Door scissor replacement

[Joel Sheriff]

A little while back I saw an article that I cannot find, about someone replacing their scissor door opener with a hydraulic piston type Amazon Camco. I ordered a 20 inch 30 lb exactly how it was described in the discussion and I cannot for the life of me figure out how there is enough room to use this application on my 07 diplomat. Pictures and or a description would be greatly appreciated if in fact it is doable. Thanks again for the help guys and everyone stay safe from covid-19

[Dennis H]

That's because you're trying to adapt it to the INSIDE of the door which doesn't work. The strut is installed on the OUTSIDE of the coach door, which IMO was the deal breaker for me. Good luck...Dennis

[Jim McGarvie]

1 minute ago, Dennis H said:

That's because you're trying to adapt it to the INSIDE of the door which doesn't work. The strut is installed on the OUTSIDE of the coach door, which IMO was the deal breaker for me. Good luck...Dennis

I installed mine on the outside of the door and we think it is pretty inconspicuous. We are very happy with it.

[Dennis H]

Here's a helpful article with pictures...Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....Dennis

 

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/gas-door-prop-installed-241214.html

[Dr4Film]

20 inch 30 LB is a bit much for the front entry door. You'd be better off with a 15 LB gas spring.

Here is a photo from a friends entry door who is a member here.

[Joel Sheriff]

I can see from this and the other pix  inside and outside ball bracket is ideal. Are they 10mm balls? 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Joel Sheriff

[Jim McGarvie]

1 hour ago, Dennis H said:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

That's certainly true, Dennis. I didn't say I thought it was beautiful, only relatively inconspicuous.

1 hour ago, Dr4Film said:

20 inch 30 LB is a bit much for the front entry door. You'd be better off with a 15 LB gas spring.

I concur. I installed a 20" with 15 lb force. And to another inquiry, yes, 10 mm balls.

[MyronTruex]

Looks like the pictures are already posted but I would like to add my two cents. 30 lbs is probably going to be far too much. 10-15 lbs seems about perfect on mine.

 

When you get the rod, try to unscrew the end of the rod that the piston comes out of. At the end of the shiny bit that is. I have found they like to unscrew so my last go round I added some epoxy. No more dangling rods after falling out from unscrewing.

Once you get the size piston you really like be sure to stock one if you use the rv a lot. We full time so the things get a real workout. Ebay for about 12 each. I just replaced all nine of my compartment pistons. 

[Joel Sheriff]

Thanks all great info really helpful again.  I purchased the 20 in 20lb only because it tends to park slightly forward tilt to allow water to run. I know but it's less than 1°.  I hope the 20 lb isn't too much but I can always keep that as my spare and order and easily replace with a lighter compression.  I'll send pix when done. Has anyone figured a way of doing it inside like the scissor instead of outside under the awning? 

[Dennis H]

33 minutes ago, Joel Sheriff said:

/snip/ Has anyone figured a way of doing it inside like the scissor instead of outside under the awning? 

Joel, your screen door will be in the way if you try to install it on the inside. If you want to remove the screen door, you can mount it inside.....Dennis

[rjnontheroad]

This isn't quite what was asked for but I still have the original scissor door opener on my 2004 Diplomat. I have repaired it a couple of times since 2008 when we moved into it. It cost a couple of bucks for materials and takes an hour or two to fix.

I'm probably not telling most of you anything new and the hydraulic piston replacement looks like an elegant solution, but if anyone is interested on how I do the repair, give me a shout out on this topic.

Richard Nordlund 

2004 Diplomat

[Joel Sheriff]

Richard, my scissor sticks the door in the open position and I need to reach up to disengage to close the door. Is your fix for that? 

[rjnontheroad]

Joel, mine does the same thing when the rivet that holds the two pieces together begins to wear out and loosen. Eventually my wife and or I get so annoyed by this that I take the unit down and build a new rivet. Here is how I do this.

