Entry door opened while travelling - update

myredracer wrote:
We pulled into a rest stop today and someone following our TT on the highway came over to us and said our rear entry door opened while driving along the road. We checked it and it was definitely closed and locked. But when we pushed on the door after re-locking it, it made a light clicking sound as if the latch had not completely engaged. We always give it a tug to make sure it's latched.

Should we also always be locking the doors (we have two entry doors) with the dead bolt as well anytime we are on the road? Have not heard of this happening before.

Fortunately there was no apparent damage and nothing missing. This particular door has been into the dealer twice already with latch problems. Maybe it's still faulty...

There is a large re-call on this problem. Winnebago is charged with repair.
MM49

Dog Folks wrote:
We use nothing but the dead bolts. Moving or parked.

Same here, we never lock the latch bolt. The deadbolt is so superior that using the latch bolt is a worthless effort. We do this with the house, garage, and with the RVs, deadbolt only.

If you can wait, Amazon has one for $30 that looks like the ones on my brother's TT.



We just ordered one. His problem was that one of the TT's two doors is locked and the key lock and little red handle inside rotate but don't unlock so the paddle handle can draw the bolt back.

On his, you'd need a Torx bit to take the mounting screws out. I'm guessing T-15.

I don't know if this latch shoots the bolt out farther when that feature is used or not. Nor do I know if "dead bolt" mode means the bolt won't retract from things like vibration or not. Starting to sound to me like the door frame are flexes enough that the bolt just doesn't reach the strike.

camperfamily wrote:
Know someone with a Sunnybrook 5th with this issue. Opens rather deadbolted or not. IDK if they found a resolution.

That seems surprising but then again it is an RV. They would need to measure the gap between the door and the jamb then measure how far the bolt sticks out of the door. This will tell them how deep the bolt is going into the strike plate. Add in the flex and it may be possible to jump out.

If the gap between the door and the strike plate is too large they may need to shim in the appropriate areas. You never know until you look at it.

Know someone with a Sunnybrook 5th with this issue. Opens rather deadbolted or not. IDK if they found a resolution.

We locked the door with the latch and deadbolt before setting off for Reno today. Drove part way on a twisty & bumpy section of hwy in Ca. (139 south of Adin). DW looked out the window and saw the entry open again!

Stopped and checked out the door and lock mechanism to find that the key no longer operates the dead bolt - turning the key does not move it in and out. Clearly the mechanism needs replacement. Managed to bungy cord the door closed from the inside and also used a rope on the outside just in case and carry on.

We phoned several RV mobile repair guys in Reno and nobody is returning calls. Called one RV shop and they said they were booked for another few weeks. May have to just find the part and install it myself.

The number of people above who say they have a lot of flex in the walls is rather unnerving. Must be a lot of flex going in some units and I hope ours isn't one of them.

I always use the deadbolts. The handle latch I leave unlocked when I'm inside, otherwise it gets locked as well.

I consider a deadbolt a must. If a door is having issues with it, replace the handle. If that can't be done, I'd consider buying a secondary deadbolt.

Vintage Trailer supply has this plus this for a deadbolt that isn't too big in the door.

mrekim wrote:
Here's another interesting door lock issue. I left the trailer, with someone sleeping inside. When leaving I locked the dead bolt and the handle lock. The person woke up and went outside.

They had to flick the deadbolt lock to get out but the door handle lock opened fine from the inside.

The handle lock was still in the locked position though. So it would be VERY easy to accidentally get locked out in that scenario....

Hence the reason to ONLY use the deadbolts for locking doors.

Mine came unlatched once due to flex of the body, since then I always use the deadbolt and it has stayed shut.

We use nothing but the dead bolts. Moving or parked.