Cabin door alignment problem

[Markl]

Cabin door latch is too low to latch on to the keeper when wide open. This is on a 2011 25 foot Ranger. When I first got the boat last spring the door worked good. After a month or two it was getting hard to close so I checked the hinge screws and whatnot. Ended up shaving down the little plastic piece on the bottom of the frame to get the door to close. Then had to loosen the screws on the frame latch, push down and retighten to get the door to latch closed.
Now my big problem is that the door is too low to engage the latch that holds it wide open but it is not off enough to let me remove the latch on the door and re-drill. The problem seems worse now than when I put the boat away last fall. There does not seem to be any play in the hinges and I can't see any sign of the door frame itself moving.
Any idea's how to fix this are welcome. HAs anyone else had similar problems.
Thanks
Mark

 

[BB marine]

The door hinges are most likely slightly worn. The whole door has dropped slightly. I have not done this repair on a Cutwater or Ranger but I have on other manufactures doors. I removed the hinge and pulled the hinge pin, made a couple small shims out of Stainless steel washer. Install the shim on the bottom side of door portion/ top of bulkhead portion of hinge. Slide pin in while holding shims in place. Reinstall hinge. This will raise the door up to original position with the right shim thickness. It doesn't take much wear to drop it down and if the latch at door and the latch mounted on the cabin bulkhead were mounted low from the start. A slight drop will stop it from latching properly.

 

[baz]

Part of this problem may very well be due to the cabin wall's base adjacent to the cockpit floor not being secured firmly to the inner lining. I assume your cabin door opens toward starboard side and latches to the starboard cabin wall, right ?

On my 2010 R-25 (Classic) I found that the cabin wall at the base on port side of the cabin door opening had a screw that did not engage the inner lining of the cave. I removed this screw and realigned it to engage the inner lining and this made a big difference to how the cabin door closed with respect to being secure and without any movement and made a nice solid sound when the door was closed; it also closed up a sneaky gap between the door seal and the opening in lower corner on port side. I also believe this could affect the door's alignment some.

You might check for a similar issue on your boat to help with the door alignment.

 

[Markl]

The door hinges are most likely slightly worn. The whole door has dropped slightly. I have not done this repair on a Cutwater or Ranger but I have on other manufactures doors. I removed the hinge and pulled the hinge pin, made a couple small shims out of Stainless steel washer. Install the shim on the bottom side of door portion/ top of bulkhead portion of hinge. Slide pin in while holding shims in place. Reinstall hinge. This will raise the door up to original position with the right shim thickness. It doesn't take much wear to drop it down and if the latch at door and the latch mounted on the cabin bulkhead were mounted low from the start. A slight drop will stop it from latching properly.

Thanks for the input. Your theory make sense. I had a look at the hinges and can't see room for the shims you talk about. Maybe if I remove the hinges some room would appear or maybe I could file a bit off on the underside of the bulkhead knuckles and make some room. Not sure how difficult this would be. Is it possible the pins are worn enough to allow the door to sag?
Mark

 

[Markl]

Part of this problem may very well be due to the cabin wall's base adjacent to the cockpit floor not being secured firmly to the inner lining. I assume your cabin door opens toward starboard side and latches to the starboard cabin wall, right ?

On my 2010 R-25 (Classic) I found that the cabin wall at the base on port side of the cabin door opening had a screw that did not engage the inner lining of the cave. I removed this screw and realigned it to engage the inner lining and this made a big difference to how the cabin door closed with respect to being secure and without any movement and made a nice solid sound when the door was closed; it also closed up a sneaky gap between the door seal and the opening in lower corner on port side. I also believe this could affect the door's alignment some.

You might check for a similar issue on your boat to help with the door alignment.

Another good theory. I will check this out if I can't get the shims in place. Maybe I can get a bit of a lift on the frame if I take all the screws out and lift up somehow when I replace them. Loosened all the outside mounting screws last year and tried this but realize now I would have to loosen all the inside screws as well.

 

[knotflying]

Just for the heck of it, is this issue happening when in the water or on the trailer or on the hard? If on the trailer or hard it could be just the way the boat is laying on the trailer. Alignments are much different when out of the water.

 

[Markl]

It happens in the water and on the trailer but seems worse as it sits right now on the trailer. Has been on the trailer all winter with a list to starboard.

 

[captstu]

I had the same alignment problem on my our 25 classic. I loosen the screws holding the door in place pushed it so it opened easily and reset each screw with it he’s of I don’t sub cases a toothpick.

When everything set up, the door opened and closed easily. I continue to reset the screws that hold the aft cabin wall to the base because they had come loose also. Sheet metal screws do that in time.