First unscrew the bracket attached to the door frame. Then drill out the rivets on bracket attached to the door. Then knock out the large, loose, rivet holding the two pieces together. I may have to do a little bit of grinding on it to do this. Take the half of the arm with the beveled hole to the hardware store and find a bolt with a tapered head that just fits the hole diameter. Cut this bolt so about 1/4" sticks out from the assembled pieces. Beat this with a hammer until it is pretty flat.  Grind off the other, tapered side,  of the bolt until it is smooth with the surface of the scissor arm. Screw the bracket side to the door frame and pop rivet the other side to the door. It will be quite stiff to use for a little while but becomes easier fairly quickly. 

Pretty primitive operation but it saves about $100 from buying a new unit. Hope this helps.

Richard Nordlund

2004 Diplomat

 

 

 

 

[Joel Sheriff]

Thank you Richard I may consider this when I get to my son's and have the equipment available.  Stay safe! 

[Dennis H]

On 5/1/2020 at 8:48 AM, rjnontheroad said:

Joel, mine does the same thing when the rivet that holds the two pieces together begins to wear out and loosen. Eventually my wife and or I get so annoyed by this that I take the unit down and build a new rivet. Here is how I do this.

First unscrew the bracket attached to the door frame. Then drill out the rivets on bracket attached to the door. Then knock out the large, loose, rivet holding the two pieces together. I may have to do a little bit of grinding on it to do this. Take the half of the arm with the beveled hole to the hardware store and find a bolt with a tapered head that just fits the hole diameter. Cut this bolt so about 1/4" sticks out from the assembled pieces. Beat this with a hammer until it is pretty flat.  Grind off the other, tapered side,  of the bolt until it is smooth with the surface of the scissor arm. Screw the bracket side to the door frame and pop rivet the other side to the door. It will be quite stiff to use for a little while but becomes easier fairly quickly. 

Pretty primitive operation but it saves about $100 from buying a new unit. Hope this helps.

Richard Nordlund

2004 Diplomat

 

 

 

 

Anyone know of a distributor for the rivet that was used originally? Seems like a direct replacement of the rivet would be the best solution.  Richard, I'm assuming you're meaning a screw with the tapered head, correct? I haven't seen a bolt that's tapered. Or, maybe I've just led a sheltered life. :)......Dennnis

[rjnontheroad]

Dennis, you might be right, maybe they are machined screws that I have been using. Anyway, it has been very easy to find one that will fit.

One time I think I bought a hardened tapered bolt (screw) and had to pound the devil on the cut end to flatten it. Grinding down the tapered end has always worked smoothly using my 4 1/2" hand grinder. Hope someone finds a source for the original rivet. It will be interesting to compare costs.

Richard

[Dennis H]

Richard, I agree on trying to smash a hardened bolt. I'm thinking the rivet is a common one and could be found at most any machine shop. We are in Arizona, on lockdown for a bit so most of the machine shops are closed. If I can find an open one, I'm going to take my bracket in and ask. I would assume a machine shop could get/have the correct rivet and the means to smash that sucker easier than I could with a vise and a hammer.  If I find one that's open, I'll post my findings....Dennis

[Hotrod - R.I.P.]

6 hours ago, Dennis H said:

Richard, I agree on trying to smash a hardened bolt. I'm thinking the rivet is a common one and could be found at most any machine shop. We are in Arizona, on lockdown for a bit so most of the machine shops are closed. If I can find an open one, I'm going to take my bracket in and ask. I would assume a machine shop could get/have the correct rivet and the means to smash that sucker easier than I could with a vise and a hammer.  If I find one that's open, I'll post my findings....Dennis

Just use a bolt and shape the head round and thin with a grinder . As was stated, cut the bolt to have a our 1/4” shank and you have a rivit which will pound out with a ball peen hammer and an anvil (on vise).  I’ve done a couple of these and they work perfect and new rivit is as good as factory. A regular grade 2 bolt is fine .

