Cabinet door latch breakage. Roadtrek Adventurous

The topic came up in another off subject thread so I wanted to readdress it here; the latches on the cabinet door keep breaking. Its the little catch on the latching mechanism on the door portion. There are others with this issue.

Is there a fix out there? What have others done. Currently I'm using tape!

It appears that RT has changed the latches. The older ones were like this: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/positive-catch/49830
You could try to email customer service at RT to see if they could provide the manufacturer part number, as it is probably easier to replace it yourself than drive to your dealer (probably true). If they sent you the part it would actually save them money on warranty repair.

Bob

It would be better and faster to replace them yourself. It is not a hard job to do.

Do a search and look for cabinet latches.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclien...pw.r_qf.&fp=563be0e587f99d2e&biw=1358&bih=658


Good luck.

mowog said:

It appears that RT has changed the latches. The older ones were like this: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/positive-catch/49830
You could try to email customer service at RT to see if they could provide the manufacturer part number, as it is probably easier to replace it yourself than drive to your dealer (probably true). If they sent you the part it would actually save them money on warranty repair.

Bob

Click to expand...

That is not the same as the factory latch. I bought one, and the hole pattern is different, the tab that you push on is smaller, and if anything, the build quality is poorer. I would not recommend this as a substitute unless you are desperate. I searched