Cyli wrote:

On 14 Mar 2005 19:02:10 -0800, "BCITORGB"
wrote:

(snipped)

Hmmmm... now you've got me worried. Just to check, do you have
expertise re van doors? I don't, hence my worry. I wouldn't have
thought that approx 50 pounds at the mid-point of the door frame would
be too much for the door-to-frame connection to withstand. However, I
haven't a clue. Does anyone else out there have any opinions?

Cheers,
Wilf


Only a few damaged car doors. Not by boats, but by kids. The doors
did stay on as long as they were kept locked closed and tied to the
frames if necessary, but that mean exiting through the car window,
which could be undignified, especially in a skirt or dress.

To what kind of forces were these doors subjected?
I know that all the doors on our cars can easily take my full 170 lbs at
the very end of the door frame without any damage to the hinges or parts
and would be totally unconcerned about putting the bow of my double on
top of the door temporarily for loading. My roof rack bars extend out a
few inches so I use that extra space for holding the bow while I walk
back to the stern and pivot it up, but the door frame would seem to work
ok as well if protected from scratches by a towel

Look at what holds your doors on. In a car it's two hinges. Stress
compounded with leverage is probably not a good thing for hinges. Look
at how many square inches of hinge there are. Look at the door.

Yup, those are the things I looked at before putting my weight on the
door. The hinges and attachment points looked like they were made to
handle some serious torque.