[Guest Cruzbill]

MONACO DOOR STAY INSTRUCTIONS

 

A fellow Monaco owner repairs the stay for <$50. I had mine  done last year and it works great. Randy Bergen is the fellow's name; Here are the details for sending in your strut:

 

1)   This repair consists of one new rivet at the center pivot.  If your stay is broken at either of the mounting plates it is a throw away.  Loose at the mounting plates is acceptable.  The new center rivet takes the up and down movement out of the stay.

2)   Prior to removal of the stay mark the top of the door stay.  DO NOT MARK THE BOTTOM OF THE STAY!  TB for the portion that goes to the body and TD for the portion that goes to the door.

3)   Remove the door stay.  Some stay mounting plates are screwed on at both ends and some are riveted at one end.  Be prepared to drill out the old rivets.

4)   Box the stay up along with a $43.00 check or money order made out to Randall Bergen.  Make sure to include return shipping information.  The price has increased due to increases in return shipping costs.

5)   If you want an immediate turn around your payment must be in cash or money order.  Otherwise I will wait for your check to clear.

6)   Mail the package to Randall Bergen, 249 Cherry Blossom Trail, Dandridge, TN.  37725.

7)  The $43.00 includes return shipping with in the continental United States. 

[Tom McDaniel]

I am trying to send a message, but can't seem to figure it out. Tom

[Dennis H]

Are you trying to send a message to a member? To one of the mods? Either way, if it's a personal message you're trying to send, go to the top of the page where you'll see an envelope, click on that. You'll then see a box labeled, Compose New. Click on that, type in the recipient's name and press send.....Dennis

Edited May 5, 2020 by Dennis H

[amphi_sc]

When mine wore out bad enough to bug me into finally replacing it, I just got a new one, rivets and all ... One stop shopping.  I figured the original lasted x years so a new one should go about that long again and I might not need to sorry about it by that time.  The lady at Veurinks used the build sheet for my serial number to make sure it had the right dimensions as there are a few differences in length/width and they had quite a selection.  Sure, it cost a few more bucks more but I could swap it out quickly in an hour (if it took me that long) and be done with it, and still have the old one I could mess with in my spare time (so far I haven't messed with the old one, it's still sitting on a shelf and probably will sit there for years... Maybe some day I'll send it off to Randy to have a great working spare...).   I thought about using rivnuts on the door instead of rivets, but again thought the old lasted a decade+ so how often would I need to swap this thing....  And the door attaching rivets won't loosen up, but you need a good tool to pull those heavy duty rivets.

Give 'em a call and keep the old as a spare...

https://shop.findmyrvparts.com/searchresults.asp?Search=swing+arm+assembly&Submit=

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Guest Cruzbill]

When I re-installed my rebuilt strut, I needed a larger rivet tool for the SS rivets in the door. HF to the rescue: 

https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-17-1-2-half-inch-hand-riveter-with-collection-bottle-66422.html

[Eddy B]

The rivet used in mine was a tubular rivet. A tubular rivet has a solid section and the shank of the rivet looks like it has been drilled.

Using a special squeezer set you can upset the tail so, when installed it looks like this:

Choosing the correct length rivet is crucial so that you get a well formed tail but not excessively long or so short that it clenches the pivot arms. This might sound intimidating but it really is not difficult.

Here is a link to where I found the rivets:

https://www.hansonrivet.com/rivets/tubular-rivets/

They have the tooling as well.

https://www.hansonrivet.com/tools-machines/solid-rivet-tools-machines/hand-rivet-clinchers/

 

Now, having said all that , when mine failed I used a method similar to the cut off bolt proposed earlier. I am a former aircraft mechanic, so I knew the "right" way to fix it, but couldn't find the supplies. When mine gets loose again, I will fix it with a tubular rivet.

 

Hope someone finds this helpful.

[Paul J A]

Many have used a tinners rivet when replacing the original rivet for the door scissor closure. I do not recall the specifications. I just re peened the original one. 10 years full timing and we never had to replace the rivet.