front door lock broke,,NOW WHAT???{{{{UPDATE}}}}}}

[joelyn]

went to lock the trailer front door tonight and it locked ok but than I could not get the key out. Finally was able to wiggle it out but now I cannot get the key back in to unlock the lock. So locked out.
Any idea as to what happened and what I can do to fix it? Window are all closed also.
thanks

[SoundGuy]

2112 wrote:
I was in a state park a few years ago when one of our fellow campers was cutting away at his lock assembly with a Dremel tool using a cut off blade. I assume another victim of FIC. He got the door open by cutting up the assembly but I do not know the details.

Might be something to try.

SoundGuy wrote:
JMO, but I wouldn't go anywhere near this with any high speed tool - one inadvertent slip and you could be replacing the entire door. :M Instead, go through where any damage will be minimal, easy repairable, and invisible once corrected - the front pass through storage compartment.

2112 wrote:
With all due respect replacing a door is simple. You're advocating cutting out bed supports. Are you kidding :h

ME kidding?!! Hardly. It makes more sense to you to risk damaging a door with a Dremel tool that's inadvertently slipped out of your hands and would cost hundreds to replace over cutting through a couple of pieces of wood worth 50 cents?!!! Good grief. :S

Next spring I plan to install a couple of additional receptacles next to the bed in our trailer and to do so I'll be pulling a couple of the pass through compartment panels in order to gain access to where I need to work. Now that this discussion about failed door locks has come up I'll be modifying those panels and reattaching them with screws so in the unlikely event my own entry door lock should fail I'll be able to gain entry to the interior of the trailer via the pass through storage area simply by removing those screws. :B

Take a chance on damaging the entry door just to remove an inoperative door lock?! Ha Ha ... now that's funny! :W

[rockhillmanor]

I could not get my door off. I guess I'd try what Trimark suggested first and if that doesn't work you can do what my mobile repair guy ended up doing. Of course asking me first!

He pried the trim away from the lock. Got in there and was able to pull the lock out. Ordered me a new one and the next day I was back on the road. I had to get in right then and there so I said go for it.

The trim pushes back in with minimal damage. I did just leave mine and sprayed a little white paint on it to cover the scratches.
Or when you have the time go back and replace the trim.

Like I said after the first lock out and THAN a second lock out with the new replacement lock I took that striker out and only use the dead bolt now AND.....I always leave one window unlocked.

Keep in mind there are probably millions of those locks with the pot metal part STILL on shelves and installed in new RV's all over the US. A month doesn't go by that I don't run into someone that got locked out because the pot metal failed. IMHO and Trimark won't commit to me on way or the other, they are still using the same pot metal in their locks. And just offering the replacement part.:R

BTW: one of the most common symptoms that the lock is getting ready to blow is when the red lever inside starts giving you trouble not locking smoothly or sticks. Run don't walk to get another lock while you still can get in and out of your RV. :B

[2112]

Ozlander wrote:

2112 wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

2112 wrote:
I was in a state park a few years ago when one of our fellow campers was cutting away at his lock assembly with a Dremel tool using a cut off blade. I assume another victim of FIC. He got the door open by cutting up the assembly but I do not know the details.

Might be something to try.

JMO, but I wouldn't go anywhere near this with any high speed tool - one inadvertent slip and you could be replacing the entire door. :M Instead, go through where any damage will be minimal, easy repairable, and invisible once corrected - the front pass through storage compartment.

With all due respect replacing a door is simple. You're advocating cutting out bed supports. Are you kidding :h

I'm sure Camping World has doors that fit all TT's in stock in the back someplace.


Not.

Well how about that. My local KZ dealer has a door for mine in stock ready to be installed for $485 installed.

He said break a window and throw a kid through it. The window is cheaper.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

bighatnohorse wrote:
Hopefully you haven't sprayed anything into the lock.
Graphite is the appropriate lube for sticking locks.
Most auto shops or Ace Hardware will have it. You want a small tube with a small tip. Hold the tip against the lock opening, pry the little cover to the side if needed, and give the tube a squeeze or two.
Put a little graphite on the key and attempt to insert it. Try again if it doesn't work the first time.

X2

Lock lubricant is referred to as graphite fluid. Has virtually no body and the liquid, all of it evaporates quickly. Use anything else down here with desert sand and powder and it condemns the lock in short order. A locksmith lectured me on this.

[Chris_Bryant]

You can just remove the door from the outside- nearly all trailer doors are just attached via the mounting flange. A power drill driver and a putty knife and the door can be off in 5 minutes, back on in 10.

[Ozlander]

2112 wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

2112 wrote:
I was in a state park a few years ago when one of our fellow campers was cutting away at his lock assembly with a Dremel tool using a cut off blade. I assume another victim of FIC. He got the door open by cutting up the assembly but I do not know the details.

Might be something to try.

JMO, but I wouldn't go anywhere near this with any high speed tool - one inadvertent slip and you could be replacing the entire door. :M Instead, go through where any damage will be minimal, easy repairable, and invisible once corrected - the front pass through storage compartment.

With all due respect replacing a door is simple. You're advocating cutting out bed supports. Are you kidding :h

I'm sure Camping World has doors that fit all TT's in stock in the back someplace.


Not.

[2112]

SoundGuy wrote:

2112 wrote:
I was in a state park a few years ago when one of our fellow campers was cutting away at his lock assembly with a Dremel tool using a cut off blade. I assume another victim of FIC. He got the door open by cutting up the assembly but I do not know the details.

Might be something to try.

JMO, but I wouldn't go anywhere near this with any high speed tool - one inadvertent slip and you could be replacing the entire door. :M Instead, go through where any damage will be minimal, easy repairable, and invisible once corrected - the front pass through storage compartment.

With all due respect replacing a door is simple. You're advocating cutting out bed supports. Are you kidding :h

[Hornnumb2]

Do the screwdriver trick thats the easiest. Just use a flat head screwdriver that has a square shaft, tap it in and use a wrench on the shaft to unlock it.

[pawpaw47]

Can you get in through one on the baggage compartments?

[rbp111]

I was locked out of my trailer once and had to call a locksmith. After working on the lock for about 1/2 an hour he called his boss and told him the only option was to drill. His boss told him emphatically NO.

So he tried again.. And this time he squirted a lubricant in the lock hole, placed the key in the lock and gently, but firmly tapped the key in. Then he turned the key, and voila, it opened!

[SoundGuy]

2112 wrote:
I was in a state park a few years ago when one of our fellow campers was cutting away at his lock assembly with a Dremel tool using a cut off blade. I assume another victim of FIC. He got the door open by cutting up the assembly but I do not know the details.

Might be something to try.

JMO, but I wouldn't go anywhere near this with any high speed tool - one inadvertent slip and you could be replacing the entire door. :M Instead, go through where any damage will be minimal, easy repairable, and invisible once corrected - the front pass through storage compartment.

[2112]

I was in a state park a few years ago when one of our fellow campers was cutting away at his lock assembly with a Dremel tool using a cut off blade. I assume another victim of FIC. He got the door open by cutting up the assembly but I do not know the details.

Might be something to try.

[SoundGuy]

icanon wrote:
If windows are 'locked' you can try the storage compartment and thru the bed to get in?

Do I hear an echo? :R

[icanon]

If windows are 'locked' you can try the storage compartment and thru the bed to get in?

[Halmfamily]

When ours broke last year Trimark said to take a flat head screwdriver and tap it into the lock with a hammer and turn it to open. I didn't try it as I was able to go through my back door and crawl over the kitchen island to get to the front door and dismantled the lock from the inside.

The locks are easy to replace and as others have said a POS. Good luck