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Door Handle/ Stair Rail question/observation?

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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12580
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Topic: Door Handle/ Stair Rail question/observation?
Posted By: TearlessTom
Subject: Door Handle/ Stair Rail question/observation?
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2019 at 9:06pm
Just an observation  but what keeps some mischievous person  from moving the handrail on the door entrance  to the closed position while you are inside the trailer effectively locking you in your trailer. 

Is there an internal release or way to prevent someone from moving the handle?

Also just nit-picking  but shouldn't the key locks and the finger locks on the outside storage be reversed with the finger lock forward edge and the key aft.  I noticed on mine if you don't use the key it stands open just a bit on the key side.   Wind resistance and fear of wind opening the door concerns.




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Tearless Tom
2017 R-Pod 180
2014 Ford F-150 XLT 2WD 5.0



Replies:
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2019 at 9:17pm
Don't worry about it. It is pretty easy to push the door open and pop the handle away. If you try it and can't do so, a little filing of the edge of the plastic to make a little ramp for the handle will fix that.

As for the storage door, you could reverse it, but the better option is to make sure you lock it before towing. I think it is set up for a right-handed person to be able to use the key easier. If you are left-handed, I guess you could switch them. Then you will have to make sure you turn the finger lock or you will have the same situation.


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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS


Posted By: Awchief
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2019 at 9:18pm
Anything could happen. In my 189 I can easily just reach out the window to unblock the door. 

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Michael


Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2019 at 9:28pm
+1 on what Stephen said about the handrail. Push the door open "with authority", and it will pop open.

We re-keyed the outside storage door and the outside shower door to use the same key as the entrance door. One key opens them all! I also "adjusted" all the latches so they latch firmly.


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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost


Posted By: TearlessTom
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2019 at 9:42pm
Originally posted by StephenH

Don't worry about it. It is pretty easy to push the door open and pop the handle away. If you try it and can't do so, a little filing of the edge of the plastic to make a little ramp for the handle will fix that.

As for the storage door, you could reverse it, but the better option is to make sure you lock it before towing. I think it is set up for a right-handed person to be able to use the key easier. If you are left-handed, I guess you could switch them. Then you will have to make sure you turn the finger lock or you will have the same situation.

I am left handed. I guess that is why it bothers me.  I guess it just bothers me in that I have been doing a lot of test drives trying to get my WDH set up correctly.

Good to know you can force the handle open if needed. 


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Tearless Tom
2017 R-Pod 180
2014 Ford F-150 XLT 2WD 5.0


Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 6:56am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aRyCjzyF5E - Trailer escape video..

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Posted By: tcj
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 8:33am
Tearless Tom
I cannot open the door on my 2018 180 if the handrail is closed on top of it.  There was another thread a few months ago about this.  Everyone told me the same as they are telling you and even showing you in a video.

I tried to explain that there must be a different design on the older pods' hand rails but no one seemed to believe that and insist that I am just not pushing hard enough.

P.S.  I did not and am not going to file on the locking mechanism.  I'm a skinny old man but pretty tough and will go out a window if that bad guy locks me in.


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2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition


Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 11:22am
It's easy enough to swap the storage lock positions: just remove a nut on each, pop them out, and then reapply the nuts after the swap.

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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod"
2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4
Three cats


Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 2:25pm
I put a marine porthole in the door of our 172.  If worse comes to worse and I can't open the door, I can open the porthole and reach outside and lift the hand rail up making door opening normal.  

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost


Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 5:06pm
Originally posted by lostagain

I put a marine porthole in the door of our 172.  If worse comes to worse and I can't open the door, I can open the porthole and reach outside and lift the hand rail up making door opening normal.  

Did you use this one?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Round-Opening-Portlight-Porthole-10-Replacement-Hatch-Window-Port-Hole-Boat-RV/123152960434?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649


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2016 R-Pod 176T


Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 5:07pm
Sorry Furpod...I can't get the link 'reducer' to work.

