head banger door

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by RETCHIEF

I took our door off. Some take the "I'm smarter" view and say close the door, but many have an issue. If it wasn't a problem it wouldn't be posted. No need to talk down to people. It is a safety design flaw to put an obstacle at head level and then ignore the problem.

Very well said sir! The "just close the door" crowd most likely have issues of their own that others could ridicule. And they should keep in mind not all models have the exact same layout.

On our 381TH this door was exactly at head height right at the entry door (directly in your walking path). It could not have been designed any better to be a head banger. Most people will be looking down at the steps as they enter, your head is moving upwards as you enter and having something sharp above your head is poor engineering. In industry, one of the first things we look for is a way to ENGINEER our way out of a safety issue. We are constantly looking for ways to engineer overhead obstacles out of existence. IF there was a way to engineer out sharp corners on slide outs would you be in favor of that??? You know like not putting controls under slide outs or something?

In my case, I simply reversed the OEM hinges to the opposite side such that the door opens inside the trailer rather than out towards the entry way. Once I am inside the trailer, I am looking up and the door when open in the opposite direction is not directly in a walking path. It took all of about 15 minutes including measuring for accuracy. The door looks it was factory installed that way.

if someone at KEYSTONE IS MONITORING this thread: PLEASE GET UP FROM YOUR DESK AND WALK DOWN TO THE FACTORY FLOOR AND TELL THE LINE WORKERS TO SIMPLY FLIP THE HINGES ON THE DOORS SO THEY OPEN THE OTHER WAY. PEOPLE ARE HITTING THEIR HEADS ON THE SHARP CORNERS! Problem solved in all of about 10 minutes!!!!!!!!! It won't cost you a dime in additional labor or materials!!

[Theunz]

I know this is an old subject, but like mentioned before a simple bungee cord does the job. On mine I only needed one eye screw. By the way, if you want the door to stay open then you just go past 90* and it will do so. Anything less than 90* and it will self close.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Theunz

I know this is an old subject, but like mentioned before a simple bungee cord does the job. On mine I only needed one eye screw. By the way, if you want the door to stay open then you just go past 90* and it will do so. Anything less than 90* and it will self close.

I would have just done this (although reversing the hinges to other side isn't much more work) BUT there are lots of times when we have the door open for extended time frames (like when we are watching fresh water tank levels).

But like I said in past posts the RIGHT fix is for Keystone to step up and engineer the issue away. Which takes a manager/engineer walking down to the assembly floor and telling the workers to make the door open in the opposite direction. This is such a simple fix that if Keystone doesn't do it I am very ashamed of them!!!! It may not be an issue for some of you but it is for enough folks it should get their attention!


They like to brag that the engineers use the campers. If that is true and they did not catch this issue then they are well maybe I better not say it. For sure they should be required to hitch it up, tow it and set it up then spend at least a week in it. Some things that are minor issues become a lot bigger aggravation when you become full time. You can ignore something once or twice but when your in a unit full time....