Adding Folding Grab Bar

[Maxzd]

Noticed at the last RV Show not every RV comes with a deluxe folding grab handle. My 2011 Cougar 325SRX has one on the Main Door, but the Door that leads to the cargo/garage does not. Just has (had).. a small little handle that is ok but just seemed a big miss.

So on our maiden voyage last week to do some winter camping in the Olympic National Forest (Washington State) I added it to the list. We decided to stop using the Main Door, the garage door was perfect almost as a "mud room" take shoes and jackets off and didn't track anything into the main unit. So parked in a tight camping spot, it would have been nice to have one already installed.

I bought a matching stromberg carlson grab handle at Camping World in Fife Washington near Tacoma. Very impressed with the staff, very helpful BTW. Also didn't know they were ok with overnight Camping in their parking lot. The manager said any location, nice to know saved us a few hours of late night driving as we were heading back home and 30-40 bucks at a pay campsite...

Anyway. A very simple install for something that seems like it should have been there from factory for all doors. Pictures below with Commentary. Link to Camping World below. Cost me $35 bucks. Took more time to get the screwdriver, drill and drill bit then it did actually installing. Probably 10 minutes.

DOOR BEFORE MODIFCATION




MOVED THE EXISTING GRAB HANDLE DOWN USING BOTTOM HOLE FOR TOP HOLE OF GRAB HANDLE (otherwise there would be a hole exposed to elements so decided to keep the existing one, still functional when required..)




LINED UP THE TOP OF THE GRAB BAR WITH THE DOOR LATCH, SAME AS THE OTHER ENTRY DOOR. When I took the old handle off and moved down aluminum filings came out with the screw. So the new handle definately would bite into the aluminum stud being so close to the door jam. Although the instructions state do not use silicone I did use a small amount to fill the original hole from the top of the small grab bar. The New Handle just covered over top of it but but better safe than sorry even though the product says it's water tight after install.




FINISHED PRODUCT BOTH DOORS LOOK FACTORY INSTALLED.


Link to Camping World. It's available in White or Stainless Finish.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...ar-white/29042

[Flyguy]

Very nice! Good thinking on the installation too.

[Irvin Wagner]

You can search in the internet and find experts who have good knowledge about doors. Go through their website and you could find wide variety of doors and you can select the design from their collections.

[wozzukes]

That was good thinking moving the existing handle down. We attempted to add a grab handle to our Springdale as well. I say attempted because while it's there, we don't really use it because we don't trust it. We installed it just above the existing handle at a comfortable height for us, but when DH put the screws in they went right through the wall and came through the inside without grabbing on to anything. So while the handle is still there, we keep it folded so that no one puts a lot of weight on it and tears it out of the wall until we figure out what we want to do. We have an idea to get some longer screws and put a plate on the inside with acorn nuts to secure it, but I'm worried about how that's going to look. Did the lower half of your handle screw into anything? I was surprised that we didn't seem to hit any sort of stud or framing right next to the door.

[The Sod Father]

Originally Posted by wozzukes

Did the lower half of your handle screw into anything? I was surprised that we didn't seem to hit any sort of stud or framing right next to the door.

I had a similar problem on my last trailer. The handle came loose after the first year of use. I discovered that the chimp at the Rockwood factory screwed the handle into the fiberglass and did not bite into the aluminum frame. To remedy the situation, I used heavy duty plastic expanding wall anchors. That fixed the problem and it stayed tight till the day I sold it.

[Maxzd]

Originally Posted by wozzukes

That was good thinking moving the existing handle down. We attempted to add a grab handle to our Springdale as well. I say attempted because while it's there, we don't really use it because we don't trust it. We installed it just above the existing handle at a comfortable height for us, but when DH put the screws in they went right through the wall and came through the inside without grabbing on to anything. So while the handle is still there, we keep it folded so that no one puts a lot of weight on it and tears it out of the wall until we figure out what we want to do. We have an idea to get some longer screws and put a plate on the inside with acorn nuts to secure it, but I'm worried about how that's going to look. Did the lower half of your handle screw into anything? I was surprised that we didn't seem to hit any sort of stud or framing right next to the door.

Surprised there isn't a stud or framing on your unit too. Mine had aluminum filings come out when I removed thenold handle, definitely a stud to screw the new handle andnold handle back in place...