Entry Door Won't Open When Hot

[Yoda]

This is a brand new 2022 200MK, built in August 2021. We picked it up last week, and have spent the past few days inspecting it in detail before our first shake-down short trip this week. The trailer is very well put together, but of course there are a handful of little problems.

One of them is the entry door. During the afternoon heat, especially with the sun shining directly onto the entry door, the door will not open. At first, I thought it was a problem with the lock, but no. As the door and frame heat up with the daylight, I can see the clearance between the strike plate and the door close up until it will neither open nor shut without so much force that I consider dangerous to the frame. Apparently the door/frame are swelling in the heat. Once the day cools down a few degrees, the door gradually returns to normal operation.

We will take the trailer back to the selling dealer shop after our shake-down trip. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue, and what was done to fix it.

Thanks.

Take a look at the striker plate (frame side) mine sits proud about 1/8" maybe more from the frame. The way it's made it cannot be flattened. Possibly look for a flush fit one from Lippert or a good local hardware store. Also check for burs and if installed correctly - there were a few post on finding issues with the install. Screws should be flush fit in the plate.

Then look at the door side and make sure they used the recessed screws. They should also be flush with the plate. I had to adjust mine to get them flat (removed burr under the plate)

Hope this helps.

[KrustyKush]

Thanks, Joseph. Yes, it is the strike plate on the doorframe interfering with the latch plate on the door. Otherwise, as far as my eye can see, the door fits nicely into the frame, and seals tightly. I have had no leaks. When ambient temperatures are moderate, the door opens and closes perfectly. On a very hot day, the door will tighten up a bit, with the strike plate dragging against the latch plate slightly, but not binding. Once direct sunlight hits the door, it heats up quickly, and within minutes the door can't be opened or closed without brute strength. The latch plate has gouges in it where it has scraped against the strike plate. Even the door itself has gouges where it interferes with the plate on hot days. Even on a cool day, once sun hits the door, it heats up like a skillet and will get tight.d

During our recent 3 week trip, I went to Home Depot and bought a generic strike plate that was long enough to fit the rather large cut-out in the doorframe. I drilled two new holes and mounted the thing, but it wouldn't work well because it was a bit too thick. If I could get a strike plate that is thin enough and sits nice and flush against the doorframe, that might work. I need clearance at the strike plate to allow for the expansion of the door in hotter temps.

Can anyone give me the best phone contact at GD to call for this type of problem?

[Country Campers]

Customer Service, number on the right side of the home page.

Brian

[KrustyKush]

Stupid me... the Customer Service number is in my owner's manual. It was easy to get through to April, and is she nice! She looked through her documents and couldn't find any direct information on this defect, other than suggestions that the doorframe may be loose. She told me to take the trailer to any shop of my choice. If a new door is needed, she will ship one to that shop, and pay the labor.

Wow. I'm not accustomed to such responsiveness from any automotive type of business. Very impressive. I should have called them last month rather than frittering time with the dealer shop.

Thanks again to all who have offered advice.

[KrustyKush]

Allow me to freshen up this thread with an update. By appointment, I took the 200MK to the selling dealer shop. This time, the service advisor was much more attentive to my description of the problem. After I described the heat-induced door jamming problem to him, he went into the shop and returned with a tech. I had carefully parked in a sunny spot on the lot so that the trailer would heat up quickly. By the time he returned with the tech, the door was already binding. The tech examined the doorframe and said it had been improperly installed at the factory. He asked to keep the trailer for a few days for further examination. Most likely, he said, the door would be replaced, with some re-working of the metal and framing on the trailer. A new door would have to be ordered.

They kept the trailer for a week, at which point I called and asked to pick it up to use it while we wait for the door.

They also ordered a new driver's side wheel well trim-piece that has started to crack around the screw holes.

Once this door thing is fixed, our 200MK will be perfect for us.

[KrustyKush]

Update. The dealer shop called, said they had our new entry door in, and made an appointment to replace it. I took the trailer in, they kept it a week, and I picked it up yesterday. Here's how that went down:

I arrived on time for my appointment to pick up the trailer. "My" Service Adviser was busy. After 10 minutes he showed up and without a word to me told the cashier to discharge me. I got all my paperwork done, and went to the trailer. Door was locked. Oh yeah, new door, new keys. The cashier knew nothing about any keys, and called again and again and again for the Service Advisor. He finally showed up and, again without a word to me, spoke a few words to the cashier and then disappeared, apparently to look for the keys. After a good.long.while I walked out and to our trailer.

As I approached the trailer I could hear pounding. I could see two sets of feet below the entry door as I approached. As I rounded the corner, I saw the Service Adviser and an older gentleman, the Tech, with a block of wood and a hammer pounding on the strike plate of the door frame!!! I said, WTH are you doing? He said they found the keys and when went to open the door it was very tight at the strike plate. This is on a cool day with the trailer shaded. No heated trailer skin. Presumably, it would jam even worse on a hot day.

I could tell Service Adviser was p/o'd about this. He told me, if any more trouble don't hesitate to bring it back. I'm pretty sure the problem has not been fixed, even with the installation of the new door, which now is in question as to the quality of work.

