Cabin door warped?? Can it be fixed?

The furniture slider helped but was not perfect. The slider did wear a little so it is not something I would want to make permanent. Part of the adhesion issue is that it sits on a channel ridge that is curved on the top and gives maybe .5 - .75 inch surface area max. This top area is also not fully accessible with cabin door in place as even open it overhangs this area.

-Kevin
 
Accessible... yeah, you sort of have to slip it in there. I think the sliders may also present a greater chance of scratching the door, over time. The wheel may, as well, but probably less likely.

If you're feeling ambitious, it would probably be a good idea to thru-bolt the wheel. 'Course, you'd have to at least partly dismantle the cabin trim to do that. I can imagine that the pressure (although slight, there's a leverage action) and vibration of the door acting on the wheel would loosen the screws. You could always re-tighten them, but the hole is also going to start to enlarge from this. If you stick with screws, use some adhesive sealant on the threads - that should help.
 
Fixed...
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I was imagining a bigger wheel. That size looks great. Now... take it back off and paint it to blend in! ;)
 
This was pretty much a prototype. I'll take it off and re weld it up and paint it. Gonna try it for a bit before I do that.
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Any reason for not just using the wheel bracket? I would have thought a big screw through the center (carrying the load) and small ones top and bottom (to keep position) would have worked.

-Kevin
 
KevinC said:
Any reason for not just using the wheel bracket? I would have thought a big screw through the center (carrying the load) and small ones top and bottom (to keep position) would have worked.

-Kevin
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The wheel bracket alone wouldn't be strong enough. I ended up using an additional mounting plate from another wheel setup also, welding them together. There is A LOT of force on that wheel. The more support on top of the bracket the better. I wanted to keep the bracket secure with the 3 on top so it wouldn't bend.
 
Newbie here with an 03 320 Sundancer. Same issue with warped door. Ended up taking door off ( wasn’t too hard, just heavy) and raising up both bottom and top rails. Now for the funny part: after I reinstalled everything the door slid much easier, until I closed it. The latch locked, and wouldn’t reopen. Ugh!?! Finally pried it open, and was going to move up the latch catch (the one not on the door) and noticed that this fix had been tried once before as the latch catch had been moved up 1/4 inch already. After I moved it up another 1/4 all was good (kinda). Sure wish there was a better solution to un-warp the door!
 
You know I just spent the last 15 years with the “truck” issue that plagued the step through windshield door on the 280 DA. I was so happy to have bought my new to me 320 DA thinking my door problems had left me. Know I read this entire post cover to cover and all I could think was... what the heck with these doors????
 
I don't know if either of these points affect you but you might consider:

Most of you with cabin entry door fit/deflection problems seem to be in the North. I you are working to solve this problem, how are your boats stored if they are out of the water? Even if they are properly blocked, boats will deflect when they are not supported on their own bottom in the water. This can affect how doors fit to the point that they may not close and may not fit the opening. We haul out every winter for hull detailing and any bottom maintenance needed and I have to leave my transom door, cabin entry door and all interior doors open or they cannot be opened until the boat is back in the water.


Your doors are probably made of Polycarbonate. In a previous existance, I owned a company that made semi-automatic sewing equipment for the apparel assembly. Fabrics are limp and very difficult to pick up and align to be assembled in a cost effective manner. However, once aligned, guiding 2 or 3 dissimilar shapes is pretty easy. To avoid the high cost of auto pick-up devices, on most equipment we had an operator pick up the pieces and align them to the needle and hit a go-button. That meant we had to have guards in place to protect the operator. We used a clear polycarbonate sheet and bent it into the needed shape using heat. The parts were small and easily heated and manipulated. however, we had a very high failure rate on the clear guards because heating Polycarbonate sheet is very tricky. There is a very small difference between the point when the Polycarbonate becomes plyable and where it loses its "memory" and begins to droop. Then, a few degrees higher and the sheet material will begin to bubble and burn. If you can heat the sheet in a mold, take it to its memory point but no higher, hold that shape and cool it, it is controllable and you can get a good result. Unless you have some sort of a mold or jig, be very careful about applying heat to the cabin entry doors.

For what it is worth...............
 
I have never had a issue with mine. But if I did I would bite the bullet and get a new one.
I think it would effect resale if not properly addressed. They are very expensive but a drop in the bucket compared to the total investment. Just my personal opinion.
 
Craig said:
I have never had a issue with mine. But if I did I would bite the bullet and get a new one.
I think it would effect resale if not properly addressed. They are very expensive but a drop in the bucket compared to the total investment. Just my personal opinion.
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I'll hold off on the $1600 for now. Just figured out my taxes this year and looks like I owe $7000 with this new wonderful tax plan .....Don't even want to get into it!!
 
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So I got the door out. I ordered both top and bottom tracks with wheels and going to replace soon. The door was easy to get out. I really would like to find someone that could possibly get the warp out. Does anyone have an idea what kind of company would be able to do this?
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I think I would try a piece of angle or something rigid with some type of fulcrum in the middle to deflect it upward when clamped on both sides. Heat it pretty warm
With a heat gun before applying pressure and then let cool. I'm just guessing that heat and time are the culprit for this. The new track and rollers will probably help.Tough one.
 
Craig said:
I think I would try a piece of angle or something rigid with some type of fulcrum in the middle to deflect it upward when clamped on both sides. Heat it pretty warm
With a heat gun before applying pressure and then let cool. I'm just guessing that heat and time are the culprit for this. The new track and rollers will probably help.Tough one.
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It would be a $1700 mistake if I messed up. lol.. Trying to see if someone did it.
 
I think if you are careful it wouldn't come out any worse than now. Just enough heat like a hot summer day all closes up. I'm trying to imagine a process that could form that stuff cold.
 
Craig said:
I think if you are careful it wouldn't come out any worse than now. Just enough heat like a hot summer day all closes up. I'm trying to imagine a process that could form that stuff cold.
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Don't know..Could it be something like this?
 
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