Well it happened!! We got locked inside our camper. Talk about a pain in the butt along with just total anger. We walked in closed the door and then were going to let dogs out and the handle just pulled with out releasing the main latch. My wife went out the window of our 07 Damon Daybreak Class A and was able to hand me tools. I took the cover off the inside and saw the cheap pot metal bar that slides the latch across was broken in half. So for the next two hours we drilled, bent metal around inside and outside of the door and it let loose after 2hrs. I went to the dealer and he said there was nothing any different than he would have done in that situation. You cant pick it because its not locked and to slide that latch over in the middle you would need to try and bend metal to get a screw driver in from outside. Also drilling the latch didn't work very well it would not slide left at all. Warning to all replace that stupid latch and lock every few years because just lubing it is not going to keep the cheap pot metal from breaking. Will spend the week bending metal back grinding and painting the areas that got damaged by trying to get out. Just wanted to tell my story and if you have any questions or advice feel free to comment.

k9-keno wrote:Well it happened!! We got locked inside our camper. Talk about a pain in the butt along with just total anger. We walked in closed the door and then were going to let dogs out and the handle just pulled with out releasing the main latch. My wife went out the window of our 07 Damon Daybreak Class A and was able to hand me tools. I took the cover off the inside and saw the cheap pot metal bar that slides the latch across was broken in half. So for the next two hours we drilled, bent metal around inside and outside of the door and it let loose after 2hrs. I went to the dealer and he said there was nothing any different than he would have done in that situation. You cant pick it because its not locked and to slide that latch over in the middle you would need to try and bend metal to get a screw driver in from outside. Also drilling the latch didn't work very well it would not slide left at all. Warning to all replace that stupid latch and lock every few years because just lubing it is not going to keep the cheap pot metal from breaking. Will spend the week bending metal back grinding and painting the areas that got damaged by trying to get out. Just wanted to tell my story and if you have any questions or advice feel free to comment.Had the same thing happen to us in Moab last fall, TOTAL ANGER, is a bit of an understatement, luckily, after disassembling the whole thing, I got the broken slide out, reassembled, and just used the deadbolt until I got a replacement.

All you had to do was to drill a hole in the broken latch bar, then pull it back with a screwdriver and open the door. I have replaced two so far. There are a couple of other little things that you are going to run into also. Have fun!

Does anyone make a good quality, easy to fit replacement? My wife hates how sticky the regular latch is on ours.. I've sanded it smooth (both latch and strike plate), graphite lube.. still if you pull on the door while trying to unlatch it can be very difficult. And for some reason she can't get the 'push with thumb and rotate latch out with fingers' method.

Johno02 wrote:All you had to do was to drill a hole in the broken latch bar, then pull it back with a screwdriver and open the door. I have replaced two so far. There are a couple of other little things that you are going to run into also. Have fun!Not sure how that would work. I slid out the broken end of that slide bar and it was just a straight break. Unless your suggesting I drill in to the lock and try and drill in to the broken end near the center latch. Because I tried that and that's what took the most time had to clear a path drilling a few holes along the way to the left so I could get driver on it to slide left.

Yes, I had to drill several holes in a row along the tunnel that holds the latch bar. Just lucky that you were inside. We now leave at least one window unlocked for a reason. Not the same one all the time. Now, to the latch plate! Depending on your lock, it looks the same on the replacement lock, but may not be. The retainer pins and slots on the newer relacement lock are just a hair bigger than the old ones, and will not fit without replacing the latch plate. In our case, the latch plate could not be removed from the outside. If you run into this problem, let me know for the solution. Its really easy, but hard to describe.

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k9-keno
Explorer
Aug 09, 2016
Johno02 wrote:
All you had to do was to drill a hole in the broken latch bar, then pull it back with a screwdriver and open the door. I have replaced two so far. There are a couple of other little things that you are going to run into also. Have fun!

Not sure how that would work. I slid out the broken end of that slide bar and it was just a straight break. Unless your suggesting I drill in to the lock and try and drill in to the broken end near the center latch. Because I tried that and that's what took the most time had to clear a path drilling a few holes along the way to the left so I could get driver on it to slide left.
braindead0
Explorer
Aug 09, 2016
Does anyone make a good quality, easy to fit replacement? My wife hates how sticky the regular latch is on ours.. I've sanded it smooth (both latch and strike plate), graphite lube.. still if you pull on the door while trying to unlatch it can be very difficult. And for some reason she can't get the 'push with thumb and rotate latch out with fingers' method.
Johno02
Explorer
Aug 09, 2016
All you had to do was to drill a hole in the broken latch bar, then pull it back with a screwdriver and open the door. I have replaced two so far. There are a couple of other little things that you are going to run into also. Have fun!
bukhrn
Explorer III
Aug 09, 2016
k9-keno wrote:
Well it happened!! We got locked inside our camper. Talk about a pain in the butt along with just total anger. We walked in closed the door and then were going to let dogs out and the handle just pulled with out releasing the main latch. My wife went out the window of our 07 Damon Daybreak Class A and was able to hand me tools. I took the cover off the inside and saw the cheap pot metal bar that slides the latch across was broken in half. So for the next two hours we drilled, bent metal around inside and outside of the door and it let loose after 2hrs. I went to the dealer and he said there was nothing any different than he would have done in that situation. You cant pick it because its not locked and to slide that latch over in the middle you would need to try and bend metal to get a screw driver in from outside. Also drilling the latch didn't work very well it would not slide left at all. Warning to all replace that stupid latch and lock every few years because just lubing it is not going to keep the cheap pot metal from breaking. Will spend the week bending metal back grinding and painting the areas that got damaged by trying to get out. Just wanted to tell my story and if you have any questions or advice feel free to comment.
Had the same thing happen to us in Moab last fall, TOTAL ANGER, is a bit of an understatement, luckily, after disassembling the whole thing, I got the broken slide out, reassembled, and just used the deadbolt until I got a replacement.

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