We're going to take the trailer out for a couple days next week. Hopefully there will be no jamming of the door in heating sunshine.

[KrustyKush]

Update. The door still sticks when hot due to sun shining directly on it. In fact, despite the entire entry door being replaced at the dealer shop, and in spite of the additional pounding on the doorframe in the vicinity of the strike plate (see prior post), the door sticks worse than it did before. I expect the door will have to be replaced again, because the tech at the dealer shop pounded on it and distorted it considerably. Taking the strike plate off is the only way this door will operate on a sunshiny day.

So, it will be back to the shop. I have now lost confidence in the selling dealer shop (Mike Thompson in Colton, CA). The service advisor doesn't seem to be able to communicate to the techs in the back. I may have to get mean.

[NWRyan]

This is a brand new 2022 200MK, built in August 2021. We picked it up last week, and have spent the past few days inspecting it in detail before our first shake-down short trip this week. The trailer is very well put together, but of course there are a handful of little problems.

One of them is the entry door. During the afternoon heat, especially with the sun shining directly onto the entry door, the door will not open. At first, I thought it was a problem with the lock, but no. As the door and frame heat up with the daylight, I can see the clearance between the strike plate and the door close up until it will neither open nor shut without so much force that I consider dangerous to the frame. Apparently the door/frame are swelling in the heat. Once the day cools down a few degrees, the door gradually returns to normal operation.

We will take the trailer back to the selling dealer shop after our shake-down trip. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue, and what was done to fix it.

Thanks.

We're having the same issue on our 2021 Transcend Xplor 265BH. Both entry doors become completely STUCK in warm weather. We have been stranded INSIDE and OUTSIDE of our trailer many different times. Dealership said they fixed it end of last season. We just got back from our first trip since then and same issue. Trapped in our trailer!

[Randy Zahn]

I had my dead bolt on my 247BH give me grief last week. That side of the trailer was in the sun for a few hours. I had to push on the door hard then I was able to turn the key to unlock it. Tried many times to use the dead bolt while the door was open and had no issues. I quit using the dead bolt

[jahowe]

I have experienced this with my 2022 Transcend Xplor 247BH. When in direct sunlight, the door would not open. Fortunately, I was always on the outside and not trapped inside. Prior to our first trip in April, my dealer's mobile service unit took a look at it. When I called for help, I was loading for our first trip, all keys were inside, and the door was unlocked (oh yeah, the sun was shining brightly on it too). As the tech arrived, I was able to open the door (sun was no longer shining directly on it) and he said it wasn't a sunlight issue. The tech replaced the factory installed PAN HEAD screws in the door jamb strike plate with flat head screws which has mitigated the issue.

The door still becomes difficult but not impossible to open from either side when in direct sunlight.

I also installed a keyless entry system. Occasionally, the deadbolt will not retract from the outside in keyless mode. I have to use the key to fully retract the deadbolt so that the door will open. This tends to happen when the door has been in direct sunlight. This has been a minor nuisance and I always have a key outside the camper (...because I'm paranoid the batteries will fail without warning). It seems that there is some sort of expansion going on when the door side of the camper is exposed to direct sunlight. I first experienced this in April -- 50 degree temps with direct sun light on the door side. Within minutes of the sun passing over the door side, everything once again worked perfectly.

I'm going to check the bow of the door as suggested earlier and see if it needs any adjustment. I had not seen that before. I'd prefer to work with what's installed in the camper and go the factory/customer service route only as a last resort since a replacement seems rather invasive.

[db4944]

Has anyone tried to use cool coat or anything like that to reduce/reflect the heat? I’m just having an interior heat issue from the heat radiating from the door frame.

[Jlawles2]

db4944 I don't know if cool coat would be a good choice for the membrane roofing. I think Roof Armor claims heat reduction as does Crazy Seal. I think most people having issues with the doors are stating that sunlight on the side of the unit creates the issue.

[EMichael]

KrustyKush Exact same issue with my 2022 Transcend 261BH. Put two and two together with the direct sun and jamming so thank you for the post. Going through the exact same issues with the service department as well with my seller shop in Bakersfield. They stated I have to start with a strike plate replacement with the warranty but it’s been a month and no response. Although sounds like even a new door could be an issue which I was hoping was the solution. Hopefully GD can come up with a solution. I’ll try calling them directly next. Maybe customizing a strike plate to be flushed with the frame would be the best solution?

[bigsablept]

Also having the same problem with a 2022 Transcend 261BH. I am removing the strike plate for the upcoming trip. After the trip is over will probably take it back to the selling dealer and ask them to improve the situation. It is definitely binding at the strike plate. The strike plate was hacked up a bit using a Dremel tool or some sort of file before it was delivered to us.

[Hutch14]

Same issue on our 2022 Transcend 260RB. We noticed when it got hot that the siding would bulge out and the door would stick bad. Took it to the dealer and they re-sealed the siding. Then they removed the door, trimmed the door opening and reinstalled the door. NO issues since.
We do have a new problem though, when we extended the awning all the way out, the material peeled away from the roller. Apparently it is not ran through the track, just double sided sticky tape. We are about 2 months into trying to get this repaired.