scamp lock not catching

[David B.]

I believe I got my inspiration from this posting here at FGRV
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tch-49386.html

[mary and bob]

[QUOTE=Pearl;380348]David's door lock is the one I have been looking at here on the site! Camping World said they can't do it!

Some places don't want to take the time to perform a custom modification, they are just parts changers. Plus custom work takes time, and some thought, and maybe some trial & error work too, which all translates to so much money per hour and the job becomes cost prohibitive. Modifications I have done to our camper would not have been affordable if I had to pay someone to do them. If you can find some creative handyman type person that is willing to work with you, they can most likely solve the problem. Maybe some cranky old guy like me if there is one in your area who has mechanical, fabrication, and machinist experience.

[Pearl]

Thanks for all the info, guys and gal! Love David's job! And, Bob, guess I will start start looking for a 'cranky old man' with some knowledge. Just feel kike I am putting a lot of money out there to the repair shop and they can't do the job correctly! I am pretty handy for a loan female, but all of this just has me perplexed and uncertain. Nothing that I can attempt to do.

[Pearl]

Door only comes open while traveling. And, I have thought of the bungie cord idea. thanks

[mary and bob]

My point is that there must be other retired guys out there with some mechanical experience, are campers themselves, and don't mind helping out a fellow camper with a problem. And don't need to charge much if anything because we don't have the overhead expenses of a regular business. In the 40 years that I've owned campers I have never had to pay anyone for repairs other than mounting tires. Same with almost all work on my vehicles, and then the last major repair I had done on a car they screwed it up and I had to fix it. I will admit that I would like to get paid what the big shops charge for simple jobs, but I can't bring myself to ask for that much. I did use a bungee at one time on our old popup camper to keep the door shut while traveling until I made a better door latch, I have a good size bungee collection and they can be used for all kinds of things.

[DogHaus]

Hi Pearl, mine was doing that too, after messing around with it for a while, a bungee going from the curtain rod on the door down to the handle, pulling the handle up a little bit, "fixed" it. Been on there for two years now, it hasn't come open since, and I don't have to take the bungee on and off all the time either.

[Pearl]

Doghaus, my door doesn't have a curtain rod over the window. When hanging curtains there, I had to pin them in place. But, appreciate response. I went ahead and let the camping repair shop put a push bolt on exterior door and it didn't fly open on the way home. The interior lock not catching on the striker plate deep enough to be secure is next issue. Will try to figure out a bungee cord type set-up from the door handle to somewhere tight within the camper. Again, thanks.

[mary and bob]

I've put a bungee on the outside door handle to either the wheel opening or down under to the frame to keep the door on our popup from opening when on the road.

[Pearl]

thanks for all info!

[volunteergal63]

David,
Can you give some more info on this door latch, maybe the link for the part.?
Since I will be traveling alone, I would love a more secure lock for my door.
Thanks, Susan H.

[Tom Campbell]

I am the cranky, old retired mechanic with a possible solution to the door handle dilemma . I have a 2008 Scamp that I use to travel back and forth from New York State to Texas ( 1850 mi.) .Many times other drivers would blow there horns to tell me that my door was open. This is what I came up with ,the inside handle and outside handle both point in the same direction and combined weight forces both handled to go down when you hit a bump the problem is amplified if the spring is weak. My solution remove the screws on the exterior handle and point it to the rear (180 deg.) .You will now turn the handle up to open the door and the inside handle will counter weight the outside handle ,it works.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Tom Campbell

..........You will now turn the handle up to open the door and the inside handle will counter weight the outside handle ,it works.

Clever solution.

[mary and bob]

Told you a cranky old retired mechanic would know how to fix it! I suppose we shouldn't be so cranky now that we're retired.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

I suppose we shouldn't be so cranky now that we're retired.

Now that you're retired, you get to be crotchety...the same thing as cranky, really, except more respectable

Francesca

[MyronL]

My Scamp door was popping open too. The latch strike catch vibrated and flexed with the wall. I got some 1½" wide aluminum flat stock at HD, bent it to an "L" shape, drilled 4 holes to match up with slightly longer catch bolts, and 2 more for bolts through the cabinet wall. It's absolutely solid now.

[Pearl]

Thanks Cranky Tom! I decided to have a push latch put on the outside door just to left of the window. It seems to be working great! Back from my 1st trip out with the camper and had no problems. The inside lock problem--followed another forum guy's idea and cut a dowel rod which I place inside the half round door handle/then dowel flushes to each side of inside door frame. For now, I am a Happy Camper!

[Hambone]

Like Myrons idea i bolted wood to cabinet then using a regular household catch (severely dremeled) alignined and works 100% better than the original. old one was loose and worn out/missaligned

[Paul O.]

On my 2004 the strike plate surface that the latch contacts is at the wrong angle relative to the direction in which the latch slides in its housing. I could find no simple way of correcting it, so I came up with this: a piece of parachute cord, about one foot long, epoxy bonded in a 1/4 inch hole drilled about 1.5 inch deep, just outside the gasket. When traveling, I tie it tight to the door hardware as shown. It is easy to undo and has worked perfectly on our 6k miles trip this September. If that fails over time (possible UV damage of the cord), I'll try the reversed handle. That is really elegant! The simpler the better.

[Kai in Seattle]

Just this AM as we were leaving the Kanaskat-Palmer State Park, Paul said he was going to use a bungee from now on going from the amerigo door handle to the side handle that assists in entering the trailer. It's only about 8 inches apart and a bungee would be easy to attach there.

I'm going out now to tell him about this thread; he'll be VERY interested!

Between the bungees we use to hold all the cabinets shut "in flight," the bungee we use for the putin curtain rod, and now this, we coulda named her the "Bungee Jumper" instead of Peanut (one shell, two nuts).