How to Break in to your Camper!!!...

[Wingate]

Ok, this is purely for honest people that have travel trailers with STUPID door lock mechanisms. .



There are 6 of us couples that always travel/camp together. THis is the 2nd time it has happened. Both with the same brand of door lock mechanisms.



They unlock the deadbolt with the red lever walk out, close the door behind them, and somehow, the deadbolt locks back!!!. . Two different campers with the same brand and style of door locks!!.



With all that being said, we were able to take the emergency window off from the master bedroom since it is hinged to the outside and held on my phillips head screws!. Had to stand on an ice chest and climb thru. We started looking at all the campers in our group. . all of them have this emergency fire escape window and they are all attached in the same way!. Needless to say, there is now a phillips screwdriver in every tow vehicle!.

Just a FWIW!!. .

 

[jelag]

I always hide a extra set of keys to the trailer under the trailer in a watertight box... actually on every vehicle I own I do that too... we're out in boats, hunting, or we just slam the door and its locked... or we loose the keys...

That's how we solved the problem... .

 

[Grizzly]

I've always done the same thing, keep extra keys hidden outside the RV and all my vehicles. I have had to use them on occasions.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Yep, we keep an extra set in the truck. I also keep a "dumb" key on the key ring that I carry in my pocket in order to get in the truck without the key fob. The "dumb" key will start the engine, but only for about five seconds... don't ask why I know this... . or Good Sam Emergency Road Service. :-laf



Bill

 

[Tractorat]

Last summer, when I came back to my trailer when on the road, I found that I could not even get the key into the lock let alone unlock it. keep in mind my TT is a 1988, and is made by Wilderness (I think mr Barlow may have trashed the brand at one time or another). I merely pushed up on the main window by the dining table. Even with the pressure locks on it, it went right up. I stood on a picnic table and climbed right in. From the inside, I dismantled the door lock to open the door, and then replaced the lock. What a pain in the ***.

 

[AH64ID]

We keep spare keys for any of the reasons mentioned.

Are you sure the red handle locked, or was the handle locked? If the locks are FIH (every RV I have looked closely at has them) then it's pretty impossible for it to lock. I had one apart two weeks ago and it really can't move on it's own.

 

[Wingate]

It WAS an FIH!!. . This has happened to two different campers... My Jayco doesn't have it, it uses Bauer locks. ( and I always keep one of the keys to the camper in the bumper)

Im not exactly sure why this happens, if its is due to the little clear plastic thingy on the screen door somehow bumping it when the door closes? Or if when its getting unlocked, it doesnt latch in the fully unlocked position and when the door closes, it jars it enough to lock?.

THis is the deadbolt that locks, not the handle... and like I say, its happened on two different campers, both with FIH lock assemblies. . One is a LaCrosse and the other I think is a Flagstaff...

Ive studied it a couple times and havent decided how it happens, but it does...

 

[AH64ID]

Interesting, no idea how that one happens. My only thought is that they unlock the deadbolt only far enough to unlock it, but not far enough to get the cam on the lock to the unlock side and the sudden jolt of closing makes it lock.

Something to try on the next trip.

 

[JRBurton]

The only way for this to happen is the lock was not installed correctly. It is impossible for this to happen if the lock is functioning properly. By the way I donot use this lock on my 5th wheel, I have it but donot use it do to the locks are all made out if pot metal. I have a standard deadbolt on my 5th wheel that I use, my wife has strict instructions not to use the factory locking mechanism. I am a certified registered locksmith and know what this stuff is made of.



John

 

[Yo Hoot]

We broke in our camper the first weekend we used it LOL

 

[LRutigliano]

Spare keys for everything we take on a camping trip... RV, truck, boat, etc...



Learned the hard way...



Was alone in the RV with my 2 yr old daughter (wife and older daughter were at the pool but at least 1/4 mile away)



I was getting dinner ready and went outside to get things going on the bar-b-que while leaving the 2 yr old in the RV with a movie... I close the door behind me and a few seconds later I hear a CLICK. She locked the red deadbolt and the keys were hanging on the hook inside...



Had to talk to her thru the closed door to move the "red switch" the other way. She did it just fine. Initially I was scared because she was alone inside and I was outside and how was I going to get back in, what if she started crying, etc...



Now I never leave without the keys in my pocket.

 

[Blu-meanie]

I carry a set of lock picks.

 

[Wingate]

I was getting dinner ready and went outside to get things going on the bar-b-que while leaving the 2 yr old in the RV with a movie... I close the door behind me and a few seconds later I hear a CLICK. She locked the red deadbolt and the keys were hanging on the hook inside...

.

THis would be a scary situation. Hadn't thought of that... !! We have the twin grandsons camping with us from time to time and the granddaughter as well. !



I would have either ripped the door off the hinges or put a fist thru a window if that had been me!





JRBurton, It may be a case of the lock mechanism not being installed correctly. As end users, we are forced to assume that the door manufacturer, lock manufacturer, and camper manufacturer are all on the same page when it comes to design, assembly, and installation. .

 

[HBellmyer]

On my Cardinal the key works two locks on the door. One key slot locks the door handle and the other operates the dead bolt that you can manually operate on the inside with the red lever. I cannot see how the deadbolt can engage on it's own. I know if you have the other lock engaged that keeps the handle on the outside from operating you can still open the door from the inside even with the outside handle locked. If you exit your camper without your keys and cose the door it will be locked. I know a few people who get someone's small child to go thru a window or even from a storage compartment then up thru the laundry hamper to open the door. Some campgrounds have master keys like the RV dealers use. I always keep my keys on a strech band on my wrist. Travel safe.....

 

[jeepit]

I can only lock dead bolt from inside on my Lance. There is no key for it.

I have a key that locks the latch and the door latch opener.

 

[Wingate]

On my Cardinal the key works two locks on the door. One key slot locks the door handle and the other operates the dead bolt that you can manually operate on the inside with the red lever. I cannot see how the deadbolt can engage on it's own. I know if you have the other lock engaged that keeps the handle on the outside from operating you can still open the door from the inside even with the outside handle locked. If you exit your camper without your keys and cose the door it will be locked. I know a few people who get someone's small child to go thru a window or even from a storage compartment then up thru the laundry hamper to open the door. Some campgrounds have master keys like the RV dealers use. I always keep my keys on a strech band on my wrist. Travel safe.....

My first idea was to go thru the storage compartment and raise the bed up, but on the Flagstaff, you cannot do that. Its built differently than the Jayco and Prowler... Raising the bed does not give access to the storage compartment. Still have not completely figured out how the deadbolt was able to lock itself upon closing of the door. . The handle lock was still unlocked. . We are going camping again next weekend, I plan on studying the situation a little more... maybe I can figure out exactly what happens when it does this. .