Door locks breaking

[darbyjudy]

I would like to know how many have had the latch break in your motor home door lock? This happened to us last Summer and we had a terrible time getting into the Motor Home and then after we finally got into it we had a time finding the lock. The latch which is made of white medal broke right in the middle and the door would not unlock. We ended up drilling all the bolts from the lock in order to get the door open. I talked to another who had the same problem and he said they compleatly removed the door and frame assy in order to get in the door. I tried to contact the lock company but they would not even give me the courtesy of a return e-mail.

[RV Wizard]

The lock assmy I think you are referring to is made of a pot metal and if not kept clean and lubricated, adjusted properly, the coach leveled (not having the door in a bind) and not rough handled, will last a pretty good while. Otherwise, I have replaced some only a couple years old.

[darbyjudy]

You are correct Mike, the latch is made of pot medal. Is there a better replacement latch? If not is there a better way of getting the door open after it breaks. For us old people it was a disaster for neither of us is able to climb into the window. It seems to me that it is a pretty poor design. I tried to get an answer from the lock co, but they would not even give me the courtsy of a return e-mail.

[RV Wizard]

The easiest way is to remove the screws from the inside half of the lock assmy. That means you have to get inside the coach. Otherwise drilling the lock assmy up from the outside.

[cvrvr]

One our Allegro coach, I have two locks. One is the handle type that latches the door, it has a keylock but I never use. The other one is a keyed dead bolt. I replaced the factory unit with a commercial grade Schalge dead bolt with a unique key. The dead bolt is the only lock that I ever lock.

George