Entrance door adjustment

[Tom McDaniel]

http://jtommcd@gmail.com I have had continuing problems with entrance door since front collision repair.  Door latches have never been properly adjusted.  The top latch is too high to engage the striker.  Striker can't be lowered and I can't figure how to lower the latch.  Can anyone help? Tom McDaniel '07 Knight

[Bob Nodine]

12 hours ago, Tom McDaniel said:

http://jtommcd@gmail.com I have had continuing problems with entrance door since front collision repair.  Door latches have never been properly adjusted.  The top latch is too high to engage the striker.  Striker can't be lowered and I can't figure how to lower the latch.  Can anyone help? Tom McDaniel '07 Knight

Tom,

If you have the same basic door as I do then you have two floating posts on the door frame, one up high and one low. You should be able to grasp these and move them up and down in a semi-circle. If you can't then they need to be lubricated. Also if you look at the base of the post you will see it has a bolt head configuration. You can back off on the post and change it's position. I would back off and then snug back down with your hand so the post does not move but will move when you close the door to align itself in the door latch. Then carefully open the door making sure the post does not move and tighten it back down. Then make sure it will still float by moving it up and down with your hand.

 

[Frank McElroy]

I worked with Tom on this offline and I discovered that my floating posts (striker bolts), that were floating when the coach was new 13 years ago, are now no longer floating.  So, I carefully removed the striker bolt and washer, sprayed trilube into the floating mechanism inside the door frame.  I then reinstalled the striker bolt, waited a few minutes, and by using a wood block and with some light tapping with a hammer, the floating mechanism freed up and is now working normally.

I passed this information on to Tom and offline he sent me a message that this procedure also worked for him.

Looks like I need to add checking and if needed lubricating those floating striker bolt mechanisms to my maintenance list.  I found that you don't need to completely remove the bolt to spray trilube into the frame floating mechanism.

Included are a few pictures of what the striker bolt and mechanism inside the door frame looks like with the striker bolt removed.  The allen socket used to unscrew the striker bolt is still in the striker bolt that I'm holding.  If you do remove the striker bolt, be sure not to let the washer fall into the frame.

[Tom McDaniel]

Frank, thanks so much for your help. My door is now working perfectly thanks to you.  Tom McDaniel, 07 Monaco Knight