This post may contain affiliate links or mention our own products, please check out our disclosure policy.

How To Keep Your RV Door From Rattling

This post was updated on March 15th, 2024

Is Your RV Door Rattling? Here’s What To Do

Does your RV door rattle? Perhaps you notice your motorhome door shaking as you drive down the highway, or maybe it’s your travel trailer door making a racket as the wind blows hard against your RV. Either way, a rattling RV door is an annoyance. 

The good news is you can totally fix a rattling RV door. Unfortunately, different doors rattle for different reasons, so you might have to do some troubleshooting in order to find the source of your rattle and take care of the problem. 

Here are some of the most common fixes for rattling RV doors. 

Sign up for the newsletter today!

Please enter a valid email address.

An error occurred. Please try again later.

× logo

Thank you for subscribing to the Do It Yourself RV newsletter, keep your eye on your inbox for updates.

Check the Latch

Before anything else, check that your door is latching properly. In some cases, RV doors shift in just such a way that the latch doesn’t click all the way into place, causing the door to rattle when moved at all.

Pull the door hard to be sure it’s clicked completely closed. You might even try locking the door before you hit the road to see if that solves the issue. 

If these tips don’t work, but you’re convinced it’s a latch issue, try the idea in this video.

Tighten the Screws

Making sure the door is latched properly is obviously the easiest fix. That said, it isn’t the only simple way to fix a rattling RV door. You may also want to try tightening the screws. The hinge screws on some RV doors tend to loosen up over time. Sometimes screws in the plate around the RV door latch can come free as well. 

Use a screwdriver to tighten up all the screws in and around the door. This might just fix your rattling problem and save your sanity, and it’ll only take a few minutes. 

Secure the Screen Door Kick Panel

The screen door that is a part of your RV door could also be the culprit of the rattling noise. Most RV screen doors have a solid plastic kick plate at the bottom. This plate is not always tight in its frame. The result is an incessant rattle that is enough to drive even the most laid-back traveler crazy. 

Fortunately, the solution to this common problem is incredibly simple. All you need to do is use a small bead of sealant or a few strips of black tape to hold the kick plate still and remove the source of your rattle. 

Grab Some Weatherstripping 

The way RVs flex during travel can cause some issues with the way your door fits into its frame. Sometimes, the result is a door that doesn’t want to latch properly, as mentioned above. Another result of flexing RV walls is a door that doesn’t perfectly fit into its frame any longer.

Luckily, RVs are made to flex and move, so this isn’t a huge issue or anything you need to be worried about. Simply grab some self-adhesive weatherstripping and stick it in the door frame in such a way that it creates a tight fit between the door and the frame. 

Not only will this solve many rattling problems, but it’ll also help keep cold air out of the camper in the winter. 

Add Magnets

We mentioned the screen door kick panel, but this isn’t the only way the screen door can cause rattling noises. There are times when the noise is caused by the screen door moving back and forth. You can test whether this is your issue by seeing if the screen door latches tightly in place or if there’s play. If there is play, that loose screen door is almost certainly the cause of your problem. 

There are a few ways to fix this. Our favorite solution is magnets! Glue one magnet to the door frame where you’d like the screen door to stay when shut, and then glue another to the screen door where it will meet up with the first magnet. This will hold the screen door in place when it’s closed and should get rid of the rattling. 

Prefer a different sort of fix for this issue? The video below has a good suggestion.

Look for a Tensioning Rod

The last thing that could be the cause of RV door rattling is an RV door tensioning rod. This method of adjusting RV doors isn’t actually in use anymore, so if you have a newer rig, you can probably rule this potential problem out. That said, those with older RVs and rattling doors might want to check for such a rod.

The rod is located behind your RV door trim. Sometimes the nut comes loose from the rod, causing the rod to fall behind the frame, so you might need a flashlight to find the rod and pull it back into place. 

Once the rod is located, simply tighten the nut (or add a new nut if necessary). You’ll likely need a deep socket for this job, and you’ll want to be sure to get it all tightened up nice and snug. Finish the job by replacing your door trim and then enjoy your rattle-free RV door! 

There you have it—our top tips for dealing with RV door rattling. Hopefully this helps you stop that annoying RV door noise so you can fully enjoy your RV travels without any unwanted background noise.

Track your RV maintenance

Make sure you keep track of all your RV maintenance and repairs with an online tool such as RV LIFE Maintenance. Not only can you keep all of your documents in one place, but you’ll also receive timely reminders when maintenance is due to help you avoid costly repairs and potentially serious accidents.

Related articles: