Driver's Door: Could you live without it?

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Zulu Kono

Zulu Kono

Well-known member
Joined
May 28, 2022
Posts
159
Location
USA
Hi folks.
I'm looking at a few Class A's, and one in
particular checks all my boxes except one.
It doesn't have a driver's door.
How important is that to you?
 
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I never missed it. in the time I drove a class A.. Only two conditions where I can think it would be important and when one of them happened to me I went out the emergency exit. No problem.
 
Our drivers door has been handy at times, particularly for working under the dash on that side without standing on my head. Since my strokes though, I don't think I'm physically cable of entering through it. On our previous Class A, the drivers door was very useful when the notorious Tri-Mark entry door latch broke while we were outside of the coach. The drivers door let me climb in and disassemble the latch so we could use the door, securing it with the deadbolt while a replacement part was made. If the rest of a coach met our requirements, the lack of a drivers door likely would not be a deal killer though.
 
I am in the don't have one, don't mind camp. As I see it having a class A drivers door means you almost need to be a monkey to climb in or out. I personally avoid precarious climbing these days, since I fell and broke my back in 2011 and had to spend 5 months wearing a turtle shelf style brace, followed by a decade of near constant back pain.
 
Very few diesels have driver’s side doors, and they aren’t terribly common even among gassers. We never had one, and we never missed it. I like having real steps open up when I open up the MH door rather than clambering out using molded footholds.
 
NY_Dutch said:
Our drivers door has been handy at times, particularly for working under the dash on that side without standing on my head. Since my strokes though, I don't think I'm physically cable of entering through it. On our previous Class A, the drivers door was very useful when the notorious Tri-Mark entry door latch broke while we were outside of the coach. The drivers door let me climb in and disassemble the latch so we could use the door, securing it with the deadbolt while a replacement part was made. If the rest of a coach met our requirements, the lack of a drivers door likely would not be a deal killer though.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything Dutch said for the reasons he said. :cool:

More than one Tri-Mark failure for us, some with me in coach and Dan out and one with both out. First lockout Dan was outside in mobile machinic void area and was the first time used the driver door but not the last. We now leave the security latch open in case locked out.
 
I'm a Super-C guy for life because they have an actual truck cab up front with regular driver and passenger doors, roll-down windows, etc. It absolutely swayed our decision over a Class A, even a pusher.
 
I like having a drivers door since I can prove I'm not really that old yet.:) I like climbing up the thing sometimes. Of course I'm fooling myself and see the day where I won't be able to climb up the thing. As Dutch wrote, it is very handy when working under the dash and may come in handy in an emergency situation in escaping quickly or getting out quickly for other situations. I use it quite often when getting gas. Certainly not a deal breaker and if we "upgrade" to a DP...they don't have them as written above.
 
I had only one class A coach with a driver door and never used it except for maintenance access to the area by the driver's feet. Far too awkward for routine entry & egress. A class C is perhaps different situation because the door is lower and wider, i.e. a normal entry door on a van or truck cab.

My other two class A coaches didn't have a driver-side door & I never missed it. Diesel bus-type coaches never have them, and only a few other coach styles have ever included them. Most brands/models that once had that feature dropped it two decades ago.
 
Our first gas class A had a driver side door, in addition to a mid-coach door. I found the driver door easier to use than climbing over the dog house between the front seats.

Didn't really miss it when we went to a DP with no driver side door and no dog house. But it sure would have been useful when we had trouble with the passenger side door lock, and I had to lift my other half so she could get in through a window that we'd inadvertently left open.
 
Our first class A had one and I too only used it to work under the dash on the drivers side and in the 9 years we had it I think that was only 1 or possibly 2 times. Our next class A had no noisy driver's door and we didn't want one. Consider this, if RV buyers wanted them, don't you think that RV manufacturers would build models with a driver's door? How many new class A rigs of any brand or model do you find that have a driver's door?
 
NY_Dutch said:
when the notorious Tri-Mark entry door latch broke while we were outside of the coach.
Click to expand...

In another post I mentioned "only2 condiditions I can think of where I'd need it and when one of them bit me I went out the emergency exit window" Care to guess what kind of door lock I had?

I had a metal smith carve me a new bolt out of STEEL instead of that (Term deleted due to lack of polite terms to use) stuff Tri-mark used.
 
Appreciate all the feedback
Think I'm convinced I don't want it now.
The noise factor may have moved me.
 
I can't remember ever seeing a Class A with a driver's door, only Class C motorhomes. I'm sure they're out there, but they're probably not that common.
 
John From Detroit said:
In another post I mentioned "only2 condiditions I can think of where I'd need it and when one of them bit me I went out the emergency exit window" Care to guess what kind of door lock I had?

I had a metal smith carve me a new bolt out of STEEL instead of that (Term deleted due to lack of polite terms to use) stuff Tri-mark used.
Click to expand...
Yep, I had a machine shop make the part for me out of stainless steel the same day the old bolt broke.
 
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