Sliding door problem on our "B"

[Gary.Jones]

We feel we have to keep the sliding door right aft of the half bath closed and locked into position at all times when we travel, because we travel with two cats. The female is extremely inquisitive as well as not the happiest traveler we have found, so she looks for anywhere she can "hide" in the smallest place possible. Most of us know that there is a huge hole that opens up when the bed slide is "in" and pets getting into the slide have been killed with some frequency because people dont know their small dog or cat is under the bed when they run the slides out. It will maim or kill anything that is in there.

So, we have to lock our sliding door closed so she can't ever get into the back when the bed slide is "in". I did that by repositioning the black plastic "stop" that is inside the slide. I moved it so the door would lock firmly against the pantry slide when slides were all "in". However, the plastic pin that goes into the hole to lock the slide door (which is darn heavy) is starting to get worn and loose in making that lock.

I know I could install a simple hook and eye type "lock" which would look pretty terrible and pretty unsophisticated, but it would be easy. Is there a nicer looking lock that could be used to lock the door firmly against the pantry slide while we are bumping down the road?

Any ideas appreciated.

Gary

[bevandtomH]

Good Morning Gary,

How about magnets?
I used stock magnetic drawer closures to hold that same door in place when parked. Depending on how level we are, the door would rattle when walking by.
Now it is “Stuck” to the wall.

[Gary.Jones]

Tom:

Never thought of magnets..... Hmmmmmmm

Thanks .. I'll chew that over in the head for a while.

Gary

[Cousin Ed]

I'm not a cat guy but how-bout a travel carrier. If the cat likes small places, she just might like her own box. You'll know where she is; she'll be safe and probably happy.

[LWBAZ]

Gary, the solution is as close as your local Walmart or Home Depot!

[LWBAZ]

On a more serious note, since we also have the B plan, I'll take a look and see if I can formulate an approach even better than Gorilla Tape.

[hdgoldie]

We just stuffed the openings with pillows on travel days. Kept the kitties safe without needing to move the doors.

[Gary.Jones]

Thanks for comments so far and please keep them coming.

Goldie, we did the "stuff the hole with stuff" process with our Anthem but we found it to be a big pain in the butt to do that.... maybe when we were 45 but we were not impressed with the effort.

We came up with the idea of moving the plastic lock piece in the aluminum slide channel and it fundamentally works very well. Frankly, it seemed strange to us that they would install a plastic slide lock piece in the door aluminum channel screwed to the ceiling to lock the door open, but had apparently never thought anyone might want to lock the sliding door closed. Why would anyone need to lock the door open?? Made no sense to us. Only logic I could come up with was to keep the door open while barreling down the road.

So, I measured where the plastic locking piece would need to be positioned to lock the door closed when the door was closed, unscrewed it from where it was positioned, and drilled a new hole through the aluminum channel where it needed to be located to lock the door closed. Took about a half hour and for years now, it has worked perfectly to keep Zoey (the aforementioned female kitty) from entering the bedroom area as we travel down the road. It is still working, but the weakness to the system is the plastic pin/cap that is threaded onto a steel rod connected to the door knob latch and goes into the hole in the plastic lock and over the years, the plastic pin and the metal rod has been taking abuse just from the weight of the door. Thus the interest in some other strategy for securing the door.

If mankind can send a man to the moon, then someone must have invented a lock more sophisticated than a hook and an eye (maybe $1.99 at WalMart) to deal with this problem........... I'd gladly spend upwards of $20 or $30 to solve this problem...

Gary

[RVFunlovers]

I like the magnet idea because I sometimes hear the door rattle as well. But normally when the door is open. We rarely close the door when it is just the two of us in the coach.

We have one cat. We do the stuff the hole with pillows act. Our cat does not like the diesel engine. When we start it up she immediately heads for the couch or under the table. But I have had concerns when we are parked with the slides in.

We learned from Gary to have eyes on the cat before we move a slide in or out.

[Gary.Jones]

Yep, ALWAYS have two pairs of eyes on all cats and small dogs (or any other welcome critters), before moving slides out or in.

Gary

[DoggieDaddy]

Pet gate? Did I miss that one? They make all kinds and sizes. That heavy door should be stored in a wide open position for support, that's how we stow ours when we travel.

[Gary.Jones]

Robert

Wide open would be the exact opposite of what I am trying / wanting / have been doing .... trying to do. And the animal gate idea is one that is possible, but a cat is capable of jumping very far up into the air to get on top of, or over, something. Also, my female would think nothing of getting on the kitchen counter, then launching herself from the counter to the mattress to easily get over a gate..... the gate would have to be almost as tall as the door to make her not try. No, that idea won't work. But thanks for the suggestion

Gary

[garysfb]

OK, thinking in a different direction. What about wrapping the pin with the super strong 3M tape to widen it out? It may wear out quick, but easy to replace.

[jeff.herren]

maybe a thin nyloc bushing either over the pin or in the hole or both?