# Door Catch



## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Folks,

Last week my daughter broke that lame door holder. The one with the plastic elbow which holds the door open half way. She broke the holder not the elbow just by yanking on it. 3 1/2 year old so not much of a yank I'm afraid.

Don't want to order another cheap plastic replacement so what are some mods that folks have done short of using the bunjee cord.

Many Thanks,
Mike


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## Grunt0311 (Aug 23, 2005)

NJMikeC said:


> Folks,
> 
> Last week my daughter broke that lame door holder. The one with the plastic elbow which holds the door open half way. She broke the holder not the elbow just by yanking on it. 3 1/2 year old so not much of a yank I'm afraid.
> 
> ...


Mike I am not so sure I understand what you are talking about







?? You had me until you said holds the door open "half way". Otherwise I would have thought you were talking about the holder that keeps the outer door from closing in the wind. Can we get a little clarification and maybe I can help?

Thanks
Bill


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## mjatalley (Feb 2, 2006)

I thought our door holder was too long also - we just found one with a shorter arm and replaced it. It is still plastic - but gets the door closer to the camper and out of the way a little more.


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## Grunt0311 (Aug 23, 2005)

Ahh, starting to make sense now. On the 23RS, the door holder is short, keeping the door within a couple of inches of the side of the trailer when open. I would suggest getting another one, or fabricating one somehow out of a dowel or something.

Good luck!
Bill


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Well, it's obvious... the holder was 'lame'
I'm sure if you find a healthy one...









But seriously... Are we talking about the catch that holds the door open against the side of the Outback? If so, I would think it would be pretty tough to break one that did not have a flaw already. My kids have tugged pretty hard on our door with it connected, and never a problem.









Now, if your talking about the latch that holds the screen door to the main door. That thing is a piece of...

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## TrainRiders (Jan 10, 2006)

I'll chime in with a "me too".

My 5yo son closed the door when the plastic elbow catch was engaged and broke the elbow piece. Before it broke, it only held the door open halfway which would put a lot of strain on the elbow in a strong wind or strong kid as the case may be. I suspect that the catch on the 21RS doesn't allow the door to be opened all the way against the TT wall to allow the door to be latched open when the awning is deployed. The door hits the angled awning support when the awning is extended.

I'm looking for solutions for holding the door open all the way when the awning is not extended (or extended w/o using the angled supports) and a way to hold the door open halfway when the awning is out. I think I'll get a piece of foam to put on the awning support to keep it from denting the door.


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Folks,

Yes that little plastic elbow that holds the entire door halfway open. The elbow didn't break but the holder did. I am really surprised that this hasn't been an issue unless they just recently changed the part to plastic. It really must be cheap my 3 1/2 year old daughter is extremely dainty. I suppose I could make another one out of wood but I'll keep thinking it through. Think over time it will be a good mod.


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## Highlander96 (Mar 1, 2005)

IS it the holder at the unit or the door? My kids and my FIL have both yanked pretty hard on both of our Outbacks. You may want to give the plastic the benefit of the doubt an dtry a new one....

Just my $.02

Happy Outbacking,

Tim


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## Reggie44 (Aug 12, 2005)

We had this problem on our 21rs. It was the screws in the door. they were not anchored properly. They just punched thru the skin with no support. I see your unit is an 2006. I tshould be under warranty, take it back and get them to strenghten/anchor it properly. JR


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

I've been thinking about this, and I think the issue is similar to the 'variable' awning placements we are seeing. I doubt that your 'T' handles are any longer than ours, I suspect it is just where they are mounted.

Ours are mounted very close to the open end of the door. As such, they hold the door fully open. The more the handle is mounted towards the center of the door, the less of an opening it will hold the door at. There would also be two additional consequences to such a mounting...

First, it would require a progressively larger bend in the handle in order to engage it in the door socket. This will put additional strain and fatigue on the handle, leading to premature failure.

The second issue, is that as the handle is mounted more towards the hinge side of the door - and away from the open side - the lever arm acting on it increases substantially. In other words, a ten pound pull on the door, with a handle mounted near the center of the door, will do a lot more damage, than a ten pound pull on a door, with the handle mounted near the outer edge.

Assuming this is correct, the answer may be just to relocate the handle to a location further out the door.

Just a thought.









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

Mike,

I think I know EXACTLY what happened to you. I have the same model, 21RS.

My Outback has a latch holder that is in the shape of an "L". It is plastic and has a knob shape on each end of the "L". One end of the "L" is in a permanent hold mounted on the trailer, The other end "latches" ( very loosely worded) onto a catch mounted to the door of the trailer.

This "L" is plastic, and not very strong. When engaged to the catch, it will hold the door open at appx 90 degrees from the trailer.

What we have found is that it can only be used if there is ABSOLUTELY no wind. Even a 5 knot breeze causes the door to swing back in forth, thus compressing and extending the plastic "L".

The reasoning behind this set up is to keep the door from striking the awning arm when the awning is extended. Doesn't work. Any wind still causes the door to bang against the awning arm.

I am sure this is an issue with all Outbacks with this set up. The reg flag warning to me was during the PDI we found this piece broken, which they gladly replaced. My guess is they replace a lot of them.

I have thought about solutions, but have not come up with a viable one yet. In the meantime, we just keep the door closed.

Dan


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## hartmri (Apr 12, 2006)

Same issue happened to us on our first outing with the new 06 21RS. It wasn't a 3 1/2 year old but a 12 year old... Seems like a poor design, but there doesn't seem to be many obvious fixes since the awning arm is definitely in the way. So, I just wrapped a towel around the awing arm when extended this last weekend so when the wind caught the door it didn't mark it up - luckily we were facing the right way with the wind.


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## gone campin (Jan 29, 2006)

NJMikeC said:


> Folks,
> 
> Last week my daughter broke that lame door holder. The one with the plastic elbow which holds the door open half way. She broke the holder not the elbow just by yanking on it. 3 1/2 year old so not much of a yank I'm afraid.
> 
> ...


You can buy a metal "L" door holder at the RV store if you do not want plastic.

Linda


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## imabeachbum (Mar 24, 2006)

This was the first misfire I ran into with my new 21RS. First day home, the plastic elbow broke, no sooner than I got done replacing it, literally just tightened the last screw (on a slightly breezy day) it snapped again.  Now I use a spring to attach to the lip of the door and to the latch for the hot water heater compartment with the awning up - awning down I attach it to one of the lower holes in the awning bar and again to the lip of the door with a piece of foam wrapped and held in place with a velcro strap


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## outbackgeorgia (Jan 28, 2004)

Yup,

Not really a good design.
I replaced it with a big spring that also prevents me from breaking it when I try to close the door before I release the holder.
It holds great in all wind conditions.
It is really bigger than I thought I would need, about 1 inch in diameter.

Outbackgeorgia


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

Beach Bum, 3 Lees and others thanks for the input,

My holder on the trailer broke. It is pretty obvious that the elbow and holder can hold the weight of the door but not any additional load from wind or even 3 1/2 year old daughter. Hence I'm not interested in the efforts to replace it from Outback if it is just the same plastic part.

Springs or Bunjee's should work while I think up something else.

Thanks again


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## Scooter (May 9, 2005)

Ours broke last year as well. Broke right at elbow. Bought replacement over winter. It is on my list of to-do's this weekend. Wen I have some time I'm going to FAB one out of metal this summer. Cheapest component on the trailer (actually a toss up with the screen door latch).


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Guess I've been lucky so far...2 doors on our Outback, and both plastic latches are in prefect condition.


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