4 YEAR OLD NIESMANN ARTO

A couple of positive permanent fixes suggested. Probably best you opt for one and consider it a modification rather than a repair, might give the best mindset to justify the decision, once completed not noticeable from the outside and far stronger inside.
A new door imo is not the best answer.
 
tonyidle said:
I agree with the repair options but why checkerplate? A piece of 2mm aluminium plate Sikaflexed the full width of the door with rivnuts for the strut brackets at each side.

Quite often 'quality' vans use better materials and better equipment but nothing is proof against rubbish assembly. I've recently bought a 2012 Le Voyageur. Along with several faults (one of which is a track from which two sliding doors hang - fitted to a MDF moulding with 10mm long x 1.5mm screws) the garage door struts are mounted in the same place as yours. The brackets were reversed left to right so the struts tilted inward at the top when the door was open. This meant they operated at an angle and unnecessarily narrowed the garage access. The van might be six years old but it hasn't been used & has done 3500 miles. So I'm finding the 'snagging' (read crap assembly) faults that would have been sorted by the original owner.
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Plain ali scratches and marks, chequerplate looks far nicer. Our last Frankia had the garage all kitted out in chequerplate from new.
 
No i'm not repairing it.
My only option is a new door and Niesmann put their hand in their pocket and pay for it.
130k motorhome and an essential part of it breaks after 4 years and i'm expected to shell out 2.5k to them.
It's not wear and tear it's poor quality.
It's beyond me how they can expect me to pay!
If it was an car and the door was wrecked we'd all be straight back to the dealer.
 
If they are quoting to replace you could try a repair as they are going to throw away the old one anyway. I would try the bonded sheet over the dodgy bit first will cost peanuts. I went to a local fabricator to buy an infill bit of stailess when we changed our cooker and there was a gap below the stainless splashback cost £2!!!!! yours will cost more I bet theres change out of £50 unless you go down the checkerplate route which would look nice. Where do you live if you don't fancy DIY theres a motorhome bodyshop in Mansfield who would probably do a repair at reasonable cost.
 
chameleon said:
Mmmmm not so sure i've done well.

Since new here's a short list.

New front door due to faulty mechanism. (the door closed in a gust of wind and locked us out of the vehicle, this could have been dangerous had there been a pan on the cooking hob)

Faulty reversing camera.

Faulty speakers on the sound system.

Faulty blind switch.

Alde heating stopped working on gas.

Faulty water pump.

Uphill start faulty

Hydraulic on bonnet snapped off.

Hydraulic on garage snapped off.

Faulty oven - repaired twice

Faulty grill - still faulty after 4 years

Poorly fitted front step. Closes and opens very loud and slams, also not straight, poorly fitted

Loose headlights. Failed mot

Snapped bracket on drivers side front wing. The front wing was loose and nearly detached on the motorway. Had to tape it together.

New water and electric covers.

No Alde heating in bathroom.
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I think the defects you’ve listed together with the latest garage door defect are unacceptable. I would take legal advice before proceeding further.

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Southdowners said:
I think the defects you’ve listed together with the latest garage door defect are unacceptable. I would take legal advice before proceeding further.
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No mention of how many faults were repaired under warranty and in the OPs own words ..

It's been looked after and well maintained... yes it's been used that's what they are there for. Never been left standing apart from a couple of months in a dry unit.
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Which sounds like it's had a hard four years of almost full time use.

A garage door shouldn't be ruined after 4 years, they should be designed to withstand opening and shutting.
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It appears the door operated perfectly well until it was FORCED open as the ram had jammed.
It should have been returned to the dealer to be investigated.

I can see the OP still wanting manufacturer intervention in ten years time for any future defects.....the warranty has expired... Tough.
 
Forced Open? how do you force a garage door open.
hahah it's on hydraulics, it opens itself.
 
pappajohn said:
It's inside so not visible.

An aluminium plate Sikaflex and pop riveted over the damaged area and the bracket re-riveted back in place.

But... If you have more money than sense it's your choice to fit a new door.
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Good idea, and if you make the new plate to cover the entire inside of door up to the seal it will look like it was there from new
 
pappajohn said:
There is no door defect, the door was obviously forced open causing the damage.
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Think you are right, the strut only supports the door when open and the weight of the door is in the wrong direction to cause damage like that.
I would say something in the garage has been caught behind the strut & when the door has been opened has put undue pressure on the strut fixing. Don't think N&B are to blame.

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arto said:
Forced Open? how do you force a garage door open.
hahah it's on hydraulics, it opens itself.
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It's easy, the op said the ram had jammed. In that case the door wouldn't open by itself so how else could the damage be caused if it wasn't forced open.
If the ram had extended rapidly it would have pushed the skin not pulled and ripped it.
 
papajohn.
It's like a car boot. You open it and close it. Simples.
Since when does anybody force open a door or force it shut.
It's all down to poor design and build.
 
arto said:
papajohn.
It's like a car boot. You open it and close it. Simples.
Since when does anybody force open a door or force it shut.
It's all down to poor design and build.
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Well you have a NB so I for one will take it you would know
 
arto said:
papajohn.
It's like a car boot. You open it and close it. Simples.
Since when does anybody force open a door or force it shut.
It's all down to poor design and build.
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Please explain how the bracket has been pulled off and the sheet aluminium ripped apart.
By what method does the door open, by that I mean how do the hydraulics work? .... On the rams, a separate hydraulic actuator or is it manually opened and the rams simply hold it open.

