Inverting Slam Latch Door(s)???

[prndl]

I was thinking (always dangerous) that it would be more convenient if the slam latch doors on my rig would have the hinges on the bottom rather than the top.
It would make access easier from both sides of the garage.

Has anyone done this? Did it cause problems or water leaks?

[Rondo]

Makes a lot of sense BUT have you measured the top to bottom height and then measured it from the bottom of the door where the slam latches are at to the ground? I would think there is sufficient space BUT it would put extreme pressure on the hinge when hanging down. I had to have new doors put on the basement, both sides, because of delamination. Anyway, we put magnets on the door and the side of the unit on the passenger side and it works really well giving me full access to the basement on that side. Unfortunately this is not possible on the drivers side because of the bedroom slide overhead. The flipping of the door might be possible IF it will fit when down BUT I still think the hinge would not be heavy enough to support the door in the down position.

[Arkware]

Hmmmmm... dang-it, you guys have got me thinking ... (dangerous!!!)
wonder what it would take to get them to open from the side?????
Seem like that would solve several issues.

[jsb5717]

My last 5er had the hinge at the bottom of one of the doors. It worked just fine and didn't leak...but it came that way so not sure what a retro-fit might do. The only thing I had to watch out for was to NOT let the door just drop. There's a lot of torque on the hinge and could easily hyper-extend if allowed to over swing. It felt like I could wreck the hinge or pull it loose from the body of I wasn't careful.

[Renegade1LI]

Originally Posted by prndl

I was thinking (always dangerous) that it would be more convenient if the slam latch doors on my rig would have the hinges on the bottom rather than the top.
It would make access easier from both sides of the garage.

Has anyone done this? Did it cause problems or water leaks?

I recently removed all the exterior doors & frames, they all leaked, I cant see a problem reversing them. This is also a good time to check for leaks, two had slight leaks that did not show inside the compartments. I would add cable supports or struts so the weight is not on the hinge.

[prndl]

Originally Posted by Rondo

Makes a lot of sense BUT have you measured the top to bottom height and then measured it from the bottom of the door where the slam latches are at to the ground? I would think there is sufficient space BUT it would put extreme pressure on the hinge when hanging down. I had to have new doors put on the basement, both sides, because of delamination. Anyway, we put magnets on the door and the side of the unit on the passenger side and it works really well giving me full access to the basement on that side. Unfortunately this is not possible on the drivers side because of the bedroom slide overhead. The flipping of the door might be possible IF it will fit when down BUT I still think the hinge would not be heavy enough to support the door in the down position.

Aye, there's the rub. Doors are too tall and would touch the ground. I will just leave well enough alone.

[rohrmann]

I've seen some older rigs that had split doors, hinged at the front and rear, opened up sideways, and thought that would be a better option on some of these rigs.