Magnetic Door Holder Mod

[Mr. Goodwrench]

I got fed up with the front compartment door on our 5th wheel unlatching from the standard T-bar latch and hitting me on the back of my head! For some time, I have been thinking of mounting a pair of magnets to hold this door open like the side compartment doors are. I found a pair of the same style magnets GD used at a dealers parts store and took them along on a recent trip to experiment mounting them.

I knew that I would have to shim the magnets in some way because the door and the underside of the overhang at front of trailer were not parallel so I found some plastic tapered shims I had left over from a laminate flooring project and brought them along. After some experimenting, things looked promising so I removed the T-bar latch and positioned the magnets in the same area. I tried to cover the old holes but the spacing was off pretty far so I just went for it and drilled new mounting holes.

I did mount the door magnet over the metal trim around the door so the screws would have a little more bite. I also used some silicone sealer to glue the trimmed down plastic shims together and also underneath the magnets before screwing them to the trailer. The end result works great. I will probably rework the shim pack and clean up my cuts better (I forgot a hacksaw to cut the shims and had to use a Leatherman saw blade at the campsite so shim edges are pretty rough).

These are a couple of pictures of magnets mounted.

[MoonShadow_1911]

I got fed up with the front compartment door on our 5th wheel unlatching from the standard T-bar latch and hitting me on the back of my head! For some time, I have been thinking of mounting a pair of magnets to hold this door open like the side compartment doors are. I found a pair of the same style magnets GD used at a dealers parts store and took them along on a recent trip to experiment mounting them.

I knew that I would have to shim the magnets in some way because the door and the underside of the overhang at front of trailer were not parallel so I found some plastic tapered shims I had left over from a laminate flooring project and brought them along. After some experimenting, things looked promising so I removed the T-bar latch and positioned the magnets in the same area. I tried to cover the old holes but the spacing was off pretty far so I just went for it and drilled new mounting holes.

I did mount the door magnet over the metal trim around the door so the screws would have a little more bite. I also used some silicone sealer to glue the trimmed down plastic shims together and also underneath the magnets before screwing them to the trailer. The end result works great. I will probably rework the shim pack and clean up my cuts better (I forgot a hacksaw to cut the shims and had to use a Leatherman saw blade at the campsite so shim edges are pretty rough).

These are a couple of pictures of magnets mounted.

Nice job! I might have to do that on my 320MKS!

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Keebler]

Put me into the category of those not fond of the stock T-Latch. Great idea!

[Dick Noble]

I put velcro on the T and the underside of the overhang. Keeps the T up and out of the way.