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pappajohn said:
Please explain how the bracket has been pulled off and the sheet aluminium ripped apart.
By what method does the door open, by that I mean how do the hydraulics work? .... On the rams, a separate hydraulic actuator or is it manually opened and the rams simply hold it open.
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Standard gas strut as far as I know, If I had to guess I would say that the wind had got under it as any other time it should put the joint into compression via the weight of the door and the push of the strut. I also think it is possible that the inside of the door is a plastic skin, I know ours is inside but not sure if it onto alloy or straight onto the foam. And just for the record I would be fixing it and beefing up the other side just in case and being a bit OCD I like things to be equal(y)

Martin
 
funflair said:
Standard gas strut as far as I know, If I had to guess I would say that the wind had got under it as any other time it should put the joint into compression via the weight of the door and the push of the strut.
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My thoughts exactly, but the OP stated the strut had jammed.... Obviously, from the damage, with the door down.
Now I may be getting on in years but I know when something jams and you pull on it one of two things happen.... It gives or you give up pulling.
In this case it has given, the skin and bracket will not end up like that without an outside force acting on it.
But the OP hasn't got the decency to admit damaging it and would rather blame shoddy workmanship and quality which has been fine for the last four years.
It appears to me to have been forced open just far enough to cut off the top eye of the ram so the door can be fully opened as the bolt and ny-loc nut are still attached to the bracket.
If they were removed why refix the nut and bolt to the door, which may be replaced, when putting them back in the strut would be more appropriate.

Actually, looking again it isn't a bolt, it's the top pin on the strut with the ny-loc nut still intact.
The top of the strut HAS been hacksawed off.
 
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Lenny HB said:
Missed the bit about the strut being jammed in that case logical thing to do is enter via the other door and unbolt the strut.
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The ball joint on the strut just has a C clip and then pops off, do gas struts jam?

Martin

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I don't understand why the doors open upwards when it would surely be better to open by hinges on the side of the door thus not getting in the way for people's height and also not requiring as much width to gain some sort of access.
 
I appreciate your comments to repair the way I should do it.
Thanks for the advice. I opened a new account as the last one stopped me from replying with no explanation or mention of a subscription but hands up maybe I missed it.

I actually thought I has been blocked.

I'd like to add I am not a DIY expert so unfortunately I have to pay either a dealer or a local technician to do the work.

Some of you guys clearly know how this happened more than I do, in fact by some of the comments you must be telepathic. The detail you describe of how this happened is uncanny, you must have been by my side.
"But the OP hasn't got the decency to admit damaging it and would rather blame shoddy workmanship and quality which has been fine for the last four years"
God help us!

Yes I can afford a subscription but being honest I think there are too many keyboard warriors/trolls to do that.
Some people just ruin forums!



Thank you.

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Abacist said:
I don't understand why the doors open upwards when it would surely be better to open by hinges on the side of the door thus not getting in the way for people's height and also not requiring as much width to gain some sort of access.
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Well you can sit under it to BBQ in the rain but apart from that I think you are right, only problem could be the door fouling the awning leg on the side of the van but not the end of the world.

Martin
 
chameleon said:
It's been looked after and well maintained... yes it's been used that's what they are there for. Never been left standing apart from a couple of months in a dry unit.
A garage door shouldn't be ruined after 4 years, they should be designed to withstand opening and shutting.
Maybe I'm asking too much to be able to use the garage, I could always fit an access hole from the interior.

Wait for it..... the estimate is £2500 for the door fitting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes I have contacted my local technician and they have also confirmed it needs a new door.

Here's to quality craftsmanship. Niesmann Bischoff.
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All sounds a bit precious just get it plated as regards your other problems you must expect things to need initial rectification. good job you didnt buy a boat you could expect to see far far more that would need sorting
 
arto said:
Yes I can afford a subscription but being honest I think there are too many keyboard warriors/trolls to do that.
Some people just ruin forums!



Thank you.
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You have missed the key point here, we are all motorhome owners mostly looking out for each other

I have saved a fortune and been massively supported by forum members at low points in my ownership

Reading your thread I see that you have been offered solutions at virtually no cost to you for a repair that has been caused by something way out of warranty, the trouble is I think that you wanted N + B to offer full FOC replacement, they didn't and we as a collective agree and offer alternative solutions

A repair to your door looks to be a far better solution that paying £2500 + for full replacement, it really is only you who hasn't spotted that yet

I think you will, or hope you do before you pay for repairs, or even if you don't, some years from now you might (y)
 
arto said:
. I opened a new account as the last one stopped me from replying with no explanation
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You have 2 more free posts then the same will happen again unless you subscribe.
5 free posts then read only.
How you managed to re-register is a mystery as your IP address is logged and blocked if you don't subscribe
 
To be fair if I payed £130k I would be pissed given the amount of problems he has pointed out, maybe a little bit of jealousy creeping in the way he was dealt with.

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