Door latch

[chockwald]

Recently, when visiting Tom McCloud at his home in Mesa, AZ he noticed the bushing on the door latch post was worn, and gave me a replacement. Being extremely naive, I thought this would be a 5 minute job, and half of that would be finding the right torque socket...LOL!!! My first issue was there was a large washer, or spacer between the bushing, and the threads, that I could not slip off past the threads to remove the bad bushing (pictures to follow). I tried freezing the post and washer to see if one would shrink more than the other, and no luck. Then I tried heating it up, and still no luck. Of course, heating one and cooling the other won't work because there is continual contact between both, so the cold, and/or heat transfers to the other. My third solution was to call Tom, because he has recently replaced this same bushing, and has an almost exact copy of what I have.....almost is the important word here. His post has/had no washers, or spacers. So comes the 4th option, put the thing in a vice, and use my hack saw to cut the washer off. Took about 10 minutes, but I got it off. I then put on the new bushing, replaced the damaged washer with one that does not fit quite so snuggly, and reinstalled everything. The door closes, but it is about 1/4" shy of closing flush. The mechanism seems to be working properly, and in fact it was closing almost flush, even with the damaged bushing, just before I removed the post, and bad bushing. The hole that the post mounts through does not allow for much lateral, or up and down adjustment, so I am at a total impass after spending the better part of 2 hours on this "5 minute" job. Now it is difficult to turn the dead bolts.

One additional thing, the door is not exposed to the sun right now, and is/was in the shade when I was working on the post.

Any thoughts any of you might have would be greatly appreciated. When I get back home in a couple of hours I'll take pictures and post them.

[fulltiming]

Clarke, my door latch post is like Tom's BUT when it is loose it does have some adjustment up and down and back and forth. The secret is trying to hold it in place while tightening it. Certainly easier said then done. Have you tried loosening the bolt and see if it does move to the rear the needed 1/4". If so, you may need to have someone apply pressure toward the coach on the bushing while you tighten it. Tom will likely have additional suggestions.

[encantotom]

sorry mine was a 5 minute job. no real tricks. just took it off, put the bushing on and put it all back on.

tom

[chockwald]

Hi Michael.....I talked to Tom on the phone at the beginning of my problem. Since his was a 5 minute job, as it should have been for me, he was no help at all, except he added a little humor to my predicament. I have moved the post as far to the right as I can, and I'm still about a 1/4" short. I may have to enlarge the whole a little to the right. I'm still puzzled why it used to close completely before, even with the bad bushing.

[Richard and Rhonda]

Do you have any adjustment in the lock mechanism? Instead of moving the post, can you move the catch?

[chockwald]

Morning Richard....I removed the locking mechanism and can see no adjustment possible for the catch. Three machine screws hold it in place, and there is no room for movement. I has occurred to me that maybe I need to replace the catch mechanism...it may just be worn.

[encantotom]

i had mentioned it to clarke on the phone. i believe the torx rod that the bushing goes on you can buy at the autoparts stores. i am sure i have seen them at autozone alongside where i bought the bushings for it.

tom

[chockwald]

I'm going to Autozone this morning....will let you know what I find. So, it's called a "torx rod"?

[encantotom]

no, i think a striker or something....when i saw them they were out on the aisles. by the bushings.

tom

[Wally Arntzen]

Tom gave me one for my latch and it went on with no problem. Yours must be a different type.

Wally