Last night, I made sure the front door was locked and then I went to bed.
It was COLD in the rig this morning and I discovered why as soon as I managed to get out of bed: the front door was wide open!!! The stupid thing doesn’t shut right unless you slam it.
My first thought was MY CATS! But then I calmed down. Neelix had been with me all night. Tabitha had never been outside and would surely be too scared to leave… or would she? A quick check of the rig revealed my worst nightmare; my girl was gone.
Trying to stay calm, figuring that she’d have been too scared to go far, I threw on a warm sweater and some shoes and went out. I called her for about 5 minutes and she appeared by the front door, mewing pitifully. I went to pick her up and she bolted, probably thinking I was mad at her. She took refuge under the rig, right behind the driver’s side rear tires where all I could reach was her tail. She continued to meow but would not let me get close and the minute I let go of her tail she bolted again. Thankfully, it was back to the stairs by the door where she waited for me to let her in.
I have no idea how long she was outside, but my five minute ordeal probably took fifty years off my life.
RV tip: don’t just do a visual check that the door bolt is in the ‘locked’ position. Physically check that the door is actually SHUT!
I spray a graphite lubricant in our door latches when they begin to start closing a bit hard, makes them close very easy again. All my family members slam the daylights out of our door because theirs close hard. Mine close with a genital pull. Also, WD40 is not a good lubricant and collects dust…graphite is what has kept all my locks, door latches, and storage latches in good working order.
Well I bet she won’t do THAT again!
Your door does need some attention. Maybe lube or maybe something is no longer lining up. It is pretty frightening when it flies open at 60 mph! Don’t ask how I know this,,,,
The problem isn’t with the latch but rather the way the door fits into the frame. It’s off kilter, so I have to slam it to get it to fit okay. I’ve done a few fixes, but short of completely replacing the door, I have to live with this. 🙁
We had a warped door on a previous rig. They are not fun. Fortunately they were able to take enough of the warp out of the door to make it close somewhat easier. But, Dave got so used to slamming it that I can’t keep him from slamming this one.
“My five minute ordeal probably took fifty years off my life”
I know that feeling, It is like the ultimate panic attack 🙁
If you have not experienced it you cannot describe it to someone else.
I have had the door on my rig apart several times and adjusted it numerous times. I finally found a happy medium, BUT, it does seem to catch sometimes depending on how level I am parked or how many leveling blocks I use. The frame seems to flex enough to cause the door to hang up a little.
So as you said, the ONLY safe way is to slam it and insure the lock bolt engages properly.
Sorry you had to suffer a scare like that, glad everything turned out OK.
Thanks for the share!
Nancy.R
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