Cabin door

buggyjdav

What do you guys use to lubricate the cabin door? Mine is hard to open and close. Thanks 

Handymans342

Silicone spray

MarkB

Lithium grease but I wipe down excess so it doesn't make a mess.

andyd

Clopay garage door lubricant. It comes in a spray can with a straw. It leaves no residue. Works for me.
Andy

chamberb

My door slides REALLY hard, nearly impossible to close and latch it unless someone is standing outside and helps. I tried RV slide out dry lubricant, doesn't seem to have made a difference.

Michael T

The doors have a truck that is adjustable. I had to shave about 1/8" off min e to get it to slide. Now it slides so fast I had to put a warning sticker on the door so people wouldn't slam it. I took the 1/8" off the starboard truck. The 'truck" is a black piece of plastic under the door. I had to make a "McGuyver" saw blade to reach under and cut it after I took the screws out. Took about an hour but well worth it.

chamberb

Thanks MT! I will look for it and give that a shot.

Wildboating

Michael T said:

The doors have a truck that is adjustable. I had to shave about 1/8" off min e to get it to slide. Now it slides so fast I had to put a warning sticker on the door so people wouldn't slam it. I took the 1/8" off the starboard truck. The 'truck" is a black piece of plastic under the door. I had to make a "McGuyver" saw blade to reach under and cut it after I took the screws out. Took about an hour but well worth it.

Michael,  I need to do mine as well.  Can you snap a photo to reference the location of the "truck"?

Michael T

@Wildboating - I will see if I have some pictures, I did at one point.

I'd take some new pictures of the area but the boat was sold to an American lad a couple of weeks ago and is presently in Chicago. If I can't find one I'll ask the new owner to take a picture of the area and either post it or e.mail it to me to post.

In the meantime, this may help. If I remember correctly there were two trucks one at each end of the door. I tried to play with the height of both but couldn't get the truck on the starboard side of the door to go low enough to stop the binding. From my "playing around" it looked to me like about 1/8" off the black plastic would work.

I took a "hair" more off than I thought necessary as I thought I could always add two real thin washers (one for each screw) but cutting more plastic off would be really hard so I made it 1/8" ....of course, your door's need will probably vary.... but respectfully I suggest that you take a "hair" more off than a dead-on measurement might indicate.

There were two screws that went through a white aluminum piece on the door and they screwed into a black plastic truck or slider. I removed both of the screws and took off about 1/8" of the black plastic by bending a hack saw blade and I think at one point I had to put the blade into a pair of needle nosed vice grips to finish the cut.

I slowly worked on the black plastic. I had to take my time to avoid marring the track, which on my boat, was a white painted aluminum track. Also, I didn't want to mar the door. I think I put several pieces of masking tape around where I was cutting both on the door and the track in case I slipped.

Once I was finished I had to play with the adjustments a bit to make sure the door closed flush with the door frame. It worked great but was a real PITA to do....just because it was so time consuming and with my big hands it was hard to get at the friggin' thing LOL

I'll look through my camera chips for any pictures.

chamberb

Wow that sounds difficult.... MT, since your experienced at this now...... how about a trip to Vermont for a 12 pack?

rasbury

hmm...MT, I have the same problem with mine....first I thought it was crap in the track- you can't really remove the door unless you take the whole help apart. I was able to take out the few screws that hold the track to the bottom of the door and then slide the door off the track but never could really figure out where the bind was on the door. I have not read above in great detail (pesky work thing I have to do) but while I have your attention, if I get the track off completely and holding it in my hand, am I ahead of the game at making the adjustments? It really slides hard, the admiral grimaces every time she heads towards the door..... 

raybo3

MT on my 342 my "trucks" look like they are made out of teflon and they are white. Your telling me if I shave down the bottom truck a little bit my door will close easier?

aero3113

Mine was real stiff when I first bought it. I removed the screws holding the bottom track and haven't had an issue since.

planesailing

My 242 is really stiff as well. Have you removed the bottom white track on your 242 aero?

Michael T

Yes, guys. I could not figure a way to get that plastic/teflon/whatever that truck/slider in made of out completely to work on it and then back in safely.

As I mentioned I shaved some off in place and it was amazing.That friggin door moved so fast afterward that I had to put a note on it.

My guess is that there is a high spot on the fiberglass under the track that makes the door bind. It just got so annoying that I had to do something.

It came from the factory like that and I was cheesed-off that the door was so stiff. the Admiral could hardly shut the friggin' thing.

The dealership tech said he's fix it but I was worried that he'd really screw it up so I studied the heII out of it and did what I said above.

I just really took my time even though it was frustrating as heII and I made up some new swear words! Now the door slides like greased lightening. it was worth it in the end!

I'll try to find some pics but if you get down with a flashlight you may find the answer.

aero3113

planesailing said:

My 242 is really stiff as well. Have you removed the bottom white track on your 242 aero?

No, I just removed the screws that hold the bottom track. Once the screws were removed the track still stays in place and made the door slide like it was on ice.

chamberb

I just did this today for my door. It used to take someone inside and outside the cabin working together to close the door. I took two screws out of the bottom track. Then I held the door up so it lines up correctly with the latch. I then adjusted the "trim" piece that runs along the bottom of the door that has slotted channels for the screws that hold it in place.  Now the latch actually lines up and opens and closes easily. Thanks everyone for the information. 

rasbury

Wow, sounds like someone could make a living going around fixing these doors,surprised there are so many and has not come up before. I'm not sure my 270 has the same roller type- I have a ball at each end of the door that rides in a track as I recall... aluminum and nothing to shave off- it sure needs a look as it is a sore spot. The tracks up under the helm on the top are not all the way down but no way to get to those screws. The cross section of the boat is not flat so your sliding on a slight curve. Fortunately the door does not move far but not a good design..

chamberb

I tried RV "slideout dry lube" first, no noticeable difference. Taking the screws out of the track stopped it from binding, and raising the door using the trim adjustment screws helped it line up properly. I can actually close it from the inside now!

rasbury

I have to take another look at this. I don't recall ant type of adjustment screws...had it all apart...

chamberb

The screws I call adjustment screws only adjust the door height, there is a piece of trim that runs along the bottom like a sweep across a storm door... the trim is slotted where the screws go through and you can set the door any height you want then tighten the screws to hold the door up at that height. Clear as mud?