My parents bought a camper trailer almost 25 years ago. They still use it but it has been falling apart for quite some time now.
Dad repairs what he can (which is most things), but the fold-down door he couldnt repair because it requires a special sort of flat (or flush) rivet of some sort so that when opening and closing the door it doesnt rub against anything. We decided to build our own solution using some steel dowel rod, washer and the MIG welder; the results of which are in the pictures below.
Sorry about the lack of proper pictures. If you are interested in how this was done (perhaps you have the same Coleman camper trailer. If so, then you will undoubtedly run in to this problem sooner or later) let me know and I can take more pictures.
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- The door needed to be welded first. The corner was originall riveted together and the rivets broke
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- Clamping down and getting the angle 90degrees
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- Original bracing broke off (it was only spot welded)
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- After preparing the door we welded the brace back in place
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- Much more solid now
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- This is where the door goes once completed
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- Half of the original ‘hinge’
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- Other side
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- Preparing the other half of the ‘hinge’
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- We originally tried to do all the preparation without removing the whole ‘hinge’. But this didnt work too well for us, so had to remove it all and complete the job in the workshop
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- Looks terrible! We had to remove this and do it properly in the workshop
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- We used a large washer first, bad idea. It rubbed against the door when closing it
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- Door wont close
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- Ah! Much better. The ‘hinge’ completed. The new dowel is much stronger than the factory one.
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- Works like a charm!
June 7, 2016 at 5:45 am
I think little repairs like this for the caravan are going to happen. I think it is great that you know how to fix them because I would love to be able to do that. I probably would have a repairman come and take care of the problems.
June 9, 2016 at 10:17 am
Thanks Charles. It’s not the nicest looking repairs, but it works and it strong. 🙂