Chassis flex...interior doors wont stay closed when hitched

[twvette]

Picked up new Fuzion 420 fifth wheel and when it is on ground both of our two bedroom and bathroom hinged doors will stay closed. When hitched on truck it seems to be flexing and doors wont close so has some flex. These two doors are next to each other in front. Its not that the doors rub on the door frame and wont close into the frame, just the knob latch wont engage properly to latch. My previous Weekend Warrior had only one hinged door but did not have this issue. How concerned should I be or is this common and just need a slight adjust on the door handle latch.

[fj12ryder]

Our 2010 Fuzion 383 had a bathroom door that wouldn't latch when the 5th wheel was hitched to the truck. The door was about 1/8" from latching, and never was a problem when unhitched. I filed just enough off the inside of the latch to allow the door to stay latched when hitched. The "tongue" part is right at the very top of the strike plate when the door is closed, so it probably wouldn't have been an issue if the "tongue" had been centered on the strike plate.

Since I removed just enough material to allow the door to latch, I figure if the door starts not latching again it will mean the frame has flexed and stayed flexed. Which would not necessarily be a good thing. So far after 5 years and thousands of miles the door still latches. So I'm operating under the assumption that a little flex occurs with minimal damage.

[REPO1]

Seems a bit sketchy to me, but it may be normal for that unit? I know I have not had that issue at all with our XLR, and our roads up here suck!!

[whs9841]

I have a 2014 Fuzion 331 and my bedroom does has this issue. When level, it closes just fine. When hooked up it won't stay closed.

[azdryheat]

Got three doors and all stay closed. Don't know what I'm doing right.

[allcool]

Seen this before.

As you know, the frame/body are flexing just slightly, too slightly separate the door latch/door jam.
Measure the gap between the jam and door, top and bottom corner, latch side. Both loaded on hitch and off.
From this measurement differential, figure if weight has to be removed or loaded behind axle or in front of axle to counter act frame flex door jam separation.

Two thoughts on this,
1) Slightly flexible frame(to a small degree) might ease TH road/offroad)damage/wear from a non compliant frame..?

2)Some have beefed the frame to solve this condition..?

[Steve76eb]

Strabo wrote:

lincster wrote:
Something isn't right.

I would be more concerned with the items that are flexing that you can't see as obvious.
Like welds on the frame, or pin box or axle mounting points.

Agree, seems this is a big problem lately from what I read.

I also agree that you need to keep a watchful eye for other signs of problems. I also had the underside trim around the front, under the bedroom slip down as you could see where it originally was from the caulking. Also that same area under the 5th wheel where the front cap and the fiberglass skin come together would separate. Enough to the point it was shearing a couple self tapping screws and others backing out pushing down the rubber trim that conceals that joint.

I bought the trailer brand new so cheap(40k, msrp was 80k) because it was one of the first built and used as a demo in the factory. The downside was no factory warranty. A two year extended warranty was included and took effect year two and three, but we all know how great those warranties are, especially when it comes to structural issues. Needless to say after 2.5 years we just recently offed the trailer. We enjoyed it and it was overall an ok product, but it was time to move the truck and trailer as we were mot using it as much as we should have been. Not sure if those flexing issues were going to get worse, but I know they were not going to get better over time. I am glad I am not going to be the one to find out.

[Strabo]

lincster wrote:
Something isn't right.

I would be more concerned with the items that are flexing that you can't see as obvious.
Like welds on the frame, or pin box or axle mounting points.

Agree, seems this is a big problem lately from what I read.

[carringb]

I would not worry about it. Trailers do flex, that's the nature of them. It the striker plate was mounted close to one edge of the latch, top or bottom, even just a fraction of a degree of flex in the coach will be amplified by the shape of the door. My trailer does it too if I have the slides out without putting the levelers down first.

[lincster]

Something isn't right.

I would be more concerned with the items that are flexing that you can't see as obvious.
Like welds on the frame, or pin box or axle mounting points.

[twvette]

Thanks everyone, will take a closer look when back in the rig and will be bringing the Dremel. Have run across a few others on other forums with similar issue so seems might be somewhat common and just slight adjustment as some have mentioned.

[NemesisR6]

twvette wrote:
Picked up new Fuzion 420 fifth wheel and when it is on ground both of our two bedroom and bathroom hinged doors will stay closed. When hitched on truck it seems to be flexing and doors wont close so has some flex. These two doors are next to each other in front. Its not that the doors rub on the door frame and wont close into the frame, just the knob latch wont engage properly to latch. My previous Weekend Warrior had only one hinged door but did not have this issue. How concerned should I be or is this common and just need a slight adjust on the door handle latch.

It might just be a matter of slightly adjusting the door latch "catch" on the door frame.

The deadbolt on my 8.5x20 side entrance door is fine when parked, but when towing with the WD hitch installed the frame flexes juuuuuuuust enough to cause the deadbolt to hit the bottom border of the catch.

Took a dremel to the catch on the bottom and took just a little over a hair-width off and it locks perfectly now in any condition.

[bighog01]

I have the Fuzion 401. We have the same problem with the bedroom door. It only stays latched when the 6 point level up is down. Otherwise it's been a good camper.

[twvette]

Thanks everyone ...

Thanks Steve, misery loves company ;). I don't think I am going to sweat it much and will see if I can adjust to a happy medium for both hitched and leveled so will see. The walls and door frames are much more rigid it seems than my past rigs which I think is a good thing but perhaps also why the flex is transferring more. Still gonna bring this up to my dealer/Keystone as on this expensive of a rig I would expect more (doors stops, magnetics, etc.) but on the other hand I know really none of these trailers are perfect from past experiences too and loving my Fuzion in general.

[Steve76eb]

Our Fuzion was the same way with the door leading to the garage and master bedroom. The bathroom door stayed latched whether hooked or unhooked. I just adjusted the latches so the doors would stayed closed when unhooked and level. When traveling I had door stops for the doors so they would not swing back and forth while under way.

Makes you really wonder what is going on with that trailer frame.