Eagle exterior door hinge binding

[champer]

Hi all,

One of the four hinges on the exterior door of mat 2012 Eagle is binding severely. There are no exterior clues as to why this is happening: straight pin, no visible impact marks, gaps appear clean, etc. In the attached pic, the binding hinge is in position 5 from the top. Locations 1, 4, and 6 are anchors to frame, position 3 is screen door, and position 2 is topmost of door hinges and not binding. Noticed this when door started squeaking, and then soon thereafter there was visible torquing of the hinge as the door moved. This hinge is incredibly bound - hard to move with one hand even after multiple passes with wd40, lubes, graphite, etc.

The other hinges move freely with one finger! I have lightly tapped on the hinge many directions with a block of wood cushioning a 12oz hammer with no results.

Has anybody else had this problem or otherwise found a solution? Beyond the squeaking, I would not have recognized the severity with the door installed. Only once removed did the extreme binding of this single hinge become apparent.

Thanks in advance for your help. I'll call FWC next week to see if they have any thoughts.

Champer

 

[knoxswift]

My Eagle develops loud creaking every so often. Not really binding but I just spray it down with TriFlow and it is good for 4 to 6 months.

 

[champer]

Thanks, I've tried TriFlow and still applying daily but no improvement. It is really near seized up, and so little room inside the barrel that hard to imagine what is going on. Maybe corrosion inside?

 

[knoxswift]

Interesting, my best guess is rust. Maybe try some type of rust removal solution then keep up on triflo. Triflow is great if no rust has developed yet.
Only other option would be disassemble and inspect?

 

[champer]

I think the hinge pin is steel while the hinge itself is aluminum, so maybe some dissimilar metal corrosion? Mushroomed pin head top and bottom means difficult to disassemble, and riveted to door frame so removal of entire hinge would be a chore. I have sent an email to 4wc service for input and suggestions and will update this thread if I hear back.

 

[champer]

Here is what I heard back from FWC, not too helpful but at least not a common problem.

We are not sure of why this is happening either. I have seen on other camper forums of people searching for new hinges. I did a Google search with the keywords, replacement RV door hinge, and many images and sites popped up with replacement parts. You will need to measure and cross reference the sizes since we do not sell any replacement parts for the doors, with the exception of the sliding plastic door.

 

[knoxswift]

Here is what I heard back from FWC, not too helpful but at least not a common problem.

We are not sure of why this is happening either. I have seen on other camper forums of people searching for new hinges. I did a Google search with the keywords, replacement RV door hinge, and many images and sites popped up with replacement parts. You will need to measure and cross reference the sizes since we do not sell any replacement parts for the doors, with the exception of the sliding plastic door.

Very interesting.

Mine hasn't got to the point of binding. But it sounds like I need to keep up on it or I might have trouble. It also sounds like it comes as a complete unit with the door and FWC just pops it in.

I didn't realize it was mushroomed on both ends. So all I can think of is try some anti rust/corrosion compound of some sort to see if you can get it to seep in and maybe clear up some of the corrosion? I'm not in a place to look at my door. But is the Rod aluminum and the hinge steel or the other way around? Maybe heat up the rod and let it cool to make ti expand and contract to free up some of the corrosion. Or a chemical like this might work? CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor?

 

[buckland]

Try Fluid Film. It is Lanolin ...Best squeak stopper on the planet.

 

[knoxswift]

Try Fluid Film. It is Lanolin ...Best squeak stopper on the planet.

Haven't heard of this before....I'm going to check it out. Thanks.

 

[champer]

A squeak is not really the problem, it is truly binding with significant resistance. I suspect as do others that there is some corrosion on the steel pin. I have drilled a small hole top and bottom of the hinge section to the hinge pin and using those points to apply lube directly on the pin with frequent movement of the hinge. Best hope is that this will flush out any corrosion which is impinging movement.

 

[Kolockum]

I had a similar problem on my 2000 Eagle. I "lubricated" the hinge with a special type of cutting oil that has fine git built into it. The main use of this particular stuff is for fitting slides on pistol frames. You apply this then move the parts back and forth a LOT. The fine grit slowly grinds the surfaces away to allow for a small clearance. We are talking thousandths of an inch which is much tighter than our door hinges are supposed to be.

Once you get the clearance you want then you are supposed to clean the cutting fluid off and add normal oil. Though I never properly cleaned the fluid out of the hinge, I just add 0-W20 (same oil as my truck) from time to time. It worked wonders for 5 years.... until I backed into a tree and bent the whole back wall on my camper including the hinge.

 

[buckland]

That is a great possible solution. Open a beer and sit there swinging the door to do the work. Open up the clearance..

 

[champer]

I ordered some honing grit in fluid and will try this solution - thanks!