Front Door Squeak is Driving Me Crazy

[Sammie]

I have a squeak coming from my passenger front door while driving. I think its from the latch mechanism. Looks like it may be the large centering bolt on the left side of the door frame rubbing against the latch. Anyone else have this problem? If so what cure did you use?

[Sammie]

I have a squeak coming from my passenger front door while driving. I think its from the latch mechanism. Looks like it may be the large centering bolt on the left side of the door frame rubbing against the latch. Anyone else have this problem? If so what cure did you use?

[journey15]

I'm interested in hearing responses on this one. Our 02 Journey has the same squeak but ours is intermittent...

[GG1]

There is a fatter striker bolt available. It also comes with rubber spacers that keep the screen door tighter against the outer door. I thought the newer coaches came with the larger bolt. You can also wrap the bolt with electrical tape or slide clear tubing over the bolt for a cheaper fix. Try removing the plastic door panel and put insulation in the space to make it tighter and seal up the edge around the panel. For some these fixes work for others they do not. Mobility RV has the striker bolt kit. It takes 10 minutes to install.

[smlranger]

I replaced the striker with the 'new and improved' teflon coated striker and it helped for a few months. I then had to start putting electrical tape on the new striker.

Are you sure the squeak is the door? I have a squeak that seems to be coming from the wall near the small window by the passenger seat. We've tightened every screw, sprayed silicone on anything that might be rubbing, etc. and it will not go away. If I push on the exterior wall just under that small window, I can hear the squeak.

[Sammie]

The striker appears to be coated with something but the latch has rubbed through already. I tried using some slide out dry lube in a spray can from camping world. When dry its kind of like a waxy coating. It stopped the squeak for maybe 100 miles or so. Electrical tape sounds like a good idea. I'm going to check around to see if I can find someone who sells thin teflon bushings or maybe try some fuzzy side velcro tape.

[gwedgewo]

I use to have the same problem and it would drive me crazy and my wife could not pin point it. I sprayed silicone on everything, rubber seal, latch, electric tape on latch bolt, etc. with no luck. Removed the inside panel just to see if something inside was squeaking and found nothing inside which could squeak. I finally found that my squeak was coming from the hinges. Sounds like the latch but it was the hinges. My fix is to spray a small amount of silicone spray straight into the gap of each hinge every other trip or so. I haven't had a door squeak in a year or so. Knock on wood !!!

Good Luck !!

[DonavonP]

If the strikers were coated with UHMW (ultra high molecular weight), they would last much longer than PTFE/Teflon. I have the metal, uncoated striker and I wrap some 3M # 5423 1/2" UHMW tape around it. One wrap or the door won't latch. It lasts for about 800 miles then I move the tape a little and it's good for another run.

The nice thing about the 3M brand is that it "STICKS" and doesn't unravel. The bad thing about 3M tape is that it's darn near impossible to find in one roll quantities. It's expensive and about 24" of the stuff would be a lifetime supply.

The other thing that wears out the tape fast is that the latch portion that clamps the stiker bolt is a fairly crude metal stamping and has sharp edges. I've tried to file it but I need to get in there with my wifes Dremel but she hides it on me.

If you google 3M 5423 or 5421 (thinner) you might find a local supplier that sells one roll at a time.

[Carle]

I have had the same experience. Someone here on the forum suggested that I install the new teflon-coated bolt from Winnebago, which I did at a cost of about $25. Obviously, the coating is thin and can't last very long.

I bought a new regular bolt from the hardware store and fashioned a 'delrin' bearing surface, using a lathe, that would slip on the bolt and had an outside diameter equal to the factory bolt.

Then I machined the head of the bolt to a thickness that matched the factory bolt. Because of the lack of a shank, I used a nut to tighten the bolt up to the door frame and I installed an extra washer (supplied with the new bolt) to as a spacer to make it the proper distance to clear the latch in the door.

This arrangement has worked for me for several months now and I have no squeaks at all from the door. The original problem had nothing to do with the screen door or the weather stripping around the two doors rather, the door frame and latch don't match sufficiently well as installed at the factory and the door squeaks against the bolt.

Carle McFarland, 2004 Journey 36G

[GG1]

Not bad for nearly 200k

[Pubtym]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Sammie:
I have a squeak coming from my passenger front door while driving. I think its from the latch mechanism. Looks like it may be the large centering bolt on the left side of the door frame rubbing against the latch. Anyone else have this problem? If so what cure did you use? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

When mine squeeks...I take a Q-Tip and apply some Reese Hitch Teflon Grease to bolt and catch surfaces.

[Mortgagehomes]

Mine did the same and it was driving me insane. I moved the strikerbolt inboard a little to tighten up the door when it was closed. Viola, no more squeak!

[VectraDon]

My Vectra has the same squeaking door problem. I've replaced the bolt with the teflon variety and tried silicone on everything. It still squeaks. However, I think I recently found the problem. If I press on the exterior of the door, in the center, I get the same squeak. My suspicion is that the styrofoam insulation on the inside of the door is rubbing against the inside metal panel and making the squeak. I have not tried to remove the innards of door yet, but I think it is worth a try. I'll post the results.

[Sammie]

Thanks to all of you for your ideas. I just happened to have some industrial strength velcro left over from another job so I wrapped a small piece of the non fuzzy side around the striker bolt. This velcro has some real good adhesive on it so it seems to stick pretty good and the door shuts all the way. I'm going for a cruise tomorrow to test for squeaks and will post results later.

[wdweldon]

I finally found the squeak on my 04 Adventurer door, I placed a thin layer of tape around the door striker and problem solved!!! I wonder if originally there was some kind of cover plastic around the striker?

[camperkids]

Thanks for the update.

[artgpo]

I too had a similar squeak and used some electrical tape around the striker. No more squeak.