New style door latch

Stopped by TM dealer here in Lubbock, TX yesterday where I noticed a new type of latch to hook the two door sections together. Instead of the old type the uses a piece of plastic, the new type is a two part metal that is riveted on. It reminds me of a window sash lock. It seems to make a positive latch.

Anyone here using the new type latch on your TM, and if so does it work and would it be good to upgrade? The old style is really a weak attempt at a latch.

[Wavery]

I agree that the old plastic latch is rather feeble and down right unprofessional looking. However.........there is a flip side to that.

If your goal is to keep an intruder out of your camper, the old style should do the job. If the intruder is determined enough to get past the old style latch, that intruder will get into your camper, no matter what you do. The difference is, with the new style latch, the intruder will have to find another way to gain entrance or force that latch hard enough to do some serious damage.

The end result will be whatever the thief was originally after being gone plus considerable higher repair damage.

If the thief is just looking for an open door and quick, unnoticeable entry, the plastic latch should keep him out. If the thief is determined to get in, he will get in. The difference is only how much damage is done in the process.

I learned this concept the hard way on my yacht. I had a bullet proof locking system on my companionway hatch (entry door). A thief wanted in my yacht to steal a lousy boom box that was sitting on the table. He pried the door open with a steel bar and did about $1,000 worth of damage to the teak hatch. I couldn't have cared less about that stupid boom box but I was sure upset about the damage that he did to my boat. It was horrible.

We have the new style on our '2008...

[Bill]

Although I have no experience with it, I'm not sure I am enthusiastic about the new latch. The old style allowed a small amount of "slop" between the two door halves. This could be handy if the two halves of the door jamb on the hinge side are not EXACTLY aligned. In this situation, the two halves of the door will not swing EXACTLY parallel to each other, and the old latch allowed a bit of slippage to accomodate this. The new latch forces the two halves to swing together, and if the jamb is not exactly straight, the mismatch force is transferred to the hinges, and the screws that secure them.

Granted, the two halves of the door jamb would be perfectly aligned in a perfect world. But in the real world, with one half of the jamb on a movable shell and the other on the lower box, a small amount of misalignment is almost inevitable.

What I'm really saying is that I would like to hear any reports of door hinge or door closing problems that are alleviated if the owners loosens a new-style latch.

Bill

I agree with Bill. I have the old style latch. When I swing the door open or closed, I can observe the size of the gap between the upper and lower door change by quite a bit. I think it is best to not have them strapped together too tightly.

I also agree with harvyrv. A determine thief will get in somehow. A burglar once broke in the side door of my garage by using a crow bar. Because the door was hollow core, it colapsed and the door frame was only knicked. Had I had a steel door or a solid wood door, the door frame very likley would have been substatnially damaged, costing more to repair.

My daugher drives a Miata convertible. Her registration and other important stuff is locked in the trunk. The doors are never latched. Several tiems she has discovere that someone has looked in her center console and glove box only to discover that there was nothing worth stealing. Had the doors been locke the potential thief may have slashed the convertible top. There is no point in locking the doors on a convertible to keep a thief out.

The only time my TM is exposed to vandals is in a campground when we are out for the day. At home is is closed and in the garage. If I had it stored open at home I might rethink my strategy.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

I agree with Bill. I have the old style latch. When I swing the door open or closed, I can observe the size of the gap between the upper and lower door change by quite a bit. I think it is best to not have them strapped together too tightly.

I had Bill's and Wayne's concerns with the "slop" between the doors while closing, and even wondered how the new latch allowed for this. That was 1 of the reasons I took my TM to the factory last summer, to see whether they could maybe align my front shell a little better so the upper door wouldn't ride so high while closing. But instead of aligning the front shell better they installed the new style door latch to replace the nylon strip connector that came with my 2003 2720. The door worked great with the new system, even though I know it had to be binding a little. After getting used to it, I actually preferred the new latch over the old style.

Chap

[Bill]

The wall of the lower shell (to which the lower half of the door is attached) is held rigidly in place. It won't move. If the two halves of the door are rigidly attached to each other, I suppose what happens is that when you swing the door, the wall of the shell (to which the upper half of the door is attached) is forced to move a bit. And fortunately, it can. And I suppose this is better than having the two halves of the door actually separate when you swing it open or closed.

I'm still not sure I'm enthusiastic about this arrangement. But if there is too much movement, the wall of the lower shell can be moved a bit via an adjustment that Denny_A described several years ago.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...read.php?t=129

Bill

From what you are describing, I must have the new style latch on our 2008, and I haven't noticed any problems with it. The main issues we have with the door are getting it to stay closed when we are un-level (the dead-bolt solves that) and during setup we sometimes struggle with the two 4" sections that swing out to shift the door frame even with the upper/outer shell. The pins don't line up and fit into the spring clips well all the time, probably having to do with leveling also.

But the actual door latch works fine.

We purchased our camper back in June and have not experienced any problems with the new-style latch. It seems to work exactly as intended.

I did buy and install the new latch (yes it does look like a window latch) but first every thing had to be level and all arms were adjusted correctly along with pocket stop bolts adjusted "first" so nothing else could effect the line up then and only then did I feel safe to drill holes for alingment of the latch.

I know this sounds long winded but it really helped me 100 %.

Good luck