Door latch

[scubadilo]

I had a fun experince this weekend while dry camping out in the middle of the desert a long way from everything. The wind was blowing fairly hard which meant that the door was closing somewhat hard on occassion. I went to open the door only to find that the latch handle was not working. As you might guess my drivers side door and all of the windows were locked. After looking around and scratching my head for awhile I began trying to pick the lock (everyone around camp seamed curious as to the origins of my knowledge in this department). At the same time my wife got on a cell phone to see if AAA would come help us out and if so how many children would it cost! I had found a stiff piece of wire that was just a little to thick to fit in the lock so I got a hammer and found something to flaten the wire out on. My wife saw me with the hammer as she was on the phone with AAA and thought that I was headed for a window. After I calmed her down I was able to get the lock on the drivers door open and we all had a nice warm place to sleep for the night.
All of that being said I was wondering if anyone has ever had to replace their door latch assembly?

[scubadilo]

I had a fun experince this weekend while dry camping out in the middle of the desert a long way from everything. The wind was blowing fairly hard which meant that the door was closing somewhat hard on occassion. I went to open the door only to find that the latch handle was not working. As you might guess my drivers side door and all of the windows were locked. After looking around and scratching my head for awhile I began trying to pick the lock (everyone around camp seamed curious as to the origins of my knowledge in this department). At the same time my wife got on a cell phone to see if AAA would come help us out and if so how many children would it cost! I had found a stiff piece of wire that was just a little to thick to fit in the lock so I got a hammer and found something to flaten the wire out on. My wife saw me with the hammer as she was on the phone with AAA and thought that I was headed for a window. After I calmed her down I was able to get the lock on the drivers door open and we all had a nice warm place to sleep for the night.
All of that being said I was wondering if anyone has ever had to replace their door latch assembly?

[Savannah]

Yep had our handle break off when I was inside with the dogs and hubby was at work. Couldn't get out without going out a window or the drivers door so hung out inside til he came home and could open it from the outside. Luckily the dogs didn't need out

Ordered a complete new latch/handle system from Winnebago and in the meantime removed the entire assembly and duct taped the holes. Not to secure but alot easier than going in and out the window or drivers door,

[scubadilo]

I talked to the dealer that I bought my unit from and was informed that the latch assembly is not covered by my extended warranty. I also talked to a local RV repair shop and they told me that they don't bother trying to repair the latches but rather just replace them.
I went home last night and decided to see if I could take the latch apart myself. It is only held together by three screws and I found that the problem was a little metal arm that had bent down just enough to miss the part that it was suppose to push against to open the door. I removed the handle assembly, bent the little metal back up with a couple of firm taps of a hammer and everything went back together just like it came apart.
Sometimes you just have to have enough curiousity and you find that things that quit working don't have to cost you an arm and a leg to get them back up and running.