Our 2011 Rushmore ODS basement door has the hinge on the left hand side. I always assumed that Heartland designed it this way to prevent interference with the bedroom slide should the door be left open. I'd rather have a top hinged door, but I'd want it arranged so that it cleared the slide when open. I don't that this is an unreasonable expectation.
Bedroom slide destroyed my basement storage door
- Thread starter Markie5150
- Start date
OK, Lets look as what has happened as several posters have alluded to. At what point do we as the consumer take responsibility for our actions. How many pages of warnings are necessary when you read any owners manual?? We all know that we have to many lawyers trying to make a buck. I can't believe that after 67 years I've become so stupid. I have to be told: Don't spill the coffee it might burn you. Don't put the electric drill in the bath tub you might get shocked. Don't put that knife in your mouth you might get cut. Don't drink the gasoline, or oil, or paint, paint thinner, etc, etc. Who actually reads that stuff anyway?? What is it costing us to deal with this stuff?? As a teacher we had to have students sign forms when we traveled. We were told that they were not worth the paper they were printed on and they would not hold up in a court of law. We did it anyway. If something breaks and a manufacturer can fix it simply or without a lot of cost then it won't cost us a fortune the next time we buy a large ticket item. We all know the consumer will pay and pay and pay. What did it cost McDonald's and the consumer to change their coffee containers and to put all those notices out so people might not do something stupid ???? It's also my understanding that that person didn't really win the court case. Common sense has gone out the window and make somebody else pay (that's usually ALL consumers) has entered.
Done with my rant.
TeJay
Done with my rant.
TeJay
Well said, TeJay. I couldn't agree with you more. It's sometimes hard to imagine why all of us should pay for one person's mistake, but we do, every day. Now, my disclaimer....If the item or product was changed in some fashion, and that change caused or led to the failure, then someone should look into it. If there were warnings posted, and not seen by the OP, then it's on them. If the warnings were not posted, then it's on the manufacturer. Don't get me wrong here, please. I support the members here, and wish only the best for all of us. I have learned a great deal in these pages, and have put many of these ideas into practice. But, I know that what I do, I am responsible for. I hope I don't ruffle too many feathers here, but I needed to vent. I'll even sign my name to it.
Steven
Steven
Dan,
On my San Antonio, the door is side-hinged. I believe the struts you have on that door "should be" 2-stage. In the first stage open position, the door should be clear of the slide. In the second stage position, the door would be in it's fullest open position, likely contacting the slide, but allowing maximum access to the storage bay. These are just my assumptions. Are they accurate? Also, what is the fix in your mind? Side hinged perhaps? I'm willing to send improvement ideas back to the plant.
Jim
danemayer
Well-known member
Jim,
I have a 2011 Rushmore with side hinges; someone else started this thread. But our very good friends liked our Rushmore and bought a 2012 Key Largo with the top hinges. About 2 weeks after delivery the slide caught the door. He replaced the door himself and said he repositioned the struts so it can't happen again. Seems to me the factory could do the same thing when installing the struts. If there's some reason that won't work, I'll bet if the door engineer understands what's happening, he'll quickly figure out what change is appropriate.
I have a 2011 Rushmore with side hinges; someone else started this thread. But our very good friends liked our Rushmore and bought a 2012 Key Largo with the top hinges. About 2 weeks after delivery the slide caught the door. He replaced the door himself and said he repositioned the struts so it can't happen again. Seems to me the factory could do the same thing when installing the struts. If there's some reason that won't work, I'll bet if the door engineer understands what's happening, he'll quickly figure out what change is appropriate.
traveler44
Well-known member
I don't remember seeing any warnings about any possible interference with objects when opening or closing the slides and never gave it much thought other than moving the recliners out of the way until we went to our first rally and somebody suggested wrapping an elastic strap around the cabinet knobs to make sure they stay shut and out of the way. I try to keep an eye on as much as possible even if I have to run the slides and stop to look sometimes. So far all that has got caught was one of the wifes paperbacks inside and an electric cord that I tried to stretch along the outside of a slide. Sorry to hear about the storage doors interfering with the slide movement and hope nobody gets injured because of it.
We have a 2011 Rushmore with the top hinge and the basement door doesn't come close enough to contact the bedroom slide. I just went out to look how the struts that were installed and they look very similarly mounted. What I did notice was that Heartland used a different brand struts on each side. They used 2 MasterLift struts that opens the basement door higher on the door side and 2 Stabilus Inter-Stop struts on the off door side which open that basement door less high. I wonder if the rigs were engineered to use these different brand struts intentionally to prevent this very issue. Maybe the same brand struts were installed by accidently at the factory or there was a parts shortage during the production of these units. Just seems a little funny that I have different brand struts on each side and have no issue like this.
2psnapod2
Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
I have a brand new 2011; I say brand new because since they just started making this floor plan to me they are all new, Key Largo and it does have a two stage strut for the door in question. It opens to the first stage and does not come in contact with the slide. If open to the second stage it opens up enough to fully access the compartment and rests on the bottom of the slide. If I open it all the way to the second stage I place a piece of cloth between it and the slide to not harm the finish. To me this is an acceptable control to this issue. If one opens it to the second stage and forgets to close it, and then closes the slide it might crush the door as the OP said it did. Since I know that it would not be good (heard about it on this forum from mmomega which he had done the same thing, I make an effort to not do it. Thanks mmomega, for the original post alerting me to this issue and helping me not make the same unfortunate mistake you did.
