Can an External door be re-hinged?

[Lois]

Hope this isn't too much of a stupid question but we have searched the internet to no avail to get this information but had no success. In desperation the OH asked me to post on here - why he couldn't do it I don't know but he is a bit shy! :-) We are relative newbies having had our Hobby T500 for just a year and still learning. For a variety of reasons (I won't go into detail on this thread for risk of boring you all) we are looking at changing our beloved van but before we go and throw more money away we wondered if anyone has any knowledge of a door opening hinges being changed?. As ours is german it is on Drivers side and opens out left to right. Has anyone knowledge/experience of change in door from left to right to right to left opening?

 

Thanks in anticipation!

[Keithl]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

First a question, why would you want to change the way the door is hinged?

 

Then an answer to your question, I don't think so without replacing the complete door and frame.

 

Doors are normally hinged at the forward edge so if you inadvertently drive off with door open it will swing shut.

What you are proposing will be dangerous as if the door is not securely shut it will fly open and bang into the bodywork.

 

Just my thoughts,

Keith.

[Lois]

Hi Keith!

 

Thanks for the welcome and I'm well impressed with the speed of your reply! The question you asked regarding why is a good one so here goes ....

 

We bought the van thinking it would be ideal for me & hubby to escape the house at weekends and for our holidays as we thought that our 2 daughters (or 'drains' on his resources) would have no inclination of wanting to be with us in a MH. This was a wrong assumption on our part, they think it's great and every time we plan a weekend they say they wish they could come! Initially we thought not a problem, we'd get a driveway awning (which we did, Khyam motor dome) but it didn't fit. This was because the door opens out so it sticks out further than the end of the awning so you can't open door fully and the fit is rubbish. Needless to say we initially abandoned that idea, so we tried a squeeze of 4 in 3 berth van. This was not a success as was too cramped. Why don't we tell daughters to bog off I here you ask? Well we quite like the fact that at nearly 18 and 20yrs they want to spend time with us! However we now are in a bizarre situation where we've had to hire a van for a weekend in Derbyshire in November - how crazy is that!!

Back to the need for door hinges (sorry to digress), if we could get some kind of awning to the van that we could get an inner tent and this may mean we can keep our current van. We've had few px quotes and we'll lose many thousands :-(

 

Sorry to ramble on!

 

[thebishbus]

Hi. There are alternatives to changing the van. Ours is a 3 berth. If the family holiday with us (7 people) they live and dine with us in the van , or under the awning sometimes with windstopper curtains fitted, but sleep in tents,except our granddaughter who sleeps in the van. If you have a wind out awning you could fit side / front curtains and have a sleeping tent under the awning.

Brian B.

[snowie]

Hi Lois, and welcome,

would a relatively simple door restraint work? (one that allows door to open to 90-110 dgress max, and then find an awning that fits properly?

regards

alan b

[Lois]

Brian & Alan thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. The problem is that with either sides (attached to the roll out awning) or an attached/driveaway awning ,the door opening beyond the length of the awning creates problems as it stretches the material and drags so isn't ideal. A stay at the top might help - are these easy to retro fit? Is anyone aware of companies that can make bespoke awnings or would the costs be prohibitive?

 

Thanks to you all

 

[flicka]

Hi Lois & welcome to the forum

Perhaps one of these ?

http://www.cargasstruts.co.uk/car_gas_struts_mini.php?cPath=1?Year=0&Model=all&Make=Mini

 

or a trip to your local breakers yard to source one from a hatchback or estate car rear door.

[Brian Kirby]

If I understand, you want to hold the door open while using an awning with a side wall, and the end of the door projects beyond the awning? If so, would the simplest solution be a bit of bungee elastic looped over the awning rafter and secured to the door pull on the inside, or similar? That would keep the door open, though not to its full extent, but should be at least sufficient to prevent it swinging shut.

[Lois]

Thank you Flicka and Brian. I shall get hubby to look into your suggestions and report back when he has done it.

 

Cheers!

[gocro]

Why not relocate the wind out awning and it's brackets if necessary12 inches forward?

[pepe63xnotuse]

gocro - 2013-10-07 4:33 PM

 

Why not relocate the wind out awning and it's brackets if necessary12 inches forward?

 

If the side layout of the van is similar to this, then there probably isn't the room to gain that much..?

http://showroom.southdownsmotorcaravans.co.uk/new-hobby-van-classic-t500-gfsc-motorhome-n2179-3434-0.html#

 

At least it looks as if you can walk through the door with it only open at 90degrees...our door has a ruddy great fixed bin on it, so it has to be swung right open to get through it... *-)

[Guest pelmetman]

Lois - 2013-09-29 6:09 PM

 

Hi Keith!

