2011 32BUDS hinges coming out!!

The hinges for the cabinets above the sofa have pulled right out of the wood. Not the screws the whole hinge. Right now some gorilla glue has held them, but there has to be a fix for this.

Have had this unit for only two months and two hinges have pulled out!!!

Steve
 

Rocky

Member
I have a new Greystone and having the same problem on an overhead cabinet. I think the hydraulic strut door opener could be the problem. I believe the strut is popping the hinge plastic screw plug inserts out of the wood because of the angle it was installed. I have looked at my 7 other overhead cabinets and the hydraulic strut has been installed from a range of vertical to an angle (no consistency). On my problem hinge, the strut is angled toward the hinge and I believe this facilitates it lifting the hinge out of the door. On your problem hinges, are the hydraulic struts vertical and has the Gorilla glue worked?
 

YahziMoki

Member
We started experiencing this problem on our 2011 31 RED two weeks ago. We thought about the gorilla glue too but would like to fix the problem correctly without having to pull the trailer out of storage and driving it 30 to 40 miles to the dealer. We will have to look at how they are installed (angle, etc.).
 

Rocky

Member
We started experiencing this problem on our 2011 31 RED two weeks ago. We thought about the gorilla glue too but would like to fix the problem correctly without having to pull the trailer out of storage and driving it 30 to 40 miles to the dealer. We will have to look at how they are installed (angle, etc.).

I posted the problem with my hinges in the "Greystone - Ask the Factory" forum and received the following answer from a factory representative a few days ago:

"Re: overhead cabinet hinge pulled out of cabinet
When this issue occurs is it generally not the struts, it is more the plastic inserts installed in the doors. You can epoxy the plastic inserts in place to prevent them from pulling out, we have had pretty good success with this."

After I posted the problem, I had another door hinge pop out. The original problem hinge is on a frequently used cabinet in the kitchen, which I eventually had to disconnect the strut. On our last trip, I was on the final run-through and opened a rarely used cabinet and the hinge popped out :mad:. I disconnected the strut and pushed the plastic plugs with intact screws back into the cabinet and left. I did not have time to examine the problem further but had been careful opening all of the cabinets because of this issue. Some of the cabinets seen to "pop" open more than others and I still wonder if the problem is not related to the struts. We love our trailer but this a problem.
 
Rocky,
All my struts are at an angle, no consistency like yours, but the gorilla glue seems to be holding the plastic inserts in for now. I think Heartland needs to look at this problem a bit more to get a proper fix.
 

DRGalligher

Well-known member
I had the exact problem on mine (3055RL), cabinet above the sofa. It definitely seems to be a problem with strut - trailer is only two months old on it's first trip; I'm sill on the road so I had to fix it in the field.

I measured the distance of the mounting point of the strut with the cabinet at the opposite end of the trailer (above the table) and found that it was off by almost 1/4 of an inch. Fortunately, I carry an cordless drill and bits with me. I drilled a new hole for the strut that matched the same measurements of the cabinet that is working properly, and put some toothpicks and wood glue in the original hole so the pressure of the new hole didn't create a larger hole as I tow thus stripping out the hole. This relieved a lot of the pressure from the strut that was forcing the hinge to pull out of the door. An observation on this is when I pulled the strut off, I could see where it was causing wear marks on the wood from being attached improperly - the corrected measurement matched the bottom of the wear point!

Once that was done I removed the screws from the hinge that connects to the plastic inserts and took the door down. I then reinserted the plastic inserts into the hole and made sure they were flush with the back of the door - I did not not use wood glue or gorilla glue on the inserts - they are designed to be a pressure fit which is why the holes look so clean when they pop out. Once the glue and toothpicks set up, I remounted the door, reattached the strut to the new hole, and as of this writing it seems to be fixed. I am still cautious though opening it - I can tell you with the adjustment I made to the strut, the door now closes properly without slamming down - it was definitely in the wrong place. I did make some minor adjustments to the hinge, but these were the screws that are designed for adjusting, I did not physically have to relocate the hinge.
 

Rocky

Member
I had the exact problem on mine (3055RL), cabinet above the sofa. It definitely seems to be a problem with strut - trailer is only two months old on it's first trip; I'm sill on the road so I had to fix it in the field.

