06 Dynasty Wet Bay Door Latch Broke

[joeldog]

The wet bay door latch handle broke off in my hand, now I can't get the door to open. The door opens up, so I think there are 2 strikers, one on each side of the door. Any suggestions on how to get the door open would be great. I ordered a complete replacement latch, should arrive in 2 days.
Thanks,
Joel

[K7JV]

I am so sorry!!! Ours broke too, several years ago, but it happened at an RV repair facility. They broke it, so they got the replacement and repaired it without my observation of participation. When you get the replacement latch, you might get a good idea for how you might "break in" to the bay without doing more severe damage.

I can't help with how to get in, but I can share what I do, to prevent just that from happening. EVERY time I open that bay (it's also an '06 Dynasty), I pull the latch, and then put my left foot under the door and lift with my foot, while I pull up GENTLY with the latch handle. That way, my foot does most of the initial lift. The way they designed that door hinge mechanism results in really huge forces being required on that fragile latch handle during the first couple of inches of travel. I sure like the way it opens up, but it's definitely not a good design!

[Twomed]

Unload...crawl through you can release each side by hand. The new one takes a little modification/drilling as Monaco used heavier control rods.

Have done a bunch of these. Easy after the first few, but I love the doors.

[K7JV]

It would be great if he could, but he'd have to crawl thru the AquaHot, the power cable drum, the Manibloc and the plumbing. I'm not sure how I'd get in there. Joeldog, you might try putting vice grips on what is sticking out where it broke off, and use the foot lift technique I mentioned above. Now that I recall, I think that's how I did it when the repair shop broke ours off. Push in to take as much "load" off of the catches that you can, and see if you can't get it to come clear. Again, good luck!!