I’ve been talking to GFC about a proactive hinge replacement and this worries me. I’m in WY and -20s in the winter are the norm…
Yea that’ll be rough. The hinge isn’t weathertight so even if this fluid film/T9 stuff works, it could leak or other stuff could get in and cause bigger issues. Just gotta have your heat gun on deck to melt it out
I will say the only time I have had issues has been after a car wash, or times when things are iced enough that even the truck doors take some force to get open. But I am in Central Oregon which has very very mild weather compared to WY for sure.
Just out of curiosity how often have the frozen hinges been an issue for you @jimbon before this break happened?
Usually they crunch a little bit but open fine. I’ve been in Colorado, Utah and the eastern sierras all winter and depending on the amount of precipitation it can be better or worse. The ice that gets underneath the nuts in the track are a separate issue but when they popped out I noticed there was a lot of ice build up there.
It got to about 15 the night before it really froze and broke off and that was the first time the hinge was fully stopped up.
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I was looking at a video showing the hinge. It looks like the FF/T9 will work on the inside, but I think the main issue is the whole hinge looks like a rain gutter when installed without any drainage. So when you go to open the panel the ice is being pinched between the hinge cover and the hinge as the hinge cover raises when you open the panel. That’s going to take a little finaggling to figure out. Maybe an aftermarket solution providing a fabric cover so water drains off the hinge not into the hinge is the best bet? I’m in Michigan, so I’ll be in the same boat when Mike makes it over soon to replace mine.
I had my camper delivered in November 2020 and I’m in Maryland and it got pretty cold this winter. I also had this issue a few times with my panels not being able to open due to them freezing.
I live in a ski town, no lack of cold and snow here. I had my hinge freeze once after a several hour drive through a very intense storm. Otherwise, no issues on day to day use in winter.
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They’re overnighting me some new sitnuts to replace em. Just something to be aware of moving forward
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I took my new hinges skiing a couple of times this year. No problem so far.
I don’t have mine yet, but sounds like some weep holes would be in order. Not a fix but maybe a improvement.
I’m skiing 3-4 days a week and live at 7000’. No problems yet, only have 20 days on it so far.
I had my right door hinge give it up yesterday, thankfully just outside my home and not in the Sierra over the weekend. Within 4 hours of the incident I received a confirmation of the Band Aid being ordered and have a road trip to MT next week to get all hinges updated. Unit #684. unfortunate issue to have, but GFC has been amazing to work with in resolving it. It is good to see customer service is still alive.
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Dang any signs, I’m 733 praying they hold until replacement in June?
Daylight started showing early March on one side about an inch from the edge. At which point I basically stopped using the back as much as possible. But there’s just some things that require the use of the back and yesterday was the day apparently. Waiting to hear back from GFC at this point and grabbing some metal hinges to deal with it today. Heard about the bandaid but no idea what all is involved in that
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Okay haven’t seen day light yet but have the hinge pulling off panel on my rear hatch. Glued and threw a couple rivets, 
. Hope you get it fixed soon.
I looked over the camper the other day when I replaced the two crossbars and all the hinge seals were intact with no signs of breaking. Also open and close them from both ends to make sure I didn’t put pressure more on one side and the thing popped so loud yesterday with no warning.
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#546. Rear hinge just failed.
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Bummer. GFC sent me a bandaid which is a plate and nuts/nut plates to keep the panel secure. Posting a pic here since I hadn’t seen it before for those of you wondering. Not water tight as it relies on the latches supporting the weight of the panel which shifts the panel down. I’ll try shimming it some but at least I live in Southern California where rain is an anomaly.
