Door Problems With Pierce Apparatus

[whitehat10]

Has anyone had any or knows of any issues with the doors coming open by themselves on 90's vintage Pierce apparatus?

[dfdlt109]

I am a E-One Firefighting Apparatus Dealer, and the mysterious door popping open mystery is a problem for almost every type of fire apparatus with a hinge type door system. The only way to partially reduce this problem is to load us the latch mechanisms with white lithium grease or, with your new apparatus that you may purchase in the future look into roll up doors, just a suggestion! Hope this helps!

[RKSmith163]

We have operated 10 different Pierces since 1987 and I don't ever recall a door popping open. Is it on the cab or body?

[whitehat10]

this is the caB DOORS, REAR CREW DOORS

[RKSmith163]

I am sure you have checked all the hardware on the door itself and the cab to make sure it is tight. They just may just need to be adjusted. Like I stated in my previous post we have never had one pop open and we have had the trucks in situations with a lot of flex. My experience has been with the Dash, Lance, Saber and Enforcer. Which chassis do you have?

[whitehat10]

It's a late 90's Dash

[JREGANGFA]

Occupant doors are required by NHTSA to have what is called a double catch. If you close the door lightly it should close and hold on the first catch and a good push catches the second latch pawl and compresses the door gasket. One question, when it pops does it open completely or does it go to the second catch?

As mentioned door adjustment, lube, flexing, or worn latches can all cause this problem and it is not uncommon. I would replace the latches and have them adjusted and lubed. I would also double check the pull rod for the interior latch pull. The paddle should move 3/4 of its range before popping the latch. Hope this helps and always buckle up. JR

[Geinandputitout]

We have several of those trucks, and I am aware of it happening twice. It was unexplained and not repeatable in the shop.

From experience I have found that the seat-belts in those trucks occassionally get wedged in the door if you close them without paying attention. We figured that the door was closed with a "thump" and the tailboarder thought that the door was latched, we have come to believe that the door was just wedged on the seat-belt. It just seemed closed.

[Opinionated]

Has anyone had any or knows of any issues with the doors coming open by themselves on 90's vintage Pierce apparatus?

Yes - on a 1996 Dash with a short raised roof. Driver side crew door.

Door Randomly pops open on its own during what we narrowed it down to hard turning on rougher roads. Fire & Safety "refurbished" the latches and adjusted them to the point that they're now very difficult to open with one hand. Best part is - damn door still pops open sometimes.

It's a Pierce... what do you expect when you pay top dollar? A good truck? They're all the same these days no matter how much you pay out for them.

[Eno821302]

We've experienced the same effects on the E-one we have back home... a 2004. It wouldn't just fly open but they seem to have a double latch mechanism and that first latch will fail quite often. Ours wouldn't just fly open- you'd hear it let go and then shake as the truck moved. One more reason to put that belt on I guess.

[GeorgiaEVT]

OK guys tell your mechanics to pull the outside paddle handle assembly out of the door in question. I believe they will find that the pivot plate on the inside has rusted or otherwise gunked up. When this happens the pivot won't return fully when the handle is released. This keeps the rod from the handle assembly to the latch partly pulled which won't allow the latch to close completely around the nader pin. It doesn't take much pressure or vibration to make the door pop open like this. We had the same problem with our 1996 Pierces. Scared the crap out of the crew until we figured it out.

Short term solution - lube the inside of the paddle latch with WD-40 or equivalent. Long term solution - replace the paddle handle assembly with a new one. Pierce P/N is 1146694 for the Left and 1146695 for the Right. These are not for Quantum cabs just Dash, Saber, etc...