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Tutorial: So your rear barn door won't stay open?
Howdy all,
I got my patrol a few months ago and the rear small barn door was well shagged on it and wouldn't stay open on anything but the flattest level, would close and be a general pain in the backside, BUT I know have a way to fix it!
This is a pretty easy fix with only minimal tools required and about 30mins or so depending on how quick you work :D
Tools needed: Nothing special here, flat blade screw driver, 10mm socket, small extension bar and a ratchet, pair of pliers, wire strippers, pair of locking pliers and a pair of multi grips or similiar.
1st I removed the the bolts that hold the unit in, 1 is on the arm onto the body, and the other 2 are inside the door cavity (the rubber might get in the way a little so an extension bar here helps)
2nd remove the surround from the door lever, small flat blade will help to pry it out, there are a couple of lug type clips on it, I popped one end out then while holding that end out I popped the other end out, if you pop one end out then let go it has a tendency to want to go back in.
Now to remove the trim, First remove the 2 round lugs at the top of the door (this gives better access to remove the trim) Then you need to unclip the trim: I like to use the wire strippers to grab the plastic clips and lever them out, How you do it is up to you, there are 6-8 of them.
Once the trim is off you'll see some plastic over the hole cut outs in the door, Mine had aged and the glue wasn't very effective and the plastic was easy to pull back.
Now that the plastic is out of the way you can pull the whole assembly out through the inside of the door, It might be a little stuck from being bolted in but a firm tug should see it yield.
With the assembly out now all that is needed to do is to use your multi grips and bend the four metal tabs holding the cover in place back enough so you can separate the plate from the body, When you pull it apart you will see inside: 2 pieces of rubber and 2 pieces of plastic. These form the tension on the arm that keeps the door in place when you open it. All that I did here was insert a flat washer 10-12mm diameter and about 1 to 1.5mm thick on one side between the steel outer shell and the 1st rubber piece. This then makes the rubber push onto the plastic wedges harder which will compensate for the many years of wear.
Now all that is required is to push the plate down and lock the tabs back on, This is where I found the locking pliers to be useful as it held it firm while I could work on the tabs. Once re-assembled put the assembly back through the door and bolt it back up, you can reglue the plastic on the door if you wish but I just sat it back in place and put the trim back on over it. Put the door lever surround back on and enjoy the tighter door that won't close on you :smile:
