Failed ramp door

[Zappa]

When I bought this trailer I was told it would be fine to support the weight of my Goldwing, with me on it. Well they were wrong and both Lippert and Keystone both refused to replace the door after the 3rd failure sighting equipment abuse as the primary cause of the failure. Well Im not a rich man and I can not afford to take the big boys to court over this just to get them to replace that door with the same crap they used in the previous doors. So I did the next best thing, I totally rebuilt my failed door into a super strong ultra heavy duty door, for about $600.00. Ive not hung the door yet because the glue is still curing and I need to put the traction down on the deck. Ive seen many posts about folks wanting to make their non patio door into a patio with suspension cables. Trust me, that is an accident waiting to happen. The door is only made up of 1/8th" plywood, 11/4" styrofoam and another 1/16 laminated something of a board for the back that the white is glued to. These doors are not designed to be strong, they are designed to be lite weight. Here is a few photos of the rebuild so far.

[K_N_L]

WOW - awesome work, sucks you have to do that but still. Is that an aluminum grid to replace the foam insert (good to have welding skills!). Looks like it fits back inside the original channel and just as much insulation.

[Zappa]

Yes, it is 1x1 1/8 wall aluminum stock. The insulation is 1” garage door insulation. The decking I used is 1/2” plywood. It fits pretty tight. The door is quite a bit heavier than it was but I won’t have to worry about breaking it.

[K_N_L]

That should be good with the 1/2 plywood and that frame. Now that I know that there there nothing in the center but Styrofoam and the thin walls, I will be a bit more cautious when loading my bike or golf cart not to be hitting it to hard. I was always nervous about the weight rating on it. At least thats one less thing you will need to worry about.

[Zappa]

It’s surprising that no one knows what’s inside that door. I spoke to an RV repair shop that said they would take the door apart and add material to the existing support structure and then vacuum seal the door again. I just got tired of the BS that I was receiving. Now I have the pictures to prove it. The only truth I heard about the door was not to suspend it from cables as a patio. The structure will not support that stress and will collapse.

[Mongoose9400]

Does anyone have any idea how the doors provided as a patio option differ? I figured they would all be the same door as they would all need to support toys being loaded?

I have the patio option on my raptor and used it with about 700 lbs on it only supported by the cables and all seemed fine.

[Wilco]

I mounted a track on my door to support the weight of my Goldwing when i had a toyhauler. I have since gone to loading my bike into the truck and then hitch up to the trailer.

[wiredgeorge]

I had basically the same door (Lippert) on a Forest River TH and while I didn't break it riding my HEAVY GL1800 Roadsmith trike up, I had planned to put another hinged flap/door on the inside that would hold up the door a tad when going over the main door hinge between garage and door as I tore the overflow tub on my Wing. It isn't a big deal to fix but it was annoying that this issue wasn't addressed by the engineers. If you had a higher ATV or golf cart, it wouldn't matter but a bike would bottom on the hinge area.

[AbHDToyHauler]

When I bought this trailer I was told it would be fine to support the weight of my Goldwing, with me on it. Well they were wrong and both Lippert and Keystone both refused to replace the door after the 3rd failure sighting equipment abuse as the primary cause of the failure. Well Im not a rich man and I can not afford to take the big boys to court over this just to get them to replace that door with the same crap they used in the previous doors. So I did the next best thing, I totally rebuilt my failed door into a super strong ultra heavy duty door, for about $600.00. Ive not hung the door yet because the glue is still curing and I need to put the traction down on the deck. Ive seen many posts about folks wanting to make their non patio door into a patio with suspension cables. Trust me, that is an accident waiting to happen. The door is only made up of 1/8th" plywood, 11/4" styrofoam and another 1/16 laminated something of a board for the back that the white is glued to. These doors are not designed to be strong, they are designed to be lite weight. Here is a few photos of the rebuild so far.
Well that sucks about the door. I have been taking the wife's 1200lb trike up and down it without issue and my Streetglide which with me on it is around 1150lbs. A quick question does your door frame have the triangular wedges in the upper corners (where they attach patio cables) ? Mine does and I don't know if that means it might have had the patio option? I bought used. Also not to be snoopy but I notice in pictures you have the same motorcycle tire machine as me and also I could see the orange bike jack and wheel stop so I am thinking you have the same motorcycle lift as me too. LOL

[Zappa]

We camp with several friends that have Toyhaulers also but mine is the only Fuzion. Mine is also the only one that has had issues so far and we all load Gpldwings, one is even a trike. Mine also has a 7 foot door where as the others are 8 foot doors. Does that make a difference in the way they are built? I have no idea but if I were a betting man I would say yes. That triangle piece that you refer to is on every one that Ive seen. I think it is an automatic part of building that door frame regardless whether or not it will be equipped with the rear patio kit. When I bought mine those were pointed out to me as a possible option for the patio kit that I wanted and found out later that the salesman was of course full of crap. Its not available for my trailer.
Its possible that you do have the same lift as mine. Several names use the same table. It has been a great addition to my shop as well as the tire machine. I do a lot of tires.

[Zappa]

I tried to post these photos of my finished ramp door on my last post but I can't figure out how to attach them.

[AbHDToyHauler]

Door looks great. What does that goldwing weigh fully loaded?

[dandauer]

Door repair looks great, i need to repair my fleetwood door that has worn tracks from a previous owner's SXS, curious what you used to finish the surface?

[flybouy]

The OP haven't logged on since 10-08-2018 @10:31 PM so don't expect an answer.

[chunker]

Door repair looks great, i need to repair my fleetwood door that has worn tracks from a previous owner's SXS, curious what you used to finish the surface?

I would suggest a spray on pickup bed liner such as Line-X. My older Raptor, 300MP, had a sort of non-skid surface that was slippery when wet. I tried putting on brush on bed liner from a big box hardware store with less than desirable results. The new Raptor 356 has a much better and rougher surface that feels much like the Line-X bed liner in the truck.

[roadglide]

I would suggest a spray on pickup bed liner such as Line-X. My older Raptor, 300MP, had a sort of non-skid surface that was slippery when wet. I tried putting on brush on bed liner from a big box hardware store with less than desirable results. The new Raptor 356 has a much better and rougher surface that feels much like the Line-X bed liner in the truck.

I would like to hear back from the op on his ramp repairs and the strength . I thought the form was sprayed in continuous bonding of materials .

[ctbruce]

The OP hasn't been on the forum since 10/8/2018. I wouldn't get my hopes up.

[Milowhite]

Question, it’s been a long while. How did the door hold up for you?? I need to duplicate your efforts. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[roadglide]

Question, it’s been a long while. How did the door hold up for you?? I need to duplicate your efforts. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Realize this is an old post interesting. I can imagine the weight of that door 3/4 of the way up. I would use 1/6 aluminum plate Use Styrofoam like OP and spray foam in the Voids and use spray bed liner or some other non skid material.

[LewisB]

The original post was (from 2018) and was for a 2014 trailer. Clearly, older information like this can easily be resurrected in the forum; some might find this scary when issue may not even apply to newer equipment. So don't read this and assume ALL ramp doors may fail in similar fashion. Check the specifications for your year, make, & model of trailer before making assumptions.

E.G. Our 2018 Raptor ramp door has a 3000# loaded vehicle rating and will support 1500# as a patio from the cables. Over 1500#, use the ground supports provided for up to 3000#.

Lastly, nice work on the part of the OP (if he ever logs in again).

[VitoJCongineJr]

I foresee the same issue in my future. Sure wish you would have done a video.