# Pass Through Compartment Lock Failure



## joy-rick (Jan 27, 2008)

When Joy and I arrived at our camping destination last Friday evening I pulled into our site and commenced to setup the Outback. Imagine my sheer delight when I attempted to unlock the pass through compartment and it wouldn't unlock! No amount of twisting, turning, cajoling, finagling, or expletive flinging would unlock the d*** pass through door! Finally I was finally able to coerce it to open with the aid of a trusty straight blade Craftsman screwdriver. BTW, it turns out this was NOT very difficult and leads me to believe that these compartments are NOT very secure, notwithstanding the fact that everybody in the world has the same key!

When I got the compartment open it was obvious what the problem was: the retaining screw for the lock pawl was loose and allowed the lock to spin inside the pawl. It was a simple matter to tighten the screw and everything was then OK. I decided to examine the locks on the other compartment doors and, guess what...they were all loose! I tightened them all and I have now vowed to add "lock pawl screw tightening" to my annual de-winterizing checklist.

Our trailer is a 2008, so if yours is more than a couple of years old you may want to examine your compartment locks.

Rick


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Thanks for the tip!!







I've had problems with our locks and have had to play around a bit to get them to open; however, our issue was due to something up against the lock on the inside...


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

yup, they aren't very secure. What I did was go to my local locksmith and have them rekeyed so the std. key won't work, and put two locks on each door. That way you can't pry the door open from the latch side. Still won't stop someone with any determination, but does stymie the stupid crook.


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## Yianni (Aug 30, 2006)

I replaced my CH751's with these Cam Locks. Like KTMracer I used 2 per door. They have a nylock nut to attach the cam so there is no worry of a screw falling out. Nice people too.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

X2


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Yianni said:


> I replaced my CH751's with these Cam Locks. Like KTMracer I used 2 per door. They have a nylock nut to attach the cam so there is no worry of a screw falling out. Nice people too.


Yep...did the same. LOVE not having to try to find the key now whenever I need something.


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