Entry door striker bolt

[Mogulite]

I’m having trouble with my entry door latching. The striker bolt has a hex fitting to loosen or tighten it. When it is as tight as it gets, it is still very loose and pivots slightly up and down. I’m assuming from reading other posts that this is normal.

My question is, can I unscrew it all the way out without loosing a nut behind it? I’m thinking about putting a washer behind it to take up some of the slack. Or is it really supposed to be that loose?

I want to see if I can fix my problem with the striker bolt before I start tearing the door apart to the work on the latch which looks very difficult.

Thanks

[Mogulite]

Picture of my striker bolt

[bentjm]

If it is a Mov-a-bolt from PTLEngineering, then it supposed to pivot and pivot easily. And, you can unscrew it no problem.

They have manuals on line.

[Ray,IN]

It is supposed to tighten so it will not move. There is a long-past thread here explaining how to substitute a machine shop shoulder bolt if the OEM goes bad.


The bolt is made to loosen to adjust door closure, when it isn't tight it allows the door to move, well, unless the dead bolt is latched.

[vanmark]

On many motor homes it is made loose to slide up and down. I have had to oil mine to get it to slide properly and for the door to shut easily. It is made this way to allow a slight flex of the frame

[Dutch Star Don]

They're designed to move (float). On uneven ground, your coach will flex. If that bolt was tight and the coach flexed, it would jam the door lock and you wouldn't be able to open or close it.

However, it's not supposed to be sloppy loose. On a previous coach, I snugged it up by installing a thin plastic washer behind the metal washer that is attached to the striker. I used the lid of a plastic container and cut out a washer a little larger than the one on your striker. Once you add the washer, you should still be able to move the striker.