Bought our trailer, now come the questions!

When my latch gets hard to operate I pull the handle to bring the latch into the door and give it a quick spray of WD-40. That lubes the internal sliding surfaces of the latch. I then release it and wipe off excess to keep from soiling clothes. Good for a month or two.

jdgreen42 wrote:
Bar soap or parafin decorative candle, etc will work on the door latch. It will wear off, just re-apply.

Paraffin or candle wax..

Good call, one of my "go to's" for fixing sticking or difficult operating zippers.

Dry, natural and if you brush or touch it doesn't leave a grimy/dirty mess plus does not attract or hold dust and dirt.

Have used candle wax on sticking RV window slides.

Take any candle, rub the candle on the surface you want to be dry lubricated..

Might work for a time in the case of the latch surface but will eventually need to be reapplied..

Bar soap or parafin decorative candle, etc will work on the door latch. It will wear off, just re-apply.

Latch assy may need a little light lubrication on the edges (top/bottom, sides), adding lubrication to the gliding surface of the latch is pretty much futile as it will just wear off or end up on your hands and clothes over time and the issue just comes back until you relubricate.

I have never lubricated the gliding surface of my latches on my current TT and they work perfectly. Wasn't the case with the original doors on my current TT as they were totally destroyed by water damage and sagging.. I built new doors from scratch, no more latching issues..

Not saying your doors are toast, just saying that a little sag or misadjustment in the door can be a real drag on the latch.

Have you tried the doors with stabilizers down to see if that makes a difference?

Sometimes overtightening the stabilizers can temporarily tweek the trailer frame enough to cause the doors to stick or be difficult to open or close.

Ah, thanks for the thoughts.

Yeah, it's the switch I noticed that gets warm. And quite possibly wrong wattage bulbs. I'll check that.

And the door seems to line up fine, except the strike and latch. I need to pull the handle (pulling in the latch) to get it to close smooth. I'll look a bit closer, and maybe try the lube you recommended. Thanks.

You show a pic of actual switch, and then the light fixture? The switch should not get VERY warm, but the fixture/bulb will.

I have used a slight amount of clear teflon trailer ball lubricant on my door strike and latch pictured. Works very easy for a long time. I don't just wing/slam the door shut, most times, just push it shut, often times using the pull handle when doing so. RV doors aren't built like a truck door.

Jerry

Incadescent bulbs draw a lot of wattage which with enough load can cause switches to get "warm" but not hot to touch.

Someone could have replaced the original bulb with a bulb that draws a higher wattage for more brightness which could be bad.

May wish to consider finding LED replacement bulbs to fit your fixtures.

Hard closing doors are sometimes caused by misalignment of the door, warped, rotted door or worn hinges causing the latch to not engage correctly in the frame.

Verify the latch is centering with mating latch surface in the the door frame correctly and that the door is not warped, tweeked or rotted out.