Bathroom pocket door
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Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13705
Printed Date: 14 May 2025 at 8:07pm
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Topic: Bathroom pocket door
Posted By: ChesterP
Subject: Bathroom pocket door
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2020 at 8:14am
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Is anyone else with a 195 or 196 having issues with the pocket door hinge screws stripping out? The door on my 196 (a 2021), just purchased, had the hinge (slide) screws strip out of the top of the wood door in less than 24 hours on the road. Took it back to the dealer, and they fixed it. I suggested they use larger diameter screws and glue the hinge plate to the top of the door to help support the weight of the door. They did neither, and 48 hours later while traveling, the screws stripped out again. Obviously a poor design as the weight of the door is too much for the 4 hinge/slide screws to hold it up. Is it just mine, or is anyone else experiencing this?
ChesterP ------------- JR |
Replies:
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2020 at 9:17am
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Pocket doors are failure prone and a hassle to fix, whether its in a house or a trailer. I had a house once that had several of them, all failing, and I replaced them with bifolds. Very easy and far more maintainable. Not sure if that would work in a trailer or not but I thought I'd suggest it. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: Pod People
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2020 at 4:19pm
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Just a minor correction to Offgrid's response. Pocket doors are NOT prone to failure IF they are correctly installed and use quality hardware. As a retired Licensed General Contractor with over 30 years of experience, I can say that I have installed many pocket doors and never had a recall or warranty issue. I have 7 of them in my house built in 1974 and they all work perfectly. However, as we all know, quality installation and quality hardware are not always used in general and specifically in the RV industry. Sad, but true in most cases. Vann ------------- Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179 https://postimg.cc/0zwKrfB9"> 
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Posted By: Woodmiester
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2020 at 4:44pm
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On these types of doors in a trailer, the trick is to remove the screws from the door then glue a hardwood dowel into the original screw hole. If it is not a perfect fit, tap in some round toothpicks (also hardwood). Be sure to glue the tooth picks also. Works every time and will last for a very long time. You can also enlarge the screw hole to 3/8” and use a 3/8” dowel, then insert your screw directly into the hardwood. ------------- Swampfox |
Posted By: ChesterP
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2020 at 12:00am
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Thank you. That is exactly what I will do. I'm pretty sure I can get to everything with the door in place, just angled out slightly. I cant believe such a terrible design (mounting hardware, not the door) got approved for production. ------------- JR |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2020 at 7:03am
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My 195 doesn't have a pocket door. Must be the 2021 model. I have a normal opening door. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: Penjack
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2020 at 12:44pm
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Had the same issue on my 192. It was a PITA to fix, but it’s all good now. ------------- 2020 192 2018 Toyota Highlander |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2020 at 2:32pm
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The problem with pocket doors is that the tracks are not accessible without cutting into the wall. So, regardless of the quality or the hardware and installation, in the end they are not very maintainable. If you have drywall then its not too bad but if you have some other kind of wall material that will never be the same if you have to cut into it then you've got a problem. I just don't like them and find that bifolds can usually solve door clearance issues without the maintainability issues. Just my opinion. I don't like drywall either.  ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2020 at 8:48am
Timely post. We took our 2020.5 195 on a trip to southern Colorado this past weekend, and tortured it on 14 miles of gravel (washboard in places) on CR 520 south of Badito (look it up) heading to LaVeta. One pocket door screw pulled out and the metal plate attached to the other support snapped, probably due to having to support most of the weight of the door after the screw attaching the other plate pulled out. The entire assembly can be seen here, with the plates I'm talking about below the three-wheeled unit that sits in the track that is screwed into the ceiling and much of which is inaccessible as it extends into the "pocket" (which renders my first thought at a repair impossible, namely adding maybe three more wheeled assemblies to distribute the door's weight among more support points). https://www.homedepot.com/p/Johnson-Hardware-1500-Series-Plated-Steel-Pocket-Door-Replacement-Hardware-Set-1500PPK3/202091534 - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Johnson-Hardware-1500-Series-Plated-Steel-Pocket-Door-Replacement-Hardware-Set-1500PPK3/202091534 I'm going to try fixing it by getting new plates and longer, more robust screws and maybe adding washers. If that fails I'll try one of the methods mentioned above. I also note that the door is relatively heavy; maybe a lighter door would mitigate this issue, as would staying off washboard. Maybe.
------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |
Posted By: ChesterP
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2020 at 8:13pm
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You are right about the weight of the door. A lot of overkill for a bathroom door. I could "almost" understand it if towing over rough roads, but it was all interstate for me. So just a normal, smooth road was too much for it. I think I'm gonna glue a thin strip of hard wood on the top of it where the mounting fixtures attach (I have no idea how I'm gonna clamp it - maybe small nails)) then drill the two holes for each fixture into that instead of the soft composite wood of the door. ------------- JR |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2020 at 8:47am
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I bought the hardware referenced in my above post and it turns out that the plates and attachment screws are significantly larger and more robust than the originals, but look like they'll attach to the door just fine. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will solve the problem. ------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |
Posted By: Colt
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2020 at 10:57am
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I had a few pocket doors in houses and have enjoyed them. No troubles with them. Using ultra-light parts in an RV doesn't seem like a good idea.
------------- John '16 R-Pod 180 |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2020 at 12:03pm
I attached the bigger, more robust plates to the top of the door with fatter screws, and so far so good. I would recommend that anyone with a Pod that has a pocket door and the same flimsy attachment plates do the same. You can see where the OEM plate on the left snapped off under the influence of southern Colorado washboard roads.
 ------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |