Newmar Basement Door Safety Check

[andyshane]

When I first worked on a Newmar, a friend's 2004 Essex, one complaint I had was the strength and design of his basement doors.

Compared to the Patriot Thunder I owned at the time, they were flimsy and difficult to adjust.

Eight years down the road, I was at the Fort Worth RV Show and playing with the cargo doors of a gleaming new Dutch Star under the gaze of a salesman from National Indoor RV of Lewisville. Try as I might, I couldn't get the basement door to close. A NIRV salesman came to my rescue, explaining that Newmar cargo doors are notoriously hard to latch, due to their superior tightness. He demonstrated the forearm technique I've since mastered: a deft swat I was too polite to impose on his new demonstrator then; but, a move I've perfected since.

In 2019, we bought a new Dutch Star and it just celebrated its second birthday.

I've found that each of the basement doors possesses its own personality. My shorthand names for them are L1, R1 and successors from front to rear. On the left, the short doors all require a force bordering on violence: I swear, Serena Williams would have trouble mustering the forehand needed to latch any of them. Needless to say, L6 at the plumbing bay and short L5 at the electrical reel get used the most. Next in line, R2 where the patio chairs are kept and R4 at the pegboard station follow.

R4 has a history of disliking certain leveling stances: it bounces off the frame as if the latch goes missing if the coach is tilted. Technicians have examined it, pronounced the door fine and in no need of adjustment. 

This month, with barely 200 cycles and two years time in service under its belt, R4 ramped up its antics.

Close examination revealed that one the latch's two threaded bushings had torn loose. I've attached a photo below (pencil points to failed bushing).

The good news: Newmar sells latches at its parts store for under $15. The bad: this is a poorly-engineered item that is intolerant of the forces applied to it in normal operation. 

Part of my pre-trip inspection will now be to check both bushings at each latch for security, replace the latch if needed. I recommend that Newmar owners with this latching system do the same.


 

[elkhartjim]

I assume you've secured the cable that attaches the remote opener to the latch. I'm thankful the bay doors are as tight as they are and i'm sure every owner has developed a method of closure that works for them. 

[manholt]

Slam, bang and then you use the FOB, or at least that's what my wife does! LOL

[andyshane]

On 10/18/2021 at 6:51 AM, manholt said:

Slam, bang and then you use the FOB, or at least that's what my wife does! LOL

Never have a seen a MH that needs this level of the "Slam" and "Bang."

Minor deformation is showing around the latches of the hardest doors to close. Think about that: doors requiring so much force to latch that they show dents from the act of closing them.

So, today, I went around the rig, altering the striker bar of every basement door except two or three. I moved each outboard a fraction of an inch and repeatedly lightly "bounced" the door off the striker until the latch eventually engaged. Now, I have an entire rig with doors an energetic toddler could close.

The factory is screwing up, requiring much more closing force than that which is required to establish a seal. The tightness has cost me two latches that have been completely destroyed in 24 months of usage; several more are showing signs of loosening bushings. I've hung a tracking ticket on every latch, recording its wear-state, documenting adjustment. Each striker has acrylic torque seal to reveal any wandering from the set position.  Plus, I've ground each cover so that both threaded rivets can be visually checked prior to each trip, to prevent inadvertent door opening due to latch failure.