Ramp Door failure & Rot on Toy Hauler. Photos of Lippert door Construction

Ok so there are many Toy Haulers with Lippert Component door that have failed. I have a 2010 Road Warrior and the door has been failing for past couple years. Long story short, the door had no sealant around the exterior of Aluminum trim and water has infiltrated and caused the damage. SO before my Harley tires fell through it, I replaced it. Lippert charges $2000 for the door and $700-$800 for shipping.

So the new door did not align up with old holes so all 12 had to be re-drilled and tapped. Whom ever installed the original door just sat it in the opening and mounted it, which caused premature rusting to lower frame. I shimmed it 1/2" on the bottom and installed it so the gasket would seal. The new door came with hinges and springs. NO gasket, old handles get reused. The new door now does have silicone around the exterior aluminum but is already pulling loose from exterior fiberglass. I will replace this with an better RV UV sealant. The original gasket was installed in 4 pieces allowing water to seep between corner gaps. I purchased new D rubber seal and with the help of You tube found out how to miter corners for a continuous seal , so the new gasket is once continuous piece 32 feet around the perimeter of door.

These doors are just an Igloo cooler with some aluminum trim. There has been no changes to the design and construction of these doors. As you can see from photos the door is just two pieces of 1/8" plywood with Styrofoam sandwiched between it. There is no added wood where the hinges are attached.

I started seeing the bolts that go thru the door rusting and de-lamination on exterior of door. Once this is visible it is beyond saving. I will now, never leave the door down to get wet and plan to keep the exterior always sealed around the aluminum and plan to seal the interior as well. If you can keep water out I think you will get many years of use.

I cut up the door into 4 pieces and plan to use them as a ramp for our 16 yr old dog to get in and out of trailer..

I forgot to take photos of new door and seal, I can do this if someone wants to see it..

Thanks for the picture's! Great info... These are obvious design flaws... I can't understand WHY Lippert doesn't fix them. Make's me wonder how other manufacture's assemble 'their' door's.... not that I have one, but....just say'n..

In my opinion, Lippert does not want to change anything because they get to sell more doors knowing that they can not possibly last. I have seen posts on here of 2013 and 2014 door failure. Patio owners will have the same door and will rot and fall apart if you get them wet. Heartland is no better, I cant believe the crappy workmanship on my toy hauler. I.E. Staples thru my rubber roof to that lead to roof leaking, Main support under shower cut out to install drain for shower, Shower sagged and leaked,. List goes on and on.

Thanks for looking at my American Made Junk..

Had the same issue with my 2008 Cyclone. Had the neighbor, who's a boat builder, rebuild mine and coated the entire wooden frame in epoxy resin. We reinstalled it and caulk all around the exterior trim, which should be done to all these doors!!! It was much cheaper than buying a new one, only to have the same issue down the road.

Roc said:

Had the same issue with my 2008 Cyclone. Had the neighbor, who's a boat builder, rebuild mine and coated the entire wooden frame in epoxy resin. We reinstalled it and caulk all around the exterior trim, which should be done to all these doors!!! It was much cheaper than buying a new one, only to have the same issue down the road.

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Hey Roc, I'd be interested in seeing a photo of your rebuilt door.. Post one on here if you can..

Roc said:

Had the same issue with my 2008 Cyclone. Had the neighbor, who's a boat builder, rebuild mine and coated the entire wooden frame in epoxy resin. We reinstalled it and caulk all around the exterior trim, which should be done to all these doors!!! It was much cheaper than buying a new one, only to have the same issue down the road.

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The only things we used from the original door was the outer skin, the aluminum trim with seals, the hinges and handles.

Roc,
Thanks for the info, great idea, thanks for sharing your photos. I'm guessing you then glued the fiberglass skin to one side of plywood. assuming there is plywood to both sides with the 1x4's inbetween ? Looks like you changed the support, one pic shows beefed up center support the other two photos show added support to three areas. What did you use for the skid resistant side that the bikes drive on?

Hello all, new to the forum, considering a cyclone, but having some concerns over the ramp door issue. Post #5 in the linked thread is from AJJONES www.heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/28895-rear-patio?highlight=Ramp. In it he says that the doors for the patio system are made stronger and use box tube for the perimeter frame. So, that does nothing to ease my concerns about water intrusion, which appears to be the source of the issues, but in terms of structural integrity and strength, does anyone know if the hinges would then be bolted through the 1/4" wood and box tube, vs through the 1/4" wood and styrofoam like it appears these doors in this thread are? Am I misinterpreting something? Are the side patios (which aren't "ramps") made stronger as well? I seen a couple of posts from guys with units newer than these 2, but don't recall seeing any pics of the door construction to compare to these pics. Thanks for any input, and by all means, not trying to hijack the thread with my concerns.

I'm in the process of having my 2nd patio door replaced under warranty. Mine is the side patio not the rear, but same build quality. First one had stress cracks in corner from day one, second one has lasted 3 months before water damage and soft spots. When the new door comes in its going to the truck shop to be sprayed with rhino liner to seal all cracks and seams.

jam20ster said:

I'm in the process of having my 2nd patio door replaced under warranty. Mine is the side patio not the rear, but same build quality. First one had stress cracks in corner from day one, second one has lasted 3 months before water damage and soft spots. When the new door comes in its going to the truck shop to be sprayed with rhino liner to seal all cracks and seams.

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So you've not seen the box tube frame that the "patio" decks are supposed to have? I can see where rhino liner would be the ticket, had actually given that or epoxy consideration. I guess my question there is what's everyone doing to the outside where the aluminum meets the gelcoat/fiberglass? Will silicone caulk suffice there?

My only thought for the outside would be to silicone (caulk) all the seems really good.

It amazes me that they still have not perfected some type of sealant process. One would think that they could somehow dip/spray the wood in some type of sealant before install. Who knows. I guess the one good thing is knowing each new door comes with a 1 year part warranty.

Roc said:

The only things we used from the original door was the outer skin, the aluminum trim with seals, the hinges and handles.

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Roc, how had this held up for you?

rpfleder said:

Roc, how had this held up for you?

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Rpfleder, since this thread is seven years old and user Roc has not been on the forum since 2019 I doubt that you will get a reply.

Peace
Dave