 

Thanks for the welcome and I'm well impressed with the speed of your reply! The question you asked regarding why is a good one so here goes ....

 

We bought the van thinking it would be ideal for me & hubby to escape the house at weekends and for our holidays as we thought that our 2 daughters (or 'drains' on his resources) would have no inclination of wanting to be with us in a MH. This was a wrong assumption on our part, they think it's great and every time we plan a weekend they say they wish they could come! Initially we thought not a problem, we'd get a driveway awning (which we did, Khyam motor dome) but it didn't fit. This was because the door opens out so it sticks out further than the end of the awning so you can't open door fully and the fit is rubbish. Needless to say we initially abandoned that idea, so we tried a squeeze of 4 in 3 berth van. This was not a success as was too cramped. Why don't we tell daughters to bog off I here you ask? Well we quite like the fact that at nearly 18 and 20yrs they want to spend time with us! However we now are in a bizarre situation where we've had to hire a van for a weekend in Derbyshire in November - how crazy is that!!

Back to the need for door hinges (sorry to digress), if we could get some kind of awning to the van that we could get an inner tent and this may mean we can keep our current van. We've had few px quotes and we'll lose many thousands :-(

 

Sorry to ramble on!

 

Why not erect the awning away from the van, and windout the Fiamma to meet it.............as we do ;-)

[Mel B]

My initial thoughts are also along the lines of simply moving the awning further forward, looking at the first picture below of a MH like yours, this would seem quite feasible, even if it means fitting an extra bracket on the low-profile part it's not impossible to do this.

 

We used to have a Chausson Flash 04 which is very similar to your MH and had our awning mounted further forward than it would normally have been to avoid the problem you are experiencing! In order to do this on ours we had to have the decorative plastic side capping which jutted out trimmed down to allow the end of the awning to go nearer the front, but as the awning wasn't ever going to be removed this didn't matter! The pictures below show it with the awning on and also with our drive-away Movelite Square awning on it, mounted using a 'drive away' kit.

[Mel B]

... another alternative to those already mentioned ... what about a tow bar and a small caravan?????

 

I'm afraid that there's no way I would change a van which otherwise suited me for occasions when other members of the family want to come with us, especially with such a large financial penalty! A towbar and caravan would be by far cheaper and give you, and your kids, your own 'spaces' but still have some comfort to be able to go away together in colder weather when a tent isn't really an option. If you go on campsites then this will cost you more than a single unit, but it will be a lot, lot, lot cheaper than changing vans and if you are not gong away with the kids, of course, you can simply leave the caravan at home! If it is simply for sleeping in then a small pretty basic caravan would most likely suit your needs nicely.

[bolero boy]

Good idea, Mell.

Along the same lines, what about a trailer tent? Might be even cheaper, easier to tow.......

[pepe63xnotuse]

Is Lois still with us?

 

I just wonder what was wrong with the Khyam motordome, that meant it didn't fit?...was it just too low or the wrong one?(...is there a right one for this sized van?)

 

I just thought that rather than positioning it to correspond fully with the awning groove(in the wind-out),how about sliding it further forwards and using the front throw-over straps to secure the front portion of the "apron"?....

 

..and if this to accommodate two adults, does it really need to be a perfectly enclosed awning/annexe anyway?...We've got friends,who's youngish daughters sleep alongside their van in standalone tents..with just a tarp/canopy adding additional shelter...

 

I certainly wouldn't be changing the van or messing about with the door.... ;-)

[Lois]

Hi all,

 

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you all! Thanks for all your suggestions, they're very much appreciated and we're still looking at the many possibilities suggested herein. It's all a bit of a minefield, as the quandary of buying the first 'right' van is a virtual impossibility! We love the van, it's great and if it was just us we'd probably not change it for a few years anyway, but we'd still like to be able for the girls to come if they wanted. The awning is a solution for the summer but not a possibility for winter. We used our van last year all year round. The other problem with the motor dome awning (as well as the fit) is that it is absolutely huge! We mainly use CC sites and I checked to see if this (or something similar) would fit and they said that it was too big. I returned the awning, and thought that (given the problems with the door etc) we could just use a tent. This we did a few times over the summer (not at CC sites) but we were charged double! I think what I'm trying to do is think long term, mainly for what is best for us as a couple but also want to have a bit of flexibility with the van - something that we don't quite have at the moment. The other thing we weren't prepared for was the depreciation 8-) Many thanks!

[pepe63xnotuse]

Hi Lois..

I can understand why using a tent or awning in the winter may be a bit of a non-starter for your girls... (lol)

But personally, I really wouldn't be considering changing a van that suits the two of you, just to accommodate the few times a year that your daughters(18 & 20) may or may not, want to come away with you when the weather is bad...

