Winnebago Vista 27N Door Swing Improvement

[powercat_ras]

The factory build of the 27N limits the door swing to 90 degrees which can make it difficult to carry items in and out due to the close proximity of the full wall side on the other side of the door.

I was able to move the mount point of the door piston and get the swing improved from 90 degrees to about 110 degrees. It still clears the awning arm by a good space. The plate does not quite cover some of the old holes after the relocation. I just covered that with heavy clear plastic tape , but caulk or colored tape would work too. The door still closes and seals fine with the plate in the new position.

The OEM screws are self drilling and are screwed into aluminum so it is a pretty easy change if you have a electric variable speed drill with a phillips head driver. You also have to drill one hole where the pivot pin is pressed thru the plate of the mount point so the plate will sit flat on the door frame, you will see the original hole I am talking about in the 2nd photo posted here.

Here two photos , one of the improved swing and one of the relocated mount point of the piston.

[BirchyBoy]

I like that mod! Ours only swings 90 degrees as well. I may look at doing this as well.

[Reniram]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

I like that mod! Ours only swings 90 degrees as well. I may look at doing this as well.

We have not camped in our new rig yet but I did notice the door didn't open as much as our previous rig.. We leave for Florida soon....I will go out today and do this ...thankyou..

[John Locke]

There's another option. You can buy a longer strut, however you must be careful to NOT buy one that's too long. The most you can extend the length is about .5" longer, which lets the door open about 6-8" more. Here's the strut I bought which helps a little, similar to moving the strut ball .5" without drilling new holes. If you were to use this longer strut AND move the strut ball, you "might" be able to optimize the opening angle even more, but I think you'd have to move the ball location to the left a little, about .25" for added clearance for the door lip. This shouldn't be a problem for the collapsed length, as the stock strut doesn't collapse all the way in stock form.

The stock strut is 14.75", eye to eye centers. The one above is 15.25". The next size up from this company is 16.25", and it won't work, too long, I tried it. Even though the collapsed length works, it's too long when extended, hitting the door lip when fully open. This conflict would surely bend the strut shaft eventually.

[YGoHom]

Here's my take with zero cost.

My door opened slightly less than 90°.
I couldn't turn the triangle pivot around that's attached to the door jamb because it would hit the door when closed.
I moved the pivot on the door instead. For my case, it needed to be relocated right between the existing 2 holes.
Now it opens as far as it can without hitting the awning arm, the door, or binding.

Thanks for the inspiration!