if in fact I'm correct about mine.

arkaussie · 02-02-2007, 08:25 PM

B n J did you take the skin off with the door in place or did you remove the door completely. When you removed the rivets did you remove the skin completely and then what did you seal the top edge with. I'm wanting to get this done before I head north to the cold. Have been thinking about it for a while and now I think I'm ready to get into it.

serge · 02-03-2007, 03:38 AM

try to put electric tape on the door frame pin,i have resolute my door problem

BucknJeff · 02-04-2007, 12:45 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by arkaussie:
B n J did you take the skin off with the door in place or did you remove the door completely. When you removed the rivets did you remove the skin completely and then what did you seal the top edge with. I'm wanting to get this done before I head north to the cold. Have been thinking about it for a while and now I think I'm ready to get into it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We left the door on, but removed the window. Make no mistake, its a big job. We left the top edge alone, and just pulled the outer skin away from the door starting at the bottom. This allowed enough room to get the carpet in place.

I had tried the afore-mentioned silicone "blob" method with little success. There was just too much outer skin coming into contact with the subframe for that to work in my case.

For reassembly, I used a tube of the black sealer Winnie uses to install windows. Sorry I cant remember what its called (this was 2 years ago). Its very adherent, yet remains pliable.
It's the devil to remove though, so be careful.

I have found that the new door latch pins last us about 6 months, or 2 long cross-country trips before the chirping begins anew. I have a supply of them on hand now. They badly need to have the manufacturer (I think it's dometic) redesign the door support system to include some other pins to help bear the load of the door when closed, rather than just the latch pin. As the body torques and twists, the forces of the latch pin and the lock keeper reek havoc on each other, resulting in the metal chirping we hear. The lock assembly is made by trimark, but they are not responsible for the door design.

I have thought of disassembling the lock and machining the keeper surface edges smooth and a little round to help curtail the damage at the mating of the pin.

I mentioned this to the TriMark guys at the Louisville show a few times, but as we can see... they don't seem to understand the problem!

I think we should tie them up and force them to ride through downtown St. Louis repeatedly until the squawking makes them think better!

arkaussie · 02-04-2007, 05:43 PM

Thanks for the info. I was hoping to get it done before I drive from FL to upstate NY at the end of the month but now think it will have to wait till we settle for our summer job and the weather warms up. At least I can get it all ready, will order sealant from Lictsens(?) and get carpet and rivets and glue.