Looking for tips on locking ARE DCU door from inside
- Thread starter chet6.7
- Start date
truck mechanic
Adventurer
I would drill a hole where the end of the rod passes through the bracket and just use a hair pin, quick and simple and if you need to exit quickly it only takes a quick pull and its outta your way.
chet6.7
Explorer
Thanks for the replies,I have thought about similar solutions to the suggestions.
I thought about needle nose vice grips VS a C clamp.
If I could remove the upper and lower rods I would use a drill press and drill a hole through them and use a pin to stop movement.I am afraid my drilling skills are not good enough to drill the holes in the rods while they are in place and they do not look removable.
All in all I am not really happy with ARE design and quality.
The slider window can only be opened from the outside,I don't have a sliding window on my truck.This is my 4th shell,the other 3 all had the slider set up to open from the inside.
Some of the welds are crap.I don't know where ARE gets it's welders from but they don't seem to understand the process.Quality control? Who cares ,must be their motto.
I thought about needle nose vice grips VS a C clamp.
If I could remove the upper and lower rods I would use a drill press and drill a hole through them and use a pin to stop movement.I am afraid my drilling skills are not good enough to drill the holes in the rods while they are in place and they do not look removable.
All in all I am not really happy with ARE design and quality.
The slider window can only be opened from the outside,I don't have a sliding window on my truck.This is my 4th shell,the other 3 all had the slider set up to open from the inside.
Some of the welds are crap.I don't know where ARE gets it's welders from but they don't seem to understand the process.Quality control? Who cares ,must be their motto.
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robert
Expedition Leader
Wow, that's the worst welding I've seen in one of those. We have three of them on light rescue/supervisor trucks at work and all have clean welds. If the window is like the one in my ARE fiberglass shell it should have a knob on the inside and outside- maybe that model is designed to help prevent someone from climbing into the cab and taking the truck?
As for locking the back, a pair of vice grips should work fine but it's going to tear up the rod. Looking at that lock I bet you can get a handle for the other side although I'm not sure where to tell you to start your search unless you see in a name on it- a locksmith would be my first guess. It's a pretty common design though so you should be able to find a replacement if nothing else; it would look a lot cleaner install-wise. If you don't mind drilling a few more holes you could install any number of latch designs that would hold it shut.
As for locking the back, a pair of vice grips should work fine but it's going to tear up the rod. Looking at that lock I bet you can get a handle for the other side although I'm not sure where to tell you to start your search unless you see in a name on it- a locksmith would be my first guess. It's a pretty common design though so you should be able to find a replacement if nothing else; it would look a lot cleaner install-wise. If you don't mind drilling a few more holes you could install any number of latch designs that would hold it shut.
TooTall'sTruck
Observer
A sticker that reads...Protected by 44 Magnum.... right next to the outer door latch should deter some!!
Other than that I would mount a simple padlock capable latch to the square tubes on the inside of the doors and then use a padlock on the inside, even a pin through the eye of the latch for quick egress. I have thought about doing the same on my DCU but I think that welding a tab to grasp onto the inner latch part, the part that goes over the other door and actually blocks the door from opening, wouldn't be locked locked but the handle would have to be out also in order to do that, it wouldn't be tucked in the recess of the latch but it would have to be out in order to rotate the ARE latching mechanism.
I think that a padlock style and a pin would be the easiest, but is the door able to be shut and have the outer handle look latched? I will try to roll it in my brain when I walk past my DCU next.
Other than that I would mount a simple padlock capable latch to the square tubes on the inside of the doors and then use a padlock on the inside, even a pin through the eye of the latch for quick egress. I have thought about doing the same on my DCU but I think that welding a tab to grasp onto the inner latch part, the part that goes over the other door and actually blocks the door from opening, wouldn't be locked locked but the handle would have to be out also in order to do that, it wouldn't be tucked in the recess of the latch but it would have to be out in order to rotate the ARE latching mechanism.
I think that a padlock style and a pin would be the easiest, but is the door able to be shut and have the outer handle look latched? I will try to roll it in my brain when I walk past my DCU next.
rayra
Expedition Leader
Just add a set of hasps on the inside and hang an unlocked padlock thru them.
Or some sort of sliding bolt.
Or just add a set of gripping knobs to the inside vertical bars and grasp them to operate them, the latch will spin on it's own. Then just add some sort of pass-through pin somewhere in the system to lock things in place. With a nice big easy to find handle so you can yank it if you need to bail out in a hurry.
Or some sort of sliding bolt.
Or just add a set of gripping knobs to the inside vertical bars and grasp them to operate them, the latch will spin on it's own. Then just add some sort of pass-through pin somewhere in the system to lock things in place. With a nice big easy to find handle so you can yank it if you need to bail out in a hurry.
chet6.7
Explorer
I have had some time to muck around with the lock.The round barrel shaped object in the 11 O'clock position in the top photo allows me to lock and unlock the door from the inside.However,if the T handle on the outside is moved to the down position,the lever at 3 O'clock in the top photo,cannot be moved.If the handle was moved while I was in the cap,I would be locked in.
Now,I am trying to think of a way to secure the T handle on the outside so that some prankster can't lock me in.
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bjp
Rez roamer, dog wrangler
can't believe how crappy those welds are. mine are pretty nice, especially in comparison.
