Quiet door latch

I'm not familiar with how your latch is made but the one I have and many others on here have is the Trimark door latch. The latch itself is made from a Zinc alloy some call it pot metal which is very weak and breaks easily especially when constantly slamming the door. I have replaced or repaired mine 3 times over the years. The last repair was adding a steel plate to join the broken pieces together and it is holding up well. If the latch itself is nonmagnetic it is made from this zinc alloy and not steel.

I agree with Wildtoad above. Now is the time to TEACH them how to do things properly. This includes manners as well as care of equipment.

Last year we changed our door lock from the factory Lippert latch to a keyless one from RVLocks and more. Now we can close the door with a push of your little finger it closes so nice. Friends that camp with still slam our door, but it is not necessary at all.

As an aside, our camper came with slam latches for the compartments which I was not a fan of because way too many people slam their doors in my opinion. That's also why I hate motels. ;)

Hey there, Mike. Welcome aboard.

A recurring complaint over the years has been "what do we do about those campers who slam their doors?" This is a good opportunity to talk to your kids about the impact they have on other campers.

As far as closing the door more quietly, we usually operate the latch handle while we're closing it. Grab the latch and hold it open, hold it by the latch as you're shutting the door, and then tug it firmly to make the latch shut itself.

Other than that, take a look at the orientation of the door latch and the strike plate and make sure they're lined up OK. If not, loosen up the strike plate and move it into a better alignment.

Hope that helps. And have fun with the kiddos.

Welcome to the forum!

While I can't help, as to a quiet door latch, I do agree with maybe trying to train the kids not to slam. I know...kids will be kids, and everyone is in a hurry! I put a little teflon lubricant on the strike plate, and sloped bolt surface. It makes my door push or pull shut, much easier. Just don't use wheel bearing grease, as the kids will remove that with their clothes! :)

RV doors are not house door quality, and will not stand up to continuing abuse.

Jerry

Tell the kids to quit slamming the door! Just have them close the door firmly.

Welcome to the forum!

…or should the kids learn to not slam the door? Could be an important teaching moment.