New Hawk door questions

[jdavis]

Hello!
After a 284 day wait I finally took delivery of my 2022 Hawk today! The camper looks amazing and was well worth the wait.

After a more thorough inspection at home I have noticed two issues with the door and wanted to see if this is normal. In the top passenger side area of the door I noticed light coming through the seal. The bottom of the door seals fine, but the top not so much. In the photo below you can see light between the seal and the door frame. Is this normal?

Lastly I noticed there is a dent right where the dead blot is, as if maybe someone attempted to pry the door open. Is this normal?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[AWG_Pics]

Interesting. When we took delivery of out December 2019 Hawk, I noticed exactly the little dent near the door locking bolt. After about 6 months road time of use, it has not been any issue. As for the gap with some daylight -- no, nothing like that. Though I would likely grasp the open door at the top, brace my foot at the bottom, and give it a bit of a pull, very small. If that did not improve the seal, I would give it just a bit more pull. Door is probably slightly warped.

 

[geologyjohn]

When I took direct delivery from the factory in 2017, my Hawk had (and still has), the exact same pry mark on the door at the deadbolt. And I have heard of others posting this same observation on this forum over the past few years.

 

[veryactivelife]

The fit of the door can be affected by the tension of the turnbuckles. There’s a fair amount of flex in the camper frame.

Dean

 

[jdavis]

I contacted Brenda at FWC. She looked at a Hawk Shell they had on hand and said its door had a similar gap. She is going to send me some weather stripping and we will see how that works.

 

[Beach]

Looks as if the door or door frame is distorted/warped and it will most likely leak in a good rain storm. My 2 cents; The extra weather stripping is only a band aid solution, I would inquire about replacing the complete assy. (Under warranty?)

 

[UncleDougie]

JDAVIS - Thanks for this posts. I'm still about 80-90 days out from delivery of my Hawk. This will be one of the first things I review during my walk through.

QUESTION - Is your Hawk a slide in or flatbed model?

 

[patrkbukly]

The fit of the door can be affected by the tension of the turnbuckles. There’s a fair amount of flex in the camper frame.

Dean

Interesting point Dean. I had not realized this.

When I got my new Granby there was a small amount of light coming in on the left upper corner where the door frame and the wall of the camper met. I caulked it all the way around and never saw light again. I would imagine from a water and air penetration point it culd not have been good but I just wrote it off as a slightly sloppy assembly, fixed it and never looked back.

 

[jdavis]

JDAVIS - Thanks for this posts. I'm still about 80-90 days out from delivery of my Hawk. This will be one of the first things I review during my walk through.

QUESTION - Is your Hawk a slide in or flatbed model?

Its a slide in

 

[jdavis]

Looks as if the door or door frame is distorted/warped and it will most likely leak in a good rain storm. My 2 cents; The extra weather stripping is only a band aid solution, I would inquire about replacing the complete assy. (Under warranty?)

Yeah, you're right. I'll add the weather strip they send me, then start trying to get a new door. The FWC dealer here in WI does not do service, and I dont want any other random dealer "Servicing" my camper. I'll see if I can get them to send me a new door. If I go that route I think maybe I should wait a bit. If all the doors they have are tweaked now they would probably send me another tweaked door.

 

[bwag]

As far as the dent in the frame, I’ve hung a jacket above my door, closed the door and had a button get in between the aluminum lip and the door causing a dent just like that. I just pushed it back with my hands. Pretty easy to deform that piece.

 

[geologyjohn]

Like the description in post #1, my door frame also had the “pry mark” from the get-go (I bought my Camper new from the factory). If this damage was “caused by flex in the camper frame” (post #4), and I’m not saying that it wasn’t, then what is the point in replacing the door or door frame? The damage is just going to re-occur again in the course of dispersed camping.
I will say that a close examination of the “pry mark” reveals no actual scratch marks, as would be expected if someone really tried to break in to the camper with a screw driver or pry bar.

 

[geologyjohn]

Alright, I’m going to retract the last sentence in my previous posts. I just opened my camper door and took another look. There most certainly ARE pry marks at the bend adjacent to the dead bolt.

 

[Regular Guy]

My new Hawk has the same "pry mark" but my door has a good seal all the way around. After reading these posts I'm thinking it must be caused by something different than someone trying to pry the door open.

Speaking of doors, I intermittently have a problem with my screen door latching against the frame when it is connected to the solid door. As a result the doors stick when you try to open them until one or both of the screen door latches pop. Usually leaving the screen door ajar and detached from the solid door. I've tried tightening and adjusting with some luck but then it happens again. It could be warm weather related. Not happening now but I'm wondering if others have experienced this.

 

[PaulT]

That metal deformation may be a side effect of manufacturing. Perhaps, in holding the deadbolt lock tight to the door during installation, the metal is bent. Aluminum is a relatively malleable metal. Other parts of the door and door frame on my Hawk have bends from my carelessness in carrying some object through the door.

If it is a concern, clamp the bent area between two pieces of one by wood and squeeze the wood-metal-wood sandwich with some pliers, not unlike discussed in several threads here on reshaping the roof after an attempt to lift roof with a latch still closed.

It seems to be a cosmetic rather than a functional issue.

Paul

 

[sdu]

My new Hawk has the same "pry mark" but my door has a good seal all the way around. After reading these posts I'm thinking it must be caused by something different than someone trying to pry the door open.

Speaking of doors, I intermittently have a problem with my screen door latching against the frame when it is connected to the solid door. As a result the doors stick when you try to open them until one or both of the screen door latches pop. Usually leaving the screen door ajar and detached from the solid door. I've tried tightening and adjusting with some luck but then it happens again. It could be warm weather related. Not happening now but I'm wondering if others have experienced this.

I'd had the same issue. Took it back to the dealer and it turned out that my door was missing a piece underneath the outer end that allows the door to rest on the sill. The door was sagging because of that. The dealer put that piece in and did some adjustment and the problem never came back.