I've slept in the back of mine in plenty of places. I have to admit, I've never even thought about locking it from the inside. I'll be really interested in whatever you come up with, both for locking on the inside, and keeping yourself from getting locked in!
-ben
I've slept in the back of mine in plenty of places. I have to admit, I've never even thought about locking it from the inside. I'll be really interested in whatever you come up with, both for locking on the inside, and keeping yourself from getting locked in!
-ben
To keep from getting locked in, You could drill a small pin hole through the stainless plate behind the T-handle and then hang a fire extinguisher pin on a small chain inside.. . That way if somebody comes by and flips the t handle down, you can reach through with the pin and push it back out.
As far as locking from the inside, I personally would cut about 1/2 inch out of the middle of one of the rods, and weld a short piece of tube crossways in it's place, then mount a bolt latch next to it so the bolt engages in the tube preventing the rod from moving.
Or, if your latch is like mine and it simply engages behind the left hand door instead of into a pocket, you could rivet the loop half of a bolt latch to the tab, and mount the bolt latch on the other door.
As far as locking from the inside, I personally would cut about 1/2 inch out of the middle of one of the rods, and weld a short piece of tube crossways in it's place, then mount a bolt latch next to it so the bolt engages in the tube preventing the rod from moving.
Or, if your latch is like mine and it simply engages behind the left hand door instead of into a pocket, you could rivet the loop half of a bolt latch to the tab, and mount the bolt latch on the other door.
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chet6.7
Explorer
The Master model No 40 does not allow the T handle to move fully into the locked position.
Problem solved.
ChrisTschoepe
Observer
I drilled 2-1/4" holes and put a ubolt through the flat latching part and sandwiched it between two pieces of wood. Works pretty well. I really like your lock around the outside handle to stop any shenanigans.
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brentdavenport
New member
I camp in my DCU a lot over the year--mostly Spring, Summer, Fall. Many Times I have had to spend the night midway to my vacation spot and camped stealithly in a Wal-Mart of Lowe's parking lot. I then crawl into the back with foam mattress and sleeping bag and snooze away.
My latch assembly is identical to yours. What I did was loosen the set screw in the interior for both rods and re-position the locking bars toward the inside so that the handle appeared to be locked from the outside. In other words, the handle would appear to be in the proper locked position to anyone who went by, but in reality the rods were positioned so that the camper lid could be opened easily.
Then, when inside, I used two round, steel tent stakes like you get at any Walmart and wedged them between the bars and the tailgate. They fit snugly and were very strong. I had my wife pull on the door from the outside while I had this arrangement installed and she said there was no play whatsoever and she believed the lock mechanism to be fully locked.
I thought about many other methods, but conjured up this one and it seems to work perfectly for me, so, what the hell.
Hope it works for you also.
My latch assembly is identical to yours. What I did was loosen the set screw in the interior for both rods and re-position the locking bars toward the inside so that the handle appeared to be locked from the outside. In other words, the handle would appear to be in the proper locked position to anyone who went by, but in reality the rods were positioned so that the camper lid could be opened easily.
Then, when inside, I used two round, steel tent stakes like you get at any Walmart and wedged them between the bars and the tailgate. They fit snugly and were very strong. I had my wife pull on the door from the outside while I had this arrangement installed and she said there was no play whatsoever and she believed the lock mechanism to be fully locked.
I thought about many other methods, but conjured up this one and it seems to work perfectly for me, so, what the hell.
Hope it works for you also.
workingonit71
Aspirantes ad Adventure
DOOR BARS; my solution to keeping the bad things out, and the occupant (me) secure
- I originally built (or at least started the build) my trailer for the wife. She had become involved with a group of wild-eyed Crypto-zoological recon Bigfoot hunters, a few years ago. She wasn't dissuaded from her pursuits, as I was too busy working, and dragracing on weekends. I probably met stranger humanoids at work or at the dragstrip, every day, than she was likely to meet in the woods of the midwest (her Bigfoot group's favorite area; you just don't mess! with Texas Squatches, I guess).
- I was trying to get her out of a ground tent, off the wet earth, and put solid walls between her and whatever might be out there, doing the hollering she heard at night, on her trips. I built the walls, roof, and floor of steel-braced 3/4" plywood, and the doors were just windowless cut-outs from the walls. I put in two, small, safety glass windows, high up, so a large hairy arm would have to fish around before grabbing her.
- I also wanted her to have two doors, so escape would be possible from one, if the other door was blocked. Both doors were triple-hinged, and quadruple-locked, to keep daytime thieves at bay, and both doors had two gate-type slide bolts that could be locked OPEN, so she wouldn't get locked in.
very strong hardware to deter quick entry into cabin- Once inside for the night, she could pull both doors tightly closed (the doors have automotive door compression seals), and snap 3/4" round oak dowels into the channels on door and doorframe, made to receive them. Oak dowels have an incredible resistance to shearing forces, and will keep out the juvenile hominids, at least, for awhile.
my variation of a drop-in door bar- She hasn't used this trailer, ostensibly built for her, nor has she been Squatching, for over 6 years now, but I've been using it, and will venture forth into Bigfoot habitat, eventually. If he does come calling some night, I'll be securely sleeping behind my barred doors, but if a hairy arm reaches inside a window, I have machetes on each side of my mattress. I was a Boy Scout. Be Prepared!
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