Converting a Montana Baggage Door to a Split Door

[AndyRonLI]

My wife just banged her head pretty good on the driver side baggage door. It is the one under the bedroom slide that has struts that hold it at 90 degrees. Whacked myself a few times as well. Seeing some fifth wheels with a split door. The front half under the slid hinges forward. The rear half hinges up 180 degrees. The rear hinging up keeps it from potentially blocking the furnace. There is a youtube video showing an Alliance owner swapping that door. But Alliance has it as an option so it is a factory part. Are there any Montana/Keystone doors that are split like that? Anyone do the swap on their rig.
2019 Montanan High Country MK281
TIA
Andy

 

[Mikendebbie]

This topic came up a few months ago in this thread…

cargo door question.

I have a 2022 Montana 3231CK, I am thinking of changing my swing up cargo door on the left side to a barn door swing open. has anyone ever thought about it, or have done it. I think the new Montana's have the barn door on left side cargo bay, I`m wounding if they are the same size frame opening...

www.montanaowners.com

 

[RMcNeal]

I had considered that too. Most of my research into it came to the point that the side swinging doors generally leak, so I abandoned the idea. YMMV.

 

[Mikendebbie]

I recall a thread recently discussing “side hinged/opening” cargo doors vs. the top hinged cargo doors that most Montanas have. I learned that the hinge used for the top is called a “hurricane hinge”…kind of makes sense with the way they are used on our rigs.

As I stated in the linked thread above - you need to go to an RV dealer that sells motor homes with side hinged doors and figure out what you would have to do to your Montana to mimic the water leak management of the rough opening and the door leaf and the structural support in the jamb. I have never looked at one of those rigs to see what is different. Piano hinges were mentioned for a side hinged doors.

My solution to bumping my head on the slide out, the cargo doors and the control cabinet door located on the steps to the bedroom in my rig…learn to look up and learn to duck.

 

[Laura&Jerry]

We had the "barn door" style storage doors on 2 previous units and never again. Access to the double door is easier, but they leaked worse, the doors would not line up well over time, the door hinges weakened in these rolling earthquakes. The double doors are also easier to break into. We don't like the doors that raise up either as we have walked into them too, but they sure hold up better than the double door setup. But just like many other owners we have also bummed our heads on slides even though we know it's there. The pool noodles have saved us from needing stitches. When the storage doors are open for an extended time, we slide a piece of pool noodle over the corner of the door.

Laura Thorsell
MOC 19945

 

[AZMont]

I approached this situation differently. I just moved the mounting point of the gas cylinder brackets on each side of the door frame upwards to allow the door to open higher. My 2022 3121 RL has about 1.5 ft of clearance between the top of the door frame and the bottom of the slide. You should be able to remove the screws, have someone hold the door in the desired position, drill the new screw holes for the mounts and then re-mount the brackets.

 

[Mikendebbie]

Speaking of side hinged cargo doors…i was watching some sales videos for some 2009 Montanas…i was trying to find one that showed the slide control switches for a different current thread.

It looks like side-hinged doors were a thing - at least on the 2009 models! See screen shot below. I have no idea if the earlier models or the 2010-12 had them. I wonder why they went away from the side-hinged doors for the wet bay? I tried to blow up the screen shot to look at the hinge, and it looks to me like they used hurricane hinges.

Edit: also just saw a photo of a 2026 model…looks like the side hinge cargo doors are back…see pic #2…

 

[Carl n Susan]

I know the early 2000 - 2008 (or so) had hinged doors. Not only were they prone to leaking, there was no "hold open" device (many of us added door latches or used bungees) when windy and they tended to droop after a few years. The slide floor was still within easy head banging range even if the doors were out of the way.

The advent of the up swinging doers with struts was an improvement IMO.

 

[Majorpolk]

I moved the lower mounts for all my door struts up as far as possible just after I bought my 2021. Easy fix and no head bumping.

 

[scottandsusan]

Our 2011 has the split doors under the bed slide on the drivers side. They did initially leak. I added a foam weather strip around the perimeter and at the joint in the middle. Then added a rubber gutter over the top to stop any water that would be running down the side wall. Since then it hasn't leaked for four years we've owned it.