I think a lot of the reason the doors are removed is because they make the interior feel smaller.
When I first looked at my triton, both doors were open and it felt pretty spacious, after cleaning it out enough to close the doors, it just seemed to feel a lot smaller.

198 doesn't have the door either, so I don't have any real experience. Though when I was working inside, I moved everything into the v-berth, and draped a sheet over the doorway, which made it feel much smaller.
What I'd like to do is open the doorway up a bit, which I feel would make it seem larger.
To do that though I think I'd have to go with a more robust strongback, and after having both my son in laws stand and bounce on the deck above the strongback,(400+lbs) with no detectable deformation, it seems sturdy enough that I don't want to mess with it just for cosmetics.


Ken.