Main Door Hard to Open..

[bigdave]

I have a 2007 Keystone Laredo..when I use the four corner jack's to stable the trailer, main door in the back is hard to open and close..tried loosing them..no difference..any ideas?

[dspriggs]

As I read your post several questions came to mind.

Is the door hard to open when the jacks are not down in the stabilizing position?

Are your jacks manual or power?

Do you put them down in the same order of sequence each time?

[hankaye]

bigdave, Howdy;

I've experienced the same thing. Slowly close the door and look to see how the latch and the hole it fits into match-up. Look at a level placed on the floor near the door. You most likely have the stabilizer nearest the door cranked up to tight.
It doesn't take much to cause a door to bind.

hankaye

[bigdave]

Originally Posted by hankaye

bigdave, Howdy;

I've experienced the same thing. Slowly close the door and look to see how the latch and the hole it fits into match-up. Look at a level placed on the floor near the door. You most likely have the stabilizer nearest the door cranked up to tight.
It doesn't take much to cause a door to bind.

hankaye

Can you share with me how you use you jack's?

[SteveC7010]

My last trailer had this problem. It was a 24' 1999 Sunline with a rear door aft of the tandems and a front door forward of the tandems and galley.

With all corner jacks properly set, the frame would flex enough to move the structure around the door just enough to make it difficult to open and close.

My four stabilizer jacks were the old fashioned jack stand type and not fastened to the frame of the trailer. By relocating the aft jack a couple of feet closer to the tandems and the forward jack much closer to the door frame, I could precisely control the flexing on the curb side of the trailer and prevent the door from binding.

I have a friend who has a much longer and heavier Sunline with a much beefier frame. His stabilizers are welded to the frame so they can not be relocated. His solution to the same problem was to place a 10 ton bottle jack just forward of the tandems on both sides. While his door problem was minor, he still had "wobble" issues with the trailer in camp. The bottle jacks fixed both problems.

As with all stabilizer jacks, neither of us jacked so much as to lift the trailers, but just to prevent wobble and the door problem.

I suspect adding a fifth jack under the door would probably solve the problem. Before you have anything welded to the frame, try a bottle jack or screw adjustable jack stand to see if it fixes things.

[hankaye]

bigdave, Howdy;

Originally Posted by bigdave

Can you share with me how you use you jack's?

I had two (2), bolted onto the rear of the frame and I used two jack-stands at the front of the frame.

When I'd get to a site I'd;
check the level,
Get the tires on as much of a level as I could (I use 2X8 pressure treated wood),
check level at door,
Crank the nose up beyond level so I could then lower it onto the jackstands,
check door swing and level at door,
crank down driver's side stabilizer get it good and snug,
check door swing and level at door,
crank down passenger side stabilizer get it good an snug,
check door swing and level at door.
I found that I could "fine tune " the door with the stabilizers.
You may have to go back an forth a few times to get both rear stabilizers snug and level that the door. With practice it does gets easier...


Your mileage may vary .....

hank