Need Baggage Door Bracket Reinforcement

rxbristol

Well-known member

• Jul 30, 2018

• #1

The gas strut bracket came loose from the baggage door and I need a reinforcement to re-install it. I know I've seen it posted here before, but I cannot find what others have used. Does anyone know what I can use to reinforce the door so the bracket screws will not tear out again?

 

R

rhodies1

Well-known member

• Jul 30, 2018

• #2

Go to a sheet metal shop and buy a 4 in by 4 in piece of 1/8 in thick aluminum plate,use no longer than 3/4 in long self taping screws and affix to the corner of the door... place enough screws to hold to door substrate,leave area for door strut bracket on aluminum plate.
re install strut bracket to new plate using same length screws.

 

rxbristol

Well-known member

• Jul 30, 2018

• #3

rhodies1 said:

Go to a sheet metal shop and buy a 4 in by 4 in piece of 1/8 in thick aluminum plate,use no longer than 3/4 in long self taping screws and affix to the corner of the door... place enough screws to hold to door substrate,leave area for door strut bracket on aluminum plate.
re install strut bracket to new plate using same length screws.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

 

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired

• Jul 31, 2018

• #4

When that happened on the previous rig, I went to local hardware store and bought a blank metal square electrical box cover.
Then I did what rhodies1 said...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Roller4tan

Well-known member

• Jul 31, 2018

• #5

Ditto on the square metal box cover, I also added construction adhesive behind prior to screwing it on.

 

F

farside291

Well-known member

• Jul 31, 2018

• #6

Mine did the same thing to me on this past weekend. Opened the basement door and the strut screws pulled out of the door. I did notice the screws were all rusty. Looked closely at the perimeter of the door and it looks like it has delaminated from water intrusion. I am going to fix it the same way as said above but with some liquid nail behind the plate.

 

G

GregP

Well-known member

• Jul 31, 2018

• #7

I replaced my bracket support with a piece of oak approximately 8"-4". I had used a smaller steel plate, approximately 6"-3" for an earlier repair and screwed it on with self tapping screws. I found that the sideways torque(?) created when closing pulled the new screws out fairly soon. The result of repeated repairs was some destruction of the door substrate - particle board or similar I think. Anyway, I used construction adhesive and self tapping screws. So far so good. Used the oak because it was left over from another job and did both brackets. Stained and polyurethane finish for good looks.

 

pegmikef

Well-known member

• Jul 31, 2018

• #8

rhodies1 said:

Go to a sheet metal shop and buy a 4 in by 4 in piece of 1/8 in thick aluminum plate,use no longer than 3/4 in long self taping screws and affix to the corner of the door... place enough screws to hold to door substrate,leave area for door strut bracket on aluminum plate.
re install strut bracket to new plate using same length screws.

Click to expand...

Rex, I posted the fix a couple of years ago using square box covers, but I can't seem to find the old posts now. Sorry.

- - - Updated - - -

 

rxbristol

Well-known member

• Jul 31, 2018

• #9

Thanks to all...going to Lowe's this week.

 

J

jbeletti

Well-known member

• Aug 1, 2018

• #10

Rex - consider using 3M Trim Tape on the back of your reinforcement plate as well as screws when attaching it to the back of the door.

Here's another resource - though more $$ and longer lead time than the other idea.

 

T

TianCi

Member

• Jun 8, 2019

• #11

I have read in several locations on this forum about basement door brackets pulling out of the door. This has now happened to me.


Fixes suggested herein varied from Gorilla gluing the self-tapping screws back into the door, to installing a metal backing plate upon which the bracket can be attached.


I tried the Gorilla glue approach. It did work, but it was still placing a great deal of stress on the door and door material (whatever the substrate). I felt it would pull back out all too soon. In addition, I noticed that the outside of the door had been bent outward from the bracket failure. I’ve tried to show this in a picture of the outside of the door, but I am not sure it showed up very well. ( have several other pictures of this process but cannot upload them as this is my first posting on this forum. Please contact me if you would like to see the pictures.)


My son works in a fab shop and they had some scrap 3/16” aluminum plate. He cut out two plates, one for the forward and one for the aft bracket. Each was about 6"x6" with a radius that matched the door radius. We riveted the brackets to the aluminum plates, used four (4), #12 screws for each plate (thus much stouter than the original self-tapping screws), drilled pilot holes for the new screws in the door, and mounted the new assembly.


It so far has been a great repair and seems to be holding quite nicely.


Yes, the 3/16 aluminum plate was more than enough; but it was what we had available. I would suggest a similar fix, but a thinner plate could also be used. We also opted for aluminum due to weight considerations.


Hopefully, this will help others having a similar problem.

 

S

sengli

Well-known member

• Jun 9, 2019

• #12

I removed the gas struts from the doors all together. Installed magnetic door latches on the outside of the coach, to hold the doors open. The big countries used to use this method back in the day. Those gas struts put a lot of stress on the door hinges.

 

T

TianCi

Member

• Jun 10, 2019

• #13

Sengli: I had thought about doing that, but just couldn't bring myself to penetrate the outer wall of my trailer. Thus, I opted for the backup plates.

 

F

farside291

Well-known member

• Jun 12, 2019

• #14

I did the repair with the metal plate and the screws and the liquid nail pulled off after about 1 week of use. I even cleaned the door area with acetone before applying the liquid nail. I remove the gas struts all together and hold the door open with a broom handle. Much less stress on the door hinges
I can't use magnetic catches because the bed slide is above the door. Kind of a poor mans fix but extremely functional. The entire area about 5 inches all the way around the door is rotten from the water intrusion. Without running bolts through the door structure I am not sure of another way to repair.