bowing wall

[WesternStateOfMind]

Hello,

We went to close the sliding door to our bedroom of our 312BHTS and noticed the magnetic latch no longer makes contact with the wall.

We ran a piece of string between the ceiling and floor and there's definitely a noticeable outward bowing of the middle of the wall. There's a 1/4" gap between the edge of the sliding door and the wall now where the latch used to meet. I believe the latch is mounted between the studs, but I'm not 100% certain.

I need to borrow a 4 or 6 foot level to see if I can confirm if the same bowing exists on the outside.

Has anyone else encountered this kind of issue? What was the remedy?

[TucsonJim]

Let me suggest you closely examine the exterior wall for any large loose areas. I'm attaching a video of the wall that failed on our unit. You can see how much ours flexed in the video. If you see areas of fiberglass that appear to be delaminated, you'll need to have your dealer examine it. Although rare, these bonded walls can fail. Small areas can be readily repaired by an RV service department. Large areas may require wall replacement. Ours had to go back to the factory for a complete wall replacement. The primary cause of delamination is water entry. In our case, it was just a failure of the adhesive in the wall.

Jim

[Guest]

I wonder if the sticks and tin is a better solution. Still need to pay attention to sealing, but delamination is non-existent.

Jim

[JBill9694]

If I read WesternStateOfMind OP correctly the problem is a bowing of the wall that he noted on the inside. I think he mentioned checking the outside to see if the bowing continues the depth of the wall or if it is limited to the just the inside.

The outside wall can be checked for bowing with any decent length straight edge. Lay it against the exterior wall and if there is any rocking to it then it is bowed. Another more complicated method would be to suspend a plumb bob out from the roof line and then measure the distance from the plumb bob line back to the exterior wall. The advantage of the plumb bob method is that it allows for actual measurement of any bowing.

[WesternStateOfMind]

Update: I confirmed with a level that the outside bows out a similar amount. It also appears to be temperature dependent. When the sun heats the outer wall in the morning, this bowing happens. Later in the day, after the sun has moved to the other side of the trailer, the bowing subsides and the door will latch again properly.

[Yoda]

Update: I confirmed with a level that the outside bows out a similar amount. It also appears to be temperature dependent. When the sun heats the outer wall in the morning, this bowing happens. Later in the day, after the sun has moved to the other side of the trailer, the bowing subsides and the door will latch again properly.

Does the wall flex when you push on it?

[JBill9694]

Update: I confirmed with a level that the outside bows out a similar amount. It also appears to be temperature dependent. When the sun heats the outer wall in the morning, this bowing happens. Later in the day, after the sun has moved to the other side of the trailer, the bowing subsides and the door will latch again properly.

That is a lot of thermal expansion and contraction. Maybe some of the others with more experience have seen this but I haven't and don't think it was planned for. Typically some type of slip connection would be used to allow for this movement but I don't know if this is true of GDRV or not. Maybe a moderator can answer.

Back to the latch issue. the OP sounds like the plate for the magnet is attached directly to the inside face of the outer wall. If this is true then I would say that the door was not installed correctly. There should be a door jamb on the latch side of the door. This would provide the additional stiffness and separation from the outer wall to keep the plate in place.