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Hi all my caravan main door has a gap at the bottom which you can see daylight through , looks like the door has become slightly bent over the years , any idea's how to fix this ? is it just a case of bending it back or is there something else i could do , also have a slight gap at the top as well .

atb

Wizard

My caravan had a gap at the hinge side of the door where the bottom half of the stable door had dropped.

It went for its annual service this week and the chap said they had bent it back as best as they could but that "aluminium won't bend back to where it was before".

Doors will bend back, done enough cars but alloy and wood has more spring than steel so it has to go a lot further than you want it before it comes right, The hard part is having the bottle to do it and stopping before any damage is done. First though make sure the hinges are good and the rubber seal has not gone out of shape.

I put my foot against the bottom of the stable door and pull the top out,  I start with a bit and see what that does, then a bit more until I can see it having an effect. At this point you have found the amount of spring in the door and how far it needs to go to bend it. Using this as the starting point hopefully you can then give it enough pull, (still bits at a time), until it comes straight.

Hope that makes sense but remember, all the time you are pulling watch what the rest of the door is doing.

We had the same gap at the bottom of the door, but with ours it turned out to be the frame that had 'moved' a few millimetres. Just curious, as it is just a few screws holding most doors on, would it not be better to work out which part of the door needs bending and where, then take it off and do it over a workbench or up against a wall or something, to save putting unnecessary strain on the door frame itself?

We managed to move the frame slightly back on ours with a little persuasion, but cured the problem completely by a simple sticky foam draught strip from B&Q, which not only made the door draught (and gap) proof, but also made the door close more quietly, which is nice.

Are the hinges ajustable ..... slacken them off, till you have even gap - then tighten into place

Is the door seal still there

Hi Grub , i have a look tomorrow and get a straight edge on the door / frame to see what's bent , but i'm pretty sure the door is bent and not the frame .

Gary great info thanks , will post again when i've double checked what's bent .

atb

Wizard

Hi Cas , i've already had a go with the hinges but there the non adjustable type doh.

atb

Wizard

Hi all , well had a go at bending the door yesterday , although the door at first bends it soon becomes stiffer and you have to but a bit of brut force into it . My door did bend after a few goes at it , and the gap at the top / bottom is almost gone , but i got to the point where i thought i'd put a big crease in the door skin if i carried on , so seeing the gaps closed up a fair bit , i left it at that .

Thanks for the idea's and advice

atb

Wizard