Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share with you the that upgrade is now complete and I am happy that it went as well as it did. It took me several hours over a weekend to complete it, but once I dove in and started working on it, it went pretty fast after the first one.
First, a picture:
The old style handles were breaking apart from the sun damage over the years. So it had to happen sooner than later.
Next, a parts list that I used:
1) I ordered the latch set from my local rv part supply dealer, 100 bucks per set (2 sets - front and back). All sets have a lock on them and they are all keyed alike, so good to go there. A little expensive I thought, but whatever... These also came with the pads for the back of the arms and note that this set actually has only 2 holes to attach the arm to the frame instead of 4 like i've seen in some other sets.
2) 8 - 1" long 5/8" wide sheet metal screws (non slotted). This bolted on the latch onto the sides of the door, not the door itself. 1" did not penetrate the interior either. (Hint - the frame on my 2k Roo seemed to have aluminum frame closest to the door...too far away from the door and all you hit was wood. So, i kept them all butted up to the frame as you can see in the picture.)
3) 12 - 1/4"-20x2" Machine screws and 12 matching 1/4"-20 T-nuts. This tied the locking mechanism onto the door. Note: no plating was used on the inside of the door, they seem to be holding just fine so far. We'll see how it goes going down the road later. I can always buy the screws again and install back plating later if needed.
4) 1 tube of silicon caulking, white.
That was pretty much it. I pre-drilled the holes on the outsides of the door first once i marked its placement with the latch. Then used a smaller bit to pre-drill the holes into the aluminum frame. Once I started to bolt the arms on, it was very strong (lucky i guess). I did caulk the previous screw holes behind the new arms before i installed them, just for the piece of mind. Once I had the door mechanisms drilled though and tightened, I took the dremel and cut the rest of the machine screw off so that it didn't penetrate my mattress. Finally, I caulked around all new parts, making sure that some of the extra holes were plugged up and then locked everything up and we're off to the races. I am also betting that this may cut down my setup time by at least 10 minutes.
I hope this may help some folks out there as I have had the locks in my garage for almost 18 months before i finally had to get it done. Going to the RV dealer to install them was not a good option for me, the new hardware was $200 and the dealer i bought them from wanted another $200 to install them. I would guess that I saved about $180 doing them myself. HAH!!!
Cheers!
Joe
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