How many winter trips away are we talking about anyway?...every weekend?...one a month?...

 

The reason I ask is, we continue to use our van throughout the year(in the UK and mostly just the two of us)..but during the winter, our trips tend to be more town or city centric and as such there's usually an option of using nearby B&Bs/Travel Lodge etc for any additional "sleepers"....

 

..and what happens when your girls want to start bringing their boyfriends?

..I would guess that once that happens, bunking up in or next to,a van with Mum & Dad in it, will be the last thing they'll want to do....

 

When any of my grown up daughters & their OHs have come away with us, they've either,

a)Pitched a tent away from the van(for their own space).

or

b)If it's been in the winter, I've chosen a site with accommodation nearby and just booked them a room..

 

(*We recently stopped over at Briarfields in Cheltenham, chosen because it has a little hotel/motel attached...and my daughter and her OH just had a room there)..

 

You could of cause go and trade your van in for a huge all-singing-and-dancing family van, with ample seating and sleeping accommodation etc...only to find that in a year or two's time,you spend most of the year wallowing around in it by yourselves... :-S

 

Going back to the awning though...

What other types have you looked at?

because the Khyam, like a lot of "drive-aways", are probably more "tent" orientated...and maybe a more "traditional" awning, similar to the one Dave/Pelmetman uses(posted in his photo) would work better...?

 

Just a few thoughts..... ;-)

[Lois]

Thanks pepe63 et al, certainly given us lots to think about! We'll revisit the awning scenario again in the spring as there's not much point at the moment.

 

Thanks to all of you who've responded with your suggestions and pictures, they're very much appreciated!

 

[flicka]

Hi Lois

I think there is some merit in Mel B's suggestion of a tow-bar & caravan, but as you would only need the caravan for sleeping accommodation maybe the "teardrop" style would be suitable ?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALL-SPORTS-TRAIL-TEARDROP-TRAILER-CARAVAN-/251343564428?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3a853e6e8c

 

or even build your own & you could eliminate unrequired equipment

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUILD-A-TEARDROP-TRAILER-SMALL-CARAVAN-TINY-POD-CARAVAN-MICRO-CARAVAN-PLANS-/151138151182?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item2330892b0e

 

[Mel B]

Just a thought, is there any reason why your daughters don't sleep in the MH already? I know it is classed as a 3 berth however there's no reason why one couldn't sleep on the floor on a camping mat so they can both be accommodated inside.

 

Also, we had the Chausson Flash 04 (Ford based) but there was also the Fiat based Welcome version (can't remember it's exact name!) which was virtually the same layout but had a bit more 'bling' and also the front half-dinette and side seat made a 3rd berth but also had a separate infill section to make a 4th berth by turning it into a double bed. I've had a shuftie on the internet but can't find it, however I have managed to find the below which is of the new 'Best of 04' model (stupid name I know!) which shows where the infill support would be placed. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to make an infill support/table and additional cushion to turn your front single into a double ... just an idea!

[Derek Uzzell]

There's a significant width difference between a Hobby T-500 "Van" and the Chausson - the Hobby's width is 2.14m and the Chausson's is 2.3m. The consequence is that the distance between the Hobby's kitchen furniture and bathroom door is particularly narrow, probably too narrow for a 18/20 year-old to sleep in. Even if a stick-thin person could doss down on the Hobby's floor, this would prevent the door to the bathroom being opened.

 

Realistically, a Hobby Van T-500 is unsuitable for accomodating overnight Lois, her husband, and two daughters. Swapping around the motorhome's entrance-door hinging is a non-starter. Given how Hobby attaches the awning to the motorhome, moving the awning forward is probably impracticable. The vehicle is not designed to have a 'Safari room' - the door's in the wrong place.

 

Logically, an external 'tent' is the answer, either attached close to the motorhome as in Mel B's photos, or futher away as in pelmetman's picture. The latter option would appear to be simplest as the entrance door's opening is not affected, but (as pepe63 has suggested) it ought to be possible with a little ingenuity to reposition a free-standing 'tent' forwards and attach it reasonably close to the motorhome.

[Lois]

Hi Flicka, We've had caravan previously and OH decided that tugging wasn't for him and he's more of a motorhome kind of guy :-)

[Lois]

Sorry don't know what I'm doing on this forum yet re replies and such, still getting head round it all. Thanks MelB and Derek for responses too! Re squeezing us all in to the current van, we've tried to do this but as Derek says it's a narrow van and whilst do-able it's not v comfortable!

 

OH wants to go to NEC next week and have good look around t see what (if anything) is out there, but we'll try and resist temptation - is this easier said than done?

 

[pepe63xnotuse]

Go to the show...but leave the cheque book and bank cards at home!! ;-)