Geronimo John

JD: Thanks for the compliment.... I think??? LOL Seriously though, would it not be pretty cool to cherry pick our what must be about ten million OTT forum posts (more or less) and gather them up as a tutorial for new and potential owners? Could be a Oliver University crash course based upon all the mistakes us ROF's have already done. About 27% of the time I like not making an OOPs myself. Prefer that others do it first and I can read about it. But at times I just like to make the mistake myself.

True, but it's an Oldie but Goodie topic. Think about how many new owners we have had in the past three years. And of those, how many have not had the opportunity to understand the topic the hard way... on the side of the road. Or understanding the damage they can do by not being aware of the limitations of the Anderson or any other WDH system. So I applaud ScubaRx and others for sharing the expertise. Even with a minor "hijacking" or two on the topic line, it is a good read... especially for our newer owners.

There are more than a few thoughts expressed in this thread to cause me to pause: Mike and Carrol; I see you are towing with a "2020 Ram 2500 6.7L". Why are you even using an Anderson? Long Stride: For emergency safety chains, one of these is a great idea vs. a quick link. Along the same lines as John D's post above, damage can certainly occur when the chains are over tightened and were installed tight as well. Hence there is some that would see a benefit of having a sacrificial link in this system. For the same reason that my boat prop's don't have super high strength shear pins. Stranded: Now I'm going the opposite way from my shear pin analogy. Your statement "I bought a similar sized stainless steel coupler at Home Depot" is another pause moment for me. SS is inherently less strong than the steel ones Anderson uses. Suggest rethinking your purchase. My main intent here is that the Anderson/Oliver links properly installed and ADJUSTED (By the big nuts at the rear" should be protected by using the suggested rated quick link. Not a massive one or a weaker one. I believe this as even though our OTT frames are likely the strongest in the industry, they are aluminum. That is unique, and in my opinion likely is why a link of 2650 pounds working load was specified for our trailers. If you have maintained the quick links (I.E. they are tight), and you have damaged one, then contributing causes are most likely: They were set up with the chains too tight to begin with. Not likely if done by OTT. You were using too many threads (You over tightened the chain nuts at the rear). You were trying to go travel across a grade change beyond the system's design, or were traveling too fast when doing so as John D. also suggested. As mentioned in my above post, beyond occasional link tightness check, I occasionally do a chain tension check by standing on one of them. If it does not move, then guess what? Also if I am approaching a significant grade change, like crossing a deep ditch, I consider the stress it will put to the Anderson system and items attached to it. For severe crossings, I'll loosen the nuts. GJ

JD: It was never my intent to remove the door and disassemble it. Noor was it to look exactly like original. For those that need that level of perfection, I 100% agree with you. Let them eat cake and fully enjoy their beautiful new OEM $1600 door. My point of the video was to just say it is possible to reskin a door on an RV. Not a path likely you or I would wander down. But it is possible to do so. Hence my hint "One Way". Now that I have better clarified that my intent is to suggest laminating Edge to Edge on top of existing: With a thin white sheet of material (Likely aluminum), one could trace the existing door shape directly onto the new aluminum. Cut and paste then SS rivet or flat head screw it in place. Simple, fast, and relatively inexpensive. Only concern would be if the thin thickness of the new skin material could be absorbed by some hinge slop. When my fails, I would rather execute the reskin in place concept before spending $1600! That said, hopefully someone out there in the RV door business will offer a better more cost effective solution. Time for us is on our side... for now. 🙂

At 5:31 in the above video is one way to re-skin a trailer door. At 5:31 in the above video is one way to re-skin a trailer door. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftNdzpe6_To

$1,600 for a replacement door? That's more than insane. What's even worse is buying from the same source that provided a badly designed door. Why not in place re-laminate the interior as suggested above? Can some of our plastic guys shed some brain cells on the concept. GJ

Happy Thanksgiving!

JD: Tilt. After our Alaska trip from Houston, I would for sure use tie-down strapS. The Alaska highways were not bad, but the ones getting up there were in places were. So much so that I had to stop and aid a fellow RV traveler who had broken the frame on his trailer. Corduroy roads it is called when the logs they used to construct the road finally rot and the road sinks and rises accordingly to the individual logs used as a road base. Dishes flying and jumbled interiors for any RV driver that does not take it seriously. Thank God for John Davis drawer straps Mod! GJ

I also really like the AAV's. I have them in both our bathrooms that we redid. But swapping out the vent for an AAV in the case of our Ollie's would cause me to pause.... for three possible reasons: A. I suspect that Mr. Oliver put the stack where he did to take advantage of the venturi effect of air rising up and over the front of the trailer when on the move. Doing so in a "Low pressure area" would act as a controlled venting of the sanitary systems. Thereby presenting a clean smelling cabin upon entry at your next stop. B. AAV's are basically an air/gas version of a water check valve. Yes doing so in Ollie would allow air into the system to aid in flow. But it would not allow sewer gas to get out of the system. As "stuff" in our tanks accumulates, it degrades "passing gas". With no vent stack it WILL pressurize the system and most likely leak past the toilet flush valves or thru the "P" traps into the cabin. The result will be you and your spouse looking at each other wondering what the other ate that was disagreeable. C. I'm not a RV code guy, but the National Plumbing Code requires at least one 2" vent on every system to address this issue I suspect. GJ

Great high quality install JD! Love it! GJ

Likely they were on a fishing expedition. For a cable of course. Good luck with your effort. It appears that maybe you could add more solar there by running one of them over the exhaust fan. ??? GJ

Mike: How about sealing the cracks with 3M and running a laminate to the edges of the door, and secure it with SS screws or SS pop-rivets it to the frame. To bond to the existing, maybe use a carpentry glue in the field between the four sides of rivets. For the window area, do the same thing by removing the trim, place the laminate, replace the trim and secure. Caulk all edges. Maybe a very thin white High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) would work well. Would want it very thin.

So long as the door is structurally OK, and the cracks are on the inside: Would lamination of the door with a thin material to just hide the cracks be a solution? GJ

Craig: It appears that the inside skin is being pushed into the hinge side of the door as shown in your picture. Did the outside skin at or near this location also show a compression failure as well? GJ

Thanks Patriot. Foam core would explain the lightness of the door. From the way it cracked, I was thinking something like fake wood due to moisture intrusion. With foam core such cracking seems to be a bit unusual.