Middle Age Spread

traveler1980

traveler1980

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Sep 4, 2019
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I have about a half inch of space between the edge of the refrigerator cabinet in my coach and the outer skin of the body near the door latch. Additionally, my door is not properly curved on the non-hinged side. It latches firmly, but the top and bottom are not flush with the coach, allowing rain to leak in at the top. These are common symptoms of middle-aged spread. There are several write-ups with various techniques for rectifying this issue, the most descriptive one being submitted by Emory Stora, who also coined the term used to describe the phenomenon.

www.gmcmi.com

Middle Age Spread.Stora - GMCMI

GMC Motorhome door hard to close? Learn more about the "Middle Age Spread" by Emery Stora.
www.gmcmi.com www.gmcmi.com

Has anyone tried this approach with success? Any tips and tricks you could share about the process?
 
no tips here, but to share a story...
A friend is looking for a GMC Motorhome for himself. He and I drove 5 hrs one way to look at a GMC coach...one-owner, stored inside, good tires etc. Well, the tires had good tread, but they were 12 years old - seller insisted they were fine [roll eyes]. There had also been several poorly implemented 'mod's' and 'repairs' that were irreversible. And the middle age spread was so bad, neither the closet door, or the bathroom door would open all the way - blocked by the sagging ceiling. Also, the wall next to the entry door was separated by at least 3 inches.
This coach only had one rooftop AC unit, however, it was complimented by a large rooftop storage pod that was used for storing firewood, and it was still full. We felt that added weight on the roof may have helped contribute to the middle aged spread. - so back to the classifieds.
 
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Mine had some "middle-age spread" when I bought it in 2008, maybe 3/8".

If I recall, I used a large load tye-down strap to pull the sides in and a hydraulic jack to gently lift the roof a bit. Mine has a vent/access just to left of the door so I was able screw a bracket to the back of the adjacent wall. I attached a turnbuckle between the door frame and the bracket to hold the outer wall to the curved inner wall. Its been good for 13 years now.
 
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Scotty said:
no tips here, but to share a story...
A friend is looking for a GMC Motorhome for himself. He and I drove 5 hrs one way to look at a GMC coach...one-owner, stored inside, good tires etc. Well, the tires had good tread, but they were 12 years old - seller insisted they were fine [roll eyes]. There had also been several poorly implemented 'mod's' and 'repairs' that were irreversible. And the middle age spread was so bad, neither the closet door, or the bathroom door would open all the way - blocked by the sagging ceiling. Also, the wall next to the entry door was separated by at least 3 inches.
This coach only had one rooftop AC unit, however, it was complimented by a large rooftop storage pod that was used for storing firewood, and it was still full. We felt that added weight on the roof may have helped contribute to the middle aged spread. - so back to the classifieds.
Click to expand...
Lol…yeah, 12 year old tires are fine if you want to end up on the side of the road 😬. It’s amazing how many ads I see (not just for GMCs, but many SOBs) that say, “tires in great condition,” but mention nothing about their actual age. My rear tires are about 5 years old and they look fantastic, too, but I’m replacing them at the start of the next season.

I have a pod on the roof, but no firewood in it. It’s empty most of the time. I do have two large AC units and a high-mileage coach (150,000+) and I think time has just taken its toll on the curvature of the skin. My head and closet doors mostly open, but not completely either. I’m hoping the fix for the spread will help that some.
 
RF_Burns said:
Mine had some "middle-age spread" when I bought it in 2008, maybe 3/8".

If I recall, I used a large load tye-down strap to pull the sides in and a hydraulic jack to gently lift the roof a bit. Mine has a vent/access just to left of the door so I was able screw a bracket to the back of the adjacent wall. I attached a turnbuckle between the door frame and the bracket to hold the outer wall to the curved inner wall. Its been good for 13 years now.
Click to expand...
Emory’s instructions are similar. He recommends using a winch to pull together 2x4s over plywood (to evenly spread load) on each side of the coach. You’re basically squeezing the body back into shape and lifting the roof with it. I’ll have to come up with something that’ll hold the the fridge cabinet to the outer shell. Pressed wood is so weak, but I guess it can hold
up over time. I have access to the inside of the fridge cabinet of the outer access hatch, too.
 
I have some spread as well. Maybe 1/2" at the door. I plan on tackling that soon. My interior closet and bath doors open fine though and look parallel when fully open. I have the exterior fridge door so I think I am going to laminate with epoxy birch plywood to the walls on both sides that will be cut out to match the particle board. I'll machine a bracket to rivet and Hysol glue to the aluminum body frame stringers and mount a threaded rod to pull everything together. Seems like others have done something like that. I really want to preserve the original interior.
 
RF_Burns said:
Mine had some "middle-age spread" when I bought it in 2008, maybe 3/8".

If I recall, I used a large load tye-down strap to pull the sides in and a hydraulic jack to gently lift the roof a bit. Mine has a vent/access just to left of the door so I was able screw a bracket to the back of the adjacent wall. I attached a turnbuckle between the door frame and the bracket to hold the outer wall to the curved inner wall. Its been good for 13 years now.
Click to expand...
I too have a fridge vent to the left of the door and this as a great long term solution. What does your bracket look like? Any pictures?
 
