Best/Easy Front Door replacement

[kazetsukai]

Hey there,


Hoping to get a bunch of ideas on replacing the the folding/air/electric/handcrank "front door" with something better insulated, quieter, and lockable.


I've seen residential door replacements and RV doors... the former seem easy enough, but I have a hard time finding the parts needed in the latter! Sources for these if they work well would be nice, as I'm currently leaning towards residential.



Can those of you who did this pitch your approaches my way? I'm looking for ideas. Pictures help! Do you miss the ability to see the ground through the door?


Thanks!

[PNW_Steve]

Before you pick your replacement take some time and pay attention to how much you look out of the glass in the doors while driving.

I have driven buses with a solid door and really missed the visibility. I have glass full height in mine and am going to keep it

My plan is to rebuild my existing door to fit the requirements that you are looking for except for the insulation. It will be double pane glass but that is minimal.

Good luck with your project.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Before you pick your replacement take some time and pay attention to how much you look out of the glass in the doors while driving.

I have driven buses with a solid door and really missed the visibility. I have glass full height in mine and am going to keep it

My plan is to rebuild my existing door to fit the requirements that you are looking for except for the insulation. It will be double pane glass but that is minimal.

Good luck with your project.

Great advice. We love being able to see out the glass, both while driving and while parked. We also prefer the look of the bus door over a residential door. Its one of those projects that still needs to be done though...we'll get to it right after that one project we've been meaning to do!

[WIbluebird]

I got an RV door for my bus. I can see people's arguments for keeping the orginal doors but they're not very secure and rattle/squeak and are not very watertight.



I see lots of high end motorcoaches that do just fine with a small window on the entry door.

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

I got an RV door for my bus. I can see people's arguments for keeping the orginal doors but they're not very secure and rattle/squeak and are not very watertight.

Where'd you source your door?

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by kazetsukai

Where'd you source your door?

Local marketplace from a guy that was parting out a junked travel trailer. RV trailer doors come in a few different standard sizes. I lucked out and got one of the larger ones that almost completely fills in the bus door frame (it's just about 14 inches shorter at the top)

[Native]

The sight-line is the biggest problem I have with replacing the door. However, my wife and I are considering moving the door back to behind the first window.

[leadsled01]

I bought a scratch and dent RV door from ebay. The window is frosted and you can not see through it at all. It took a couple trips but I got use to not seeing through it.

[somewhereinusa]

Built my own.

[MacC]

3 word solution. Don't see many of those. Very nice work sir! To say I am not envious of your skill set would be a complete lie.

[Native]

Very nice indeed ... with a screen door too!

[ol trunt]

I wanted to keep the look of the original door so I welded the bifold together, added some 1/8" plate around the edges and center and hung the thing on a pneumatic shuttle bus mechanism. I could have mounted it on standard hinges and it would have worked/looked about the same. Jack

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[Native]

Nice, it keeps the classic lines but also opens up so wide!

[Dirtdoctor]

I saw a family that put a regular Dutch door on their bus. Door Jams, mental clad exterior door with a nice window in the top section. No more air leaking or easy access. Cheers

[DavidD70]

What my plans are is to weld the door shut (replace the rubber for steel and seal the door). Move the steps and a steel replacement door (staying curbside) back 10-12 feet. This makes it feel more like an R.V. and will really confuse people trying to break in! lol

[Profrog]

Lately I've been seeing RV 5th wheelers using marker light replacement cameras. They have video in the tow vehicle and mount the camera to replace and draw power from a pre-existing marker light. Possibly you could install a camera somewhere near the door to eliminate that blind spot. It seems to work for them.

[rydawg3000]

Originally Posted by Dirtdoctor

I saw a family that put a regular Dutch door on their bus. Door Jams, mental clad exterior door with a nice window in the top section. No more air leaking or easy access. Cheers

We are working with our fabricator/welder friend to rig up a steel Dutch door like you described. Any more advice concerning that set up on a standard skoolie door?

[peakbus]

I welded my two panels together and added a metal rectangular stock piece to the rear to make up the gap from the weather seals. Ordered a storm door handle with locking deadbolt. It didn't improve the insulation but definitely the air infiltration.

[farok]

Originally Posted by peakbus

I welded my two panels together and added a metal rectangular stock piece to the rear to make up the gap from the weather seals. Ordered a storm door handle with locking deadbolt. It didn't improve the insulation but definitely the air infiltration.

Looks really good! Thanks for posting!

[JackE]

My plan for now is the same as some of the others. I'm going to make the bi-fold a solid door hinged on the right side. I plan to reposition the air cylinder opener to the bottom to open and close the door. I'm not a fan of the house door look. After I get the rest of the bus functional, I plan to fab my own door to look more like the high dollar coach doors, fitting in more with the lines of the bus.