Basement door latch replacement - 2004 Crescendo

[GreenAcresMO]

I have several of the door latches that are broken. I found a thread that mentioned SouthCo C5-23-45 as the replacement part but when I search on it, I get something that is very different...

I am also have some of the "hook" or "loop" that the door latch secures to that are broken... (water intrusion and rusted... ).

Any help in securing these would be greatly helpful.

Thank you,

KJ

 

[RayChez1]

I think you are referring to the compartment doors? Not sure what type Gulf Stream used that year, but on mine I found that what breaks inside is a little lever made out of pot medal and if you slam the compartment door down hard that breaks. What I done instead of buying door latches all the time and they are expensive, I decided to make the part that breaks easy out of steel. I went to a home depot and bought a stripe of steel about one eighth by one inch and it was about a yard long. I marked the piece to be made by laying the broken piece over and marked it with a pencil. Then I took the strap to a small grinder I have and shaped it, drilled the hole where the screw holds it in place and I eliminated the problem for ever. I made several and replaced the part on all of my door locks.

Now I also replaced all the latches on my cabinets with ABA 4 Grabbers which were sold by SouthCo. But I noticed on the computer that Amazon sells them now. They are great for cabinets and easy to install. You can look those up on Goggle.

 

[BPeschka]

Look in Amazon for RV latch. You’ll see locking and not locking thump latches as well as catcher to hold cargo doors up.

 

[[email protected]]

Sounds as if you're very smart with that stuff. I don't suppose you have any photos of what you've done. I have a 2000 Tourmaster that would probably have similar gear.

 

[RayChez1]

No I do not have any pictures and I am out on the road right now, but as soon as I get a chance I will text you a picture.

 

[[email protected]]

Many thanx. Enjoy your trip.

 

[mcruff]

Are these what your looking for, these are whats on my 2002 Friendship. I had to replace nearly all of them, these are made better than the originals, the part that breaks is still cast but its made different and much beefier.

http://www.fastecindustrial.com/images/30205-06.gif


http://www.fastecindustrial.com/products/otherlocks.html

 

[RayChez1]

Many thanx. Enjoy your trip.

Sent you a almost finished part or picture of the part that breaks inside the compartment door locks. The original is made out of pot metal, replaced with a home made part made out of steel. No more problems breaking. Hope you got the picture, I sent it to [email protected]. Just got back from my trip and rushed to send you the picture.

Also I noticed MCruff posted a picture of the type of door locks that I have and those are the type with a weak actuator lever that breaks if you slam the door hard. They will break every time because of the cheap pot metal material used.

 

[mcruff]

Ray the the link I posted for the latches are not the same, they look the same on the outside and while they are similar on the inside the lever is made different from the originals made by Tippert. None of my newer ones have broken at all.

 

[RayChez1]

Ray the the link I posted for the latches are not the same, they look the same on the outside and while they are similar on the inside the lever is made different from the originals made by Tippert. None of my newer ones have broken at all.

I am glad if they changed the metal from pot metal to something like steel or even aluminum. But the original compartment locks were a piece of junk on the actuator lever. Mine all broke within the first year and I bought the coach brand new. I bought a couple, then I decided to make the part out of steel. I just bought about a yard of 1/8x 1x 36, got the broken part and traced it with a pencil, cut it and took it to an electric grinder and a drill press. Made enough to change them all and I have never had any more problems.

What made a broken door lock so bad is that their was no way to open it up without cutting a hole through metal between the compartments wall to be able to unlock the broken door lock. It was a job I would not recommend to anybody because it was hard and took special cutting equipment.