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2016 R-Pod 176T


Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 5:29pm
Motor7, Nope, that's not the one, but it is very similar.  I got it from Amazon.  The thing that you have to be careful about is that the porthole flange is deep enough to penetrate the thickness of the door.

I checked and the one I got doesn't seem to be there any more.  They do have the brand in your link info.  

To check the thickness of the door, you can remove the latch on the inside and measure through the hole from one side to the other.  I'm in Colombia right now so I don't have access to the cut out I had left over, but as I recall it was about 1 1/2"  

If you install the port hole assembly, be sure to measure how far you need to reach to release the handrail.  I didn't, because it never occurred to me that being trapped inside would be an issue, but by dumb luck, I put it where I can reach it. 

By the way the little world thingy at the top of where you write, next to the spell check turns your pasted link into an active one.  But, sometimes the window doesn't open all the way and you have to drag down to the bottom of the window to find the soft key to click. As for the link reducer, I don't have a clue.


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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost


Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 7:55pm
Motor7's link..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Round-Opening-Portlight-Porthole-10-Replacement-Hatch-Window-Port-Hole-Boat-RV/123152960434?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 - Porthole

There you go.. just takes practice..


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Posted By: TearlessTom
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 8:49pm
Well I'm glad I got you guys to thinking.  I  like the boat port hole Idea.   It makes our Pods more Escape Pod-ish... Kinda fits the purpose of the Pod to escape work and day to day life...

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Tearless Tom
2017 R-Pod 180
2014 Ford F-150 XLT 2WD 5.0


Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 11:45pm
Besides the porthole, there are also a number of rectangular windows that can be installed in the door, or adjacent to the door if your pod will accommodate it.

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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost


Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2019 at 6:22am
More people need to decorate the outside of their Pods with zany and irreverent ideas.  Wings, fins, periscopes, painting as a yellow submarine or fish scales, all come to mind.  Once I get all our house projects finished, instead of leaving my idle hands in the devil's workshop, I'm going to consult with an artist friend of mine and start making some utterly non-functional modifications to the outside.  Right now our Pod is a blanks slate of pure white with no decals, so it's like a blank painter's canvas.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost


Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2019 at 7:59am
I got it now, what threw me off is that on the 'preview' it would say that ebay refused to connect'. After closing that window the link now works for me. 

Anyway, those ABS/plastic portholes are all over ebay and not a single one lists the thickness. They are cheap enough that I am just going to order one and see if it will fit. 

Here is another problem, if you have a window or porthole, and you reach out to move the grab bar won't the Zombies be able to grab or bite you?



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2016 R-Pod 176T


Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2019 at 8:03am
Why would would you want to go outside during a Zombie attack?  And if you succeeded in opening the door blocked by the handrail they'd spill into your Pod and you'd have to invite them to dinner.  It'd be awfully crowded in that case and hard to cook.

Take a look on Amazon, they may have the thickness in their product data.  And, if you order from them, you can return it if it doesn't fit and get a refund.


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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost


Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2019 at 8:05am
If you suspect the presence of zombies why would you want to open the door? Better to be sure its clear and then sneak out the emergency exit in that case. 

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold


Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2019 at 8:20am
Looking at the 10" round ABS one's...still can';t find a mfg spec on the thickness. I did find this in one of the reviews:

"YOU CANNOT USE THIS ON A WALL THICKER THAN 1 3/8"!!! PERIOD...."

So it looks like these are out for our purposes. 


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2016 R-Pod 176T


Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2019 at 8:34am
I had no problem installing the port hole on my door.  I had no extra room on the flange, but it all worked out just fine and I've had no leaks or other problems other than very slightly compressing the Styrofoam when I tightened down the through bolts that hold the port hole and ring on place.  

Who ever wrote that declaration may not have actually installed one or got one with a flange that was 1 1/4".  When I return from Colombia, I will look up the one I purchased on Amazon and will post the link for that particular porthole.  Motor7, since you are relatively new to the board, you may not have noticed that sometimes people post statements in the absolute when they don't really know all the facts and variables.  


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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost



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