Basement door hinge failure on 2022 4081

[Rustymayes]

Oh!!! By the way, I personally think the design of the hinge is a superior design, it is a shame no one caught the manufacturing problem.

Indeed, my only complaint is the composite bushing, a formed nylon pressed into an aluminum shell with either machined or stamped grooves for snap rings. It is hard to believe that a solid bronze flange bushing could not be made and assembled on the hinge a hell of a lot cheaper and be much more reliable.
@Joe Goodxrvn, if I had a C&C lathe, I might be tempted but I have a old analog machine in the back of the hangar that is great for quick little custom work but not for manufacturing. I only made the two bushing so far. Next week I will be doing the rest of them and I will see just how efficient I can be. I am happy to talk to anyone who might want a set made. Also I may be able to source bushings with the exact ODs.
Cheers
Rusty

 

[JRS]

My wet bay door hinge recently did the same thing. I used plain wire and twisted it on the groove where the snap ring goes. Been good for a month now of full timing. Not sure I'm going to replace the ring now.....

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

Same problem with one of my new 2023 Newmarket New Aire baggage doors (although it should be an issue with all). The diameter of the holes in the hinge are so large that they barely rest on top of the spring loaded retaining rings. Put enough down pressure on the door or hit a pothole hard enough the rings flex and goes right through the hinge holes, dropping the door several inches. The rings don't even pop off or out of place, almost like a magic trick.

I ended up disassembling the hinges on that door and inserting washers with smaller diameter holes between the hinge and the retaining rings. So far so good... I should go do them all, but other projects have had higher priority.

Best,
-Mark

 

[Headhunter]

It’s funny when I was buying my coach the salesman literally hung on to an open bay door with all his weight and feet off the ground. All 200 + plus pounds of him. To show me the strength of the doors. I though it was really funny. But I guess not so funny when your bay door fails. He even does it in a sales video on line for Stoltzfus Tiffin RVs.

HH

 

[Kevin D Pem]

It’s funny when I was buying my coach the salesman literally hung on to an open bay door with all his weight and feet off the ground. All 200 + plus pounds of him. To show me the strength of the doors. I though it was really funny. But I guess not so funny when your bay door fails. He even does it in a sales video on line for Stoltzfus Tiffin RVs.

HH

Now that was a good salesmen!!! The see, I don't care what you've been told, our doors are great!!! Or look over there, no issues here! Wonder what that tells you! I have always looked for the trap door.

The bushing design is great, the quality of hinge is the problem. Bearing/bushings require slip to press fit to stay in place. I like the washer fix! Even still, a close tolerance fit in the washers hole is ideal.

 

[Kenwerner]

The more I get to know this rig and really see what I bought for .5 Million dollars US, the more disappointed I am. Many things are coming up that I would expect in a mass produced lower to mid range brand but the mighty Newmar? I thought I was buying a well engineered coach from the chassis to the furnishings. Clearly these are made from off the shelf parts everyone else buys from China and assembled by overworked and under paid assembly line workers. Here is another example of piss poor execution.
The basement door hinges are sturdy, I will say that but the other day I opened one of the right-side doors and Bang!, when it opened to the stop the door fell three inches! It turns out the door is held vertically in place on the hinge by a couple of very small, Too Fricking small, snap rings. There are two aluminum bushings that serve as hinge bearings which is a good plan indeed. The issue is that the weight of the door is supported by two little 5/8 inch ID X 1/16 inch thick outside snap rings, The snap rings popped out of their respective groves so the door just dropped and was caught by a cotter pin at the bottom end of the hinge bracket rod. See attached Pic.View attachment 19526View attachment 19527
I had to buy a snap ring plier set that was small enough to work, lift the door back into place and re install the cheesy little snap rings on Friday before the trip we took up to Alexander Valley wine country for the weekend. I thought maybe only either the top or bottom snap ring may have been engaged during assembly and rigging so it finally failed.
I made certain both were as secure as designed. This morning when I opened the door to load up to go home, BANG! The door dropped again!! Luckily I added my pliers to my tool kit that I carry in the coach.
I will be calling Newmar to see if there is an improved hinge retaining mechanism. If not, I will machine new hinge bushings that will have a sheer and jam nut in place of the crappy snap ring. I will post my fix and who knows? I may produce them and sell as an after market fix.
I noticed also that another one of my fender skirts was flopping around when I got home. The shitty cheap self tapping screws that the assemblers used backed out and fell off. I will now be replacing all of that hardware with proper nuts and bolts with locking nuts.
Again, I expect this from a $150,000 coach but not a half and million dollar machine.
Rusty Mayes

 

[gburgman]

Ok. I came up with a permanent and elegant solution to the snap ring hinge issue. I found some Oil Lite flanged bushings at McMaster Carr. The machined flanges will carry the load of the door and the bronze bushing will last forever and a day. Unfortunately, the closest I could find were 5/8 OD which is .016 bigger than the boss in the hinge. I had to chuck them up in my lathe and turn them down to fit. I also had to add a couple of 3/8 flat washers to shim the door the perfect resting position. The door is at least 50 percent
more stable with the tighter tolerances.


View attachment 19588
3/8 washer on each end of the plastic spacer to shim the door.
View attachment 19589

View attachment 19590
My set up to turn the bushings down. A 3/8 bolt long enough chuck up. This could be done in a drill press and a use a file to shave down the bronze if you are careful.

View attachment 19591
This fix will end up costing me less than ten bucks a door. I could machine a snap ring groove in them to use for the doors that drop down. The only one that does that on my coach is the wet bay door.

these look allot like the old GM door hinge bushings as well