Our U225 has a screen door that secures to the main door with a little plastic sliding latch. On ours the tip of the sliding part - that's mounted on the door - has broken and no longer engages the screen door. So we have to open first the main door and then the screen door every time.
This little part is amazingly difficult to find. There are tons of lever latches out there but I have not been able to find a sliding latch of any sort; let alone a replacement.
Anyone have a source?
Craig
Waiting for the same answer myself!
Try Encore in Nacogdoches ... or call MOT and ask them to put a question to Keith Risch. He seems to be the only guy who knows what is in the trailers of Foretravel parts that Encore bought years ago. They have all kinds of stuff for older coaches and were a great source for us.
Craig, take a picture of the broken part and post it, as I had a problem with mine on my old GV and I fixed it, but may not be same thing, Anyway put a pic here and let us look at it and come up with an idea
John H
Craig,
I have broken that same latch twice and this one has a crack in it; I have had FOT and MOT replace them, so both should have a source for the panel. On my coach it is cream/beige in color. Not really expensive, just hard to find. They are not very well designed.
Don, did the sliding latch on the main door break or the cream colored latch on the screen door break. Usually it is the cream colored plate. I purchased one from FOT tow years ago and it too broke. I then repaired it with JB Weld and it has held ever since.
Broke mine too, and after long searches, gave up finding the exact part. So then moved on to my local hardware store that had a small short brass slide bolt that worked. I used the new brass part, plus the old plastic base plate, and only needed to add a 1/4" piece of walnut to get the correct total height.
All my looking and searching for the OEM part was not worth the time, as the new brass slide bolt looks and works great. It is just not spring loaded and self self latching like the plastic one I broke.
David, you broke my brand new screen door that I put on that coach just for you. I am so disappointed. I want the door back.
I did not just break it, I destroyed it. I had a problem with the screen door roller keeper latch. It was jammed and I was outside, Mom was inside, engine running, staging our parking at Port A, and I was worried she was going to start moving lock latches, I pulled the door open to save the day.
Was a pain not having the latch after that, but worth not having to figure out how to explain thru the closed door and windows what to do, or not do to mom inside. I was really worried she might move the slide bar with the black end, that I have since removed, to avoid it getting slid to a locked position. Have read that there is no way to unlock that slide rod if it gets moved.
Sorry Dave, I thought I had removed that useless lock lever. It is gone from you U300.
I sure do miss my brand new, perfect screen door. I hope you enjoy it.
See John? There is a reason I want to be just like you when I grow up. :D
I just got home from w**k (I can hardly bring myself to type the word) and I'll head over and shoot a photo and upload it as soon as I get my usual good nature back (I got home cranky).
It should be easy to make but I need a mill; I'm hoping the DW will let me buy a $1k mill to fabricate a $10 part. :)
Craig
Hi Kent,
It has always been the cream-colored latch on the screen door. So did you re-attach the broken "wedge" with the JB Weld? There isn't much surface area for JB weld to attach to. I may try to re-inforce it before it actually breaks, which may be soon.
I did my best to get a photo of the repair. It really is holding up great. You do have to remove the part.
I checked and don't have a good slide part. I broke the slide part. The latch is 4 plastic parts plus two screws, and the spring.
There is the base, a spacer, and the slide that is spring loaded, and the door frame part that the slide slips into to lock and hold the screen door to the outer door.
Kent, I cannot make that picture out. Can you take one from a bit further out to show the whole thing?
John
Kent,
That picture helps alot. Did you take off the narrow cream panel to affix the JB Weld or apply it while on the door?
I'd leave it broken. Put a lock on the inside of the screen door to keep the cat from getting out. Wind blew the main door shut while we was out side and the main door locked to that screen door. No way could I open the doors, cause the screen door was locked inside. Had to go in thru the window to unlock it. I ended up sawing the plastic catch off just to the point where it will catch, but one can pop it open. Ain't gonna get locked out again!!!
I let Steve buy a mill a few years ago, but it was less than $1K. If you can wait until the fall, he could make the part for you ;D
Michelle
Our screen door flew open in a windstorm and broke the latch so I fabricated a little aluminum tab and secured it with a couple of self tappers. Used a vice to hold the aluminum, a hacksaw to cut it, drilled it and then needed a file to clean it up and then tapered it a few thousands with the file so the latch engages and draws the door closer as it slides. Keeps it from rattling.
Pierce
I too had an aluminum catch similar to yours but when we were using only the screen door and the cream colored slide was closed there was nothing to stop the bugs from getting in. That's why I ordered the new piece and then fixed it when it broke.
Warning to Pierce.
You have the potential problem slide rod still. The rod with the black knob can slide and lock, and if that happens, there is no way to unlock from the outside. Someone mentioned some grandkids slid the rod, and then could not unlock to get out. They climbed out a window, slide the window shut, and locked everyone out of the coach.
I removed the rod, and now have only the two other ways to lock the door from the inside.
Kent,
We will be heading into bug territory late summer so will take your advice and order up a replacement piece. We were on the Colorado River where they had flies 3/4" long. Could really bite.
Dave,
Good idea about the rod. We had exactly the same lock plate on a SOB. End screws came loose while we were driving and trapped us INSIDE for about 15 minutes until I could climb through a window and get some tools from an outside compartment.
Thanks guys!
Pierce
Dave, that was me. One of my grandkids and his "Not a Mensa member" Dad managed to slide the lock shut and they couldn't figure out how to get out the door. They climbed out a window, then in a flash of brilliance closed the window behind them!!!! I asked on this forum how to get back in, and was given the very good advice about how to "bump" open a sliding window.
It worked very well, and I finally managed to get my 235 lb boyish figure through the window. I then hacksawed the slide bolt out to prevent it from every happening again.
Glen
I removed the slide rod, but first taped it in the open position till taking the door latching system off the door. It was amazingly simple to unscrew the whole door latch, and have it in my hands. I slid out the rod with the black end knob, and then I worked for 30 minutes to get everything in the correct position and re-install.
I worked on re-installing so long I went and got one of the bar chairs to sit in, thinking it might be easier if I were comfortable. And then after some minutes of futzing it just worked!
Finally saw what everyone is having problems with. Our coach does not have a sliding bar/latch. It has what is called a "rooster catch". It is spring loaded, will automatically catch, and is less than $2 at a Home improvement outlet such as Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot.
I figure it is called a rooster catch is because it looks like a rooster's profile right after happy hour.