Door opening direction

[cjb028]

Hey there. I ordered a door from vintage technologies and had a question about the installation. I am planning on just one door, and they only had the driver side door avalible so that is what i ordered. I was originally planning on just installing the driver side door on the passenger side (so the hinge is on the left and door opens towards the back). I have been trying to figure out what the disadvantages of this would be, but I am having trouble finding any answers. Any advice of potential pitfalls of installing the door like this would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[linuxmanxxx]

If it opens going down the road it catches wind and rips your camper apart.

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[Pmullen503]

That's basically it: if the door isn't latched or comes undone while driving, the wind won't force the door open. On my rear door I added an extra slide bolt for piece of mind. I'd never know if come open while driving!

Any chance the door could be mounted upside down? That would put the hinge on the "correct" side.

[halfdome, Danny]

I wouldn't install it backwards the handle is towards your head, very inconvenient and like others said it could get ripped off while driving.
I once had the driver side door come open on my first Teardrop while making a left turn.
Also your resale value will be negatively impacted with just one door.
People have committed that they got tired of crawling over the other person to go pee during the night.
Danny

[cdlwingnut]

they call doors that open that way suicide doors for a reason

[eLink]

Also, your wheel/fender may obstruct the door swing (if it's located on the outside of the cabin body).

[Squigie]

My thoughts:
Put the driver's side door on the driver's side for now. Order a curb side door and install it when it comes in.
But, at least for now, you'll have a working door with the correct swing.
Unless you're using an unusual build technique, installing a door after the build is "finished" won't require much more than cutting the hole, sealing the end grain (if built from wood), and slapping that bad boy in place with the required sealant and seals.


Fitting the door "backwards" / latch-forward also increases the potential for leaks while being towed. The more complicated sealing needed around the latch, the lower sealing pressure on the latch side, and the latch hardware itself all increase the number of potential failure points or points of water intrusion that are facing the wind stream.
Depending upon the design of the hinge that the builder uses, it might funnel water into the door channel, as well - instead of shedding water as intended.

As mentioned by others: The bigger issue is the door coming open while driving, though.
Every trailer and motorhome that I have owned has had the door come open while driving, at some point in time. All of them. No matter how good the latch was, or how vigilant I was about checking the door before driving. Things happened and every one of them ended up opening while moving.
If any one of them had opened "backwards" it would have done damage to the trailer/vehicle. The trailer door that popped open at 65 mph (big pot hole) would have destroyed the door and the wall of the trailer if it opened "backwards".

[Shadow Catcher]

Our doors open forward and the head of the bed is in the rear.