Rotten door,,, please help

I would go with wider boards but not thicker. Try to rebuild so the dimensions stay the same. I think the strength would be improved with bolts (countersink) holding it together and cross members to keep it rigid. A little extra weight shouldn't be an issue if the hinge can handle it.

Shasta doors are basically held togther by the aluminum. They couldn't make them any thinner. In comparison, your door framing doesn't look bad.

The cardboard in the Shasta door was honeycomb and actually does a lot for the strength of the door without the weight. It isn't there now though...I did use styrofoam, and some spray adhesive, also the Kreg jig for the corners. I added a brace at the bottom of the frame.

Do you have a Scotty or a Shasta? Reason being, I notice that there is a groove, running from to bottom, on the door lock side. Is there a hole in the bottom of the door skin, on the door lock side. If so, there should have been a rusty threaded rod in the groove. This needs to be replaced and reinstalled. The door needs to be able to bend. By tightening the threaded rod, it will cause the door to bow slightly, thus insuring that it gets good contact when the door is closed.

Here are some pictures that I posted on another thread:

Thanks a bunch everyone for the advice. You are all awesome!

My trailer is a Vanbrook.  I haven't found any others. 

Rod, thanks for the pictures.  Yes, that's almost what I have.  There is a rod  similar the the pictures of the starflyte door except mine has two rods, one above the door handle and one below.  The top is still intact and looks very similar to yours.  I'm not sure that two rods would create the same effect as one??

The cut out for the door handle goes all the way through the wood and to the edge.  It seems I should do something about that. I am hoping I can use one long edge board and set the lockset into it.

I sure wish the builders has used standard sized lumber. I' be done in a couple hours, but finding boards to match the 1 and 5/8ths is a bit of a problem and I don't have a planer. :-(

I'm hoping my brother in-law can rip that close on his table saw.

Thanks again,
Cheri

Harbor Freight with all of its cheap stuff from China has become my favorite store. My latest purchases were a "flame thrower" that I use to burn the weeds in our bluestone driveway and a 1/2" corded drill. I think both cost $29. As much as I dislike it, I guess we just have to embrace the fact that the good old USA is not a major manufacturing entity presently. Perhaps that will change, I DO hope so, especially since my background was in manufacturing engineering.

Thanks to everyone's advice and Ross's great pictures of the tension rods, I got my door reframed and put back on the camper.  I did put the tensioners back in. (one goes up from the door handle, the other goes down), and it is nice and straight and snug.  Kind of odd that you have to take out the door handle to adjust tension, but it works.

I was actually beginning to think that it was a really easy project until I hung it.   I didn't realize how tight and square you have to get the aluminum in order for the piano hing to work properly, so I had to take it off, prebend the corners and hang it again.  It worked the second time.  

Thanks for the help.
Cheri

My door is metal on both sides. Is this normal? I would like to put wood on the inside when I rebuild it..