Ever been locked inside of your own trailer?

[whoofit]

I was yesterday. The trailer would not let me leave. I was kidnapped O.J. Simpson style. Glad I had enough food and water to last the 20 minutes it took for me to find the proper square bit and disassemble the door latch mech. I was gonna jump out of a window but I removed the big red EXIT label from the wall and couldn't remember which window I was supposed to use.

I suggest you take the time to disassemble the door latch mech and add some Locktite or fingernail polish to the two screws that contain the deadbolt slide. This before someone gets emotionally injured. 

 This has been a public service announcement

[pinstriper]

Please post video of the procedure to disassemble etc.

Also some footage of you freaking out and jumping out the window. If you get a chance, I mean.

Did you even try getting out through a roof vent ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[whoofit]

No, I did not try to get out using a roof vent. I thought of it but figured there was no way the fan could lift this much weight.

I do not have a video of me freaking out in this instance. I have other instances but not this one. I entertained taking a video of me needing to break back into the trailer after I stupidly closed the door behind me on my way to search for some Locktite in the shed. But it was an uneventful and peaceful excursion through the rear pass-through.

I would take a picture of the completed job but the fingernail polish color doesn't quite match and a guy has to have his standards.


Oh, and don't think I'm not ready for Fasteddy to come along with a video to show me it shouldn't take 20 minutes to disassemble the latch mech. He does not have to deal with the dirty laundry pile my bit was lost in...

[daplumbr]

Somehow I knew there was more to the story.....

Thanks for the public service announcement.  

[whoofit]

Yes there is even yet more to this story but I refuse to show my incompetence and subject myself to unwarranted, vicious and demeaning attacks.

Seriously though, if that little red flipper becomes a little too easy to flip it is time. Those deadbolt slide screws are gonna let the little push rod fall off inside and maybe down into the hollow of the door..

[peislander]

[quote source="/post/20328/thread" author="@whoofit" timestamp="1460126597"]If that little red flipper becomes a little too easy to flip it is time. Those deadbolt slide screws are gonna let the little push rod fall off inside and maybe down into the hollow of the door..[/quote]Thanks for the tip. Good to know.

[whoofit]

[quote source="/post/20323/thread" timestamp="1460116388" author="@pinstriper"]Please post video of the procedure to disassemble etc.

[/quote]Here at 1:12 you will see the plate that loosens up. It is the plate with the key code# label on it. You can see the two phillips head screws that loosen up letting the deadbolt assembly fall apart. Taking those out one by one and putting some Loctite Blue on the threads will stop them from coming loose.

[video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7u3btP5im4"][/video]

[furpod]

Many RV deadbolts will "walk" under steady vibration..

[whoofit]

I can see that happening easily with the screws being loose. Now the key and lever work like I remember when it was new. Positive resistance when turning and firmly locked/unlocked in place.

[chuck893]

I appreciate Whoofit's discomforture! I've never experienced it myself except vicariously.

In the early 90's on a spring Scout campout at considerable altitude, an assistant scoutmaster thought it far too cold to sleep in his tent (he was right; it was). He crawled into his minivan instead, and awoke to discover that he (1) needed rather badly to relieve himself and (2) he could not get out of his car because his breath overnight had frozen every single door solidly shut. He eventually attracted attention so someone would pour coffee on a door so he could escape.  (rofl)

On a family campout around the same time there was a church group in the group camp, very nice kids, singing gospel songs into the night around the campfire &c &c. Around oh-dark-thirty my wife and I were out to, errrm, "see the stars" and heard a good deal of muffled giggling in the parking area near the kybo. We didn't think much of it until we returned in the early daylight to discover that the camp leader's car, with the leader inside, had been totally wrapped in Saran wrap.  (

[wingsoverwisconsin]

Ive been locked out of mine.  Apparently, there's a number of defective door locks out there.  I had to visit the dealer for a replacement.

Before hauling the trailer an hour away to the dealer, I crawled in through one of the basement doors and tried disassembly.  But its tricky to remove the lock assembly with the deadbolt extended.

My advise is NEVER use the deadbolt.

[daplumbr]

I hope our deadbolt keeps working ok. I do keep it lubricated and tight because that's all we use.

We don't use the regular lock because: 1) it's possible to lock the door with all the keys inside and, 2) the deadbolt has a key that's different from all the other RV keys whereas the regular door lock has a universal key that everyone uses. 

[gbpack]

We only use the deadbolt as well. Using the lock on the little door handle is a pain.......!!

[whoofit]

I didn't use either lock. Just shut the door behind me and the bolt flew into position....happened after I broke out too...heh

[djsamuel]

[quote timestamp="1460115915" author="@whoofit" source="/post/20322/thread"]I was yesterday. The trailer would not let me leave. I was kidnapped O.J. Simpson style. Glad I had enough food and water to last the 20 minutes it took for me to find the proper square bit and disassemble the door latch mech. I was gonna jump out of a window but I removed the big red EXIT label from the wall and couldn't remember which window I was supposed to use.

I suggest you take the time to disassemble the door latch mech and add some Locktite or fingernail polish to the two screws that contain the deadbolt slide. This before someone gets emotionally injured. 

 This has been a public service announcement
[/quote]


THANK YOU for posting this! Last week, we were camping with my 86 year old mother in law. I was heading to work some of those days as well. I unlocked the door and noticed how easy the latch moved. At first I didn't think anything of it, but it bothered me enough to put a driver with a #2 square bit inside the camper "just in case". When we got home, I remembered your post and did a search for it. I took off the cover and sure enough, those two screws were really loose. Not many threads on them either. In any case, put loctite on them, tightened them up and all is back to normal. Could have been a real problem to have an 86 year old mother in law trapped inside the camper with my wife outside and me at work.

EDIT:  Since this can be a common issue, I made this thread a sticky.