I measured the distance of the mounting point of the strut with the cabinet at the opposite end of the trailer (above the table) and found that it was off by almost 1/4 of an inch. Fortunately, I carry an cordless drill and bits with me. I drilled a new hole for the strut that matched the same measurements of the cabinet that is working properly, and put some toothpicks and wood glue in the original hole so the pressure of the new hole didn't create a larger hole as I tow thus stripping out the hole. This relieved a lot of the pressure from the strut that was forcing the hinge to pull out of the door. An observation on this is when I pulled the strut off, I could see where it was causing wear marks on the wood from being attached improperly - the corrected measurement matched the bottom of the wear point!

Once that was done I removed the screws from the hinge that connects to the plastic inserts and took the door down. I then reinserted the plastic inserts into the hole and made sure they were flush with the back of the door - I did not not use wood glue or gorilla glue on the inserts - they are designed to be a pressure fit which is why the holes look so clean when they pop out. Once the glue and toothpicks set up, I remounted the door, reattached the strut to the new hole, and as of this writing it seems to be fixed. I am still cautious though opening it - I can tell you with the adjustment I made to the strut, the door now closes properly without slamming down - it was definitely in the wrong place. I did make some minor adjustments to the hinge, but these were the screws that are designed for adjusting, I did not physically have to relocate the hinge.

Dave, Good idea with the toothpicks and glue. Thanks for the detailed description of your fix and I will do the same on my Greystone. Heartland suggested gluing in the plastic screw inserts should solve the problem but I still believe the cause of the problem is the struts and your post reinforces that believe.
 

budongman

Member
We bought a North Trail 21 FBS at RVW in Ohio last fall (2010) We opened the swing up cabinet doors to check and the hinges pulled out of one door. This happened in the walk through. They replaced the door. A few days later the same thing happened, different door. Arrived home and instead of the glue repair, I realized the plastic inserts and the screws installed at the plant were of poor design. I removed one screw at a time and replaced it with a flat head phillips screw about 1/4 inch longer which permitted penetration into the style without splitting the wood. (Note: Retain the plastic insert). No removing doors and no messing with glue. Regardless of the energy put into opening the doors, they now work properly and will stand the test of time.
 

goducks11

Active Member
I've had 3 hinges pop out on our 26LLRS, didn't take it to the dealer for warranty. I noticed that some of the struts were screwed to tight, so I backed out the screws holding the struts to the cabinet and cabinet door on all cabinets with struts. Then I put some super glue on the plastic plug and pushed it back in. None of the ones that I've super glued have poped out. I just keep the super glue in a drawer and wait for the next one to pop out. So far no new ones have poped out. I think the struts are a peice of junk and should be replaced with something less binding. I'm thinking about just going with the 2 piece closer set up, the kind that is on the drawers in the kitchen. If you look underneath one of the drawers you'll see what I'm talking about. It is nice with the strut though because it holds the door up while your putting stuff in there.
 

TeJay

Well-known member
W also had one pull out on our first trip in our 24-RBS. I didn't look real close but I believe the door is made not out of particle board but another kind of composite material. It is not the same as real wood and therefore any type of expanding plastic plug will not hold as tightly because the small particles of material will break away from the glue. Even if it is real wood this procedure should fix any plastic plug pull out. I recently put a cheap file cabinet together for the Wife. All metal connectors were screwed into a metal nut/fixture placed into a RECESS. In other words they didn't rely on the particle board material to hold plastic expandable fixtures they rely on metal to metal. I glued the plastic plugs in with J B weld because that's all I had. When I get back to my supplies at home I'll strengthen the material around the hole with some penetrating medium thickness superglue. That will reinforce the material in the hole. Then I will glue the plastic inserts in with JB weld. Tight bond super glue is available in Lowe's or HD. I think it's available in different weights as well. We use it a lot in cabinet making repairs. I have not looked at the strut angle issue. Even if they are off I still think the hinge plugs will eventually fail. The hinge spring is fairly strong and there is a lot of presure on those plastic plugs from that spring as the door is opened and closed. That is where I think the problem is centered. Or it might be a combination of the two. I'll fix the hinges first then deal with the struts next.
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
I used the same fix as most of the folks here on my NT26LRSS. I took the offending door off and used a little glue, but when I tried to get the plug back in it wouldn't quite fit all the way in. It had not been seated correctly from the factory, so I used a C-clamp to seat it all the in and then screwed it tight. I checked all the other doors and found a couple of others that were not seated correctly (1/16th to 1/8th inch between hinge and door). I used the same fix on those and haven't had a problem since.
 
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