Replacement side door options

[700renegade]

I had a colorfull maiden voyage last weekend in a '94 Newmar Kountry Star MH.  First MH I've ever owned.

A number of mechanical issues the prior owner never thought to bring to my attention became apparent on the 900 mile trip home with it ( mostly minor stuff like cruise and delay wipers not working, dash heater control not right, etc ).

The crowning glory was when the side door exploded off into the ditch into a million pieces right in front of my 14-yr old's eyes ( mine too, as much as I could watch over my shoulder at 70mph fighting rain and heavy cross-winds ).  In reconstructing the event, I'm sure what happened is the leading edge of the fiberglass skin was loose ( I can see D.I.Y. silicone sealer smeared on the metal door frame ), and it began to catch the wind on the leading edge.  Eventually enough of it became loose to grab the wind and pull itself, the styroafoam guts, and the innner FRP panel right out of the aluminum frame in about 1 sec flat.

So now that we have that little memory to look back on, its time to find a way to fix this darn thing.

I assume that ordering one up from the manufacturer is going to be a costly event.  Are these things available from aftermarket suppliers ( I guess EVERYTHING is 'aftermarket' when it comes to a motorhome )?  In doing some web searches about all I found were doors meant for travel trailers and the like.  Are there specialty shops that can take the frame I have ( with a wee bit of straightening ) and insert a new fiberglass 'sandwich' and window into it?  Matching paint and decals will be a body shop and lettering/decal shop job I assume.

 

[geodrake]

What a terrible introduction into RVing.  We had a similar, although not quite so drastic, occurrence on our first MH.  We had purchased an older MH to see how we liked it prior to soaking a lot of money into it.  On our first outing it rained and we had multiple leaks.  It was so bad that when the rain stopped we headed for the nearest RV dealer to trade it off thinking that a trade in was the only way to get rid of it.  Once we realized the cost associated with a trade we came to out senses.  A bit of roof repair material and a little work the leaks were fixed and we came to enjoy the unit.

We too had door problems.  Seems several previous owners had attempted repair with spit and duct tape.  By drilling out holes, re-tapping and utilizing oversize bolts, that to was solved.

I truly believe RVs, especially MHs are tinker toys.  But, if you can do the tinkering yourself, and maybe find a bit of pleasure in it, it aint all that bad!

  An RV salvage yard may be your best bet.  Do a search and you should locate a few.

At any rate, you have come to the right place for answers.  Collectively, we have a tremendous amount of experience and a strong desire to assist other RVers.  We also enjoy just chatting and have many discussions.  Please join any that interest you.

Welcome to The RV Forum.  We are pleased that you have joined us.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

If your door frame is aluminium and mostly intact, then why mess with fiberglas when a very good job can be had with aluminium sheet and rivets. Some .040 T6 covering and foam insulation within the door and your good to go with a little paint.>>>Dan

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A good RV body shop ought to be able to do it. They can get a local shop to fabricate a metal or fiberglass door panels for it. Larger industrial cities usually have shops capable of that sort of thing.

A better solution would be to find one at a RV salvage yard if you can. Click on the RESOURCES button and view the list and one entry if for a list of RV parts and salvage places.

You can prtty well forget getting a door for a 94 from Newmar. They don't keep parts around for out-of-production models, not even for the 10 years that car manufacturers are required to do.

 

[topdownman]

FWIW, you can probably order a replacement door from the manufacturer.  I had the misfortune of trashing one of the basement doors on my 95 Holiday Rambler.  Holiday Rambler built me a new door to specs and I had it painted to match.  You can't tell the new door from the old ones.  I think the door cost me around $300 and another $100 or so for the paint.

 

[clydedoerr]

My question is why were you driving 70MPH in rain and hard blowing crosswinds?  Please stay off the road when I'm on there.

 

[700renegade]

If the wind was going 70mph instead of the MH, I'd probably have pulled over. 

If I can only drive this thing on sunny, still days I might as well put up the 'For Sale' signs.  Gonna be quite a few years before I have so much time on my hands I can wait out the weather.  I've had much bigger problems pulling enclosed snowmobile trailers in blizzards before than the MH ever exhibited.  Been driving since dad put me on a John Deere B at age 6 crimping hay by myself.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You are probably going to want to get used to driving a motorhome slower than your car. If nothing else, fuel economy will improve dramatically even if you just hold to 62-65..