1985 door

Rv Revivals · 02-24-2021, 07:07 PM

Looking for a replacement door for my 1985 restoration project its SUNLINE 24ft travel trailer

mainah · 02-25-2021, 04:07 PM

Rectangular door? If so save the metal and build a new one using pressure treated wood I have done several mine and friends.

**JohnB** · 02-25-2021, 04:07 PM

Hi,

Welcome and congrats on your Sunny!

Do you have the old door, just it may be rotted out, or is it totally missing? We have had many members rebuild the doors when they rot out, just they have the door to start with.

If you need a total new one, some square corner doors are still available new, but we would need to know the rough opening dimensions to help better. If you need a "new" door, heads up, sticker shock may set in unless you can find one at a RV surplus place.

Any kind of pic of what you are after helps too.

John

Tinstaafl · 02-25-2021, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainah

Rectangular door? If so save the metal and build a new one using pressure treated wood I have done several mine and friends.

Just have to keep in mind that today's pressure treating chemicals don't get along well with an aluminum skin--they'll corrode it. You can still use PT, just have to isolate it from the aluminum.

mainah · 02-26-2021, 06:19 AM

Never had any issues I do however tend to buy treated that isn't dripping wet. Did one on my old Toyota motor home and that's got to be 12+ years ago the one on the T1700 was done 8 years or so ago. I like playing with wood so all mitered joints long cabinet screws screws etc takes the flex out of the doors. Every one I have done the bottoms were rotted out and the doors flopped around like a fish.

Tinstaafl · 02-26-2021, 08:26 AM

Dry does put you a step ahead on a couple of fronts. First, you're much less likely to experience twisting and warping after initial assembly.

Second, the corrosive action is galvanic, which requires moisture in order to take place. I've seen aluminum wrapping on deck posts rot through in as little as six months. If everything stays dry, it's minimized--but still happens. That's well documented with ACQ, which is most likely what you used. Sealed well enough, those doors could last quite a while before you see significant corrosion, but I promise you it's happening.

Just comes down to how well you want to future-proof your repairs.

mainah · 02-27-2021, 08:12 AM

Yeah I hear you PT wood is full of copper I get that but water alone and AL don't get along very well either particularly with rotted wood. So it's damn of you do damn if you don't. Average life span of a camper trailer is 10-20 years. After 12 years on one door and 8 on another that I know of. I'm going to call it a wash.