They all get the middle age spread. the body moves out and as the door is the correct shape, will have the bottom and top stick out a bit. Part of the reason you see some coaches with an aluminum piece over the top to keep water out of the door frame.

I tried to pull the sides together once, was only partly successful. The PO remodeled the interior and he built to match the existing body spread, so his build got in the way when trying to recover her natural beauty shape again.
When I have more time I will attempt to modify his build and bring the sides in again.

A side story that I thought amusing, that's why I remember it....
a GMC owner had an engine on a rack that was attached to the GMC hitch. He brought it home and parked it.
His coach had the middle age spread and the door had to be slammed to close it, like many of our coaches.
one day he noticed the door did'nt need to be slammed as hard to close, thinking it strange he let it go.
after some time of this, may have been a week or two, motor still hanging on the hitch, he notices that the door is closing easily now. Not sure if he noticed that the body was more conforming to the door, don't remember him making that comment.
But it seems the extra weight of that motor on the hitch brought the body back into shape again.

For some the answer is to have the door bent to match the bend of the coach body. This is risky as you can break the door glass or the frame of the door doing this. It has been done, successfully but you are putting bandaids on an existing problem.

I guess I am not a fan of bending the door, but that's me.
For my coach I'd like to find a way to support the ceiling when it is sitting and maybe be able to bend the coach back in the process. Be nice if that would work.
 
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I had my frame replaced by Borrmann's Garage in Ontario Canada. Frank did incredible work and the RV is restored to new underneath. I think some of the cause of the middle age spread was revealed. The frames really have a problem rusting between the bogies. Since it is one frame inside another the frame rails commonly spread apart from the force of the rust. Rust might be 20 times the volume of the steel, this can make a lot of stress. My frame rusted here and the rails spread upward and downward and only over the bogie area. This force actually bent the frame along its length as well as causing the rails to spread. The middle over the bogies became the highest and front by engine and rear became the lowest. It bent maybe an inch over its length pushing upward on the body, that force most likely made the middle by the door and galley bow outward. In the very rear the everything is good and the woodwork fits fine. Like bending an aluminum tube with your knee the tube displaces outward where your knee would contact it.
 

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Body fits well on the new frame. It looks strait. I don't think anything special had to be done. The aluminum body mostly just rests on top of the frame....... but now the new frame is strait and level and made of thicker metal.
 

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Last edited:
RF_Burns said:
Mine had some "middle-age spread" when I bought it in 2008, maybe 3/8".

If I recall, I used a large load tye-down strap to pull the sides in and a hydraulic jack to gently lift the roof a bit. Mine has a vent/access just to left of the door so I was able screw a bracket to the back of the adjacent wall. I attached a turnbuckle between the door frame and the bracket to hold the outer wall to the curved inner wall. Its been good for 13 years now.
Click to expand...
I was out at the coach doing some checking yesterday Bruce and I have about a 3/8" gap at the door too. I opened up the fridge compartment behind the door and had a look, not sure where you attached the bracket you spoke of? Any chance of a pic or two of your solution?
We have a hydraulic ram available in the yard and my buddy suggested placing a 2x6 at the lock area and giving her a squeeze ...not sure about that but I thought I'd put it out there for comment!

Larry
 
Larry,
It was a long time ago... maybe 10-12 years. I believe I ran a tie-down strap from the door jam using a bracket to one of the door latch bolts. I remembered I removed a door latch bolt and bolted a strap of metal so I would not bend the door latch pin. The other end I fastened to the body frame on the opposite side at the floor level.

I used a 2x4 on top of a hydraulic jack against the roof frame to help the sides come in.

From the outside fridge vent I used a turnbuckle from the body frame to the wooden wall inside the door. I used a "T" shaped metal brace to help spread the load on the plywood wall. Periodically I check the turnbuckle and its still looking good.

I'm in Mexico so I can't take a picture. I know I have one somewhere, but I haven't found it on my laptop. It may be on a crashed hard-drive.

I think I've seen a picture of a similar setup on someone's write-up on this subject... Maybe on Gene's site or Emery Stora's write-up.
 
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Thanks Bruce, no rush! A pic will be appreciated whenever you get to it. Thanks!

I'll check around those two sites see if I can find something🤠

Larry
 
Have some middle adged spread. about 5/8,, have the door ready to bend. wanted to takle the spread befor the door bend. BUT po (when gutting the interior) lined the fridg space with sheet metal ( maybe for fire) and screwed & foamed it in place, its not going to ever go back .. ( check your sitiuatinn carefully) ... I did not notice spread from outside ! once i rebend the door and add an interior trim to cover the gap. it will look good enough Larry 78/455 XPB Pearl
 
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Chaumière has a different problem than most. She is a high mileage '73 23'.
Because the coach top is not on the frame and is support by the deck beams aka floor joists, those pieces have deformed so the coach deck/floor is actually bowed up in the mid-line and down at the outer. So, I can level the dinette or the galley counter, but never both.

Unfortunately, my initial cuts at an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) makes it look like the frame structure would not be happy handling that extra load even if I could design a way to do it. The additional structure could only be installed at the ends of the thawartships/crosswise frame elements.

Being an engineer does have some drawbacks. Being dweeb with powerful computers does save a lot of trial and error. (Or is that try-all and error?)

Matt
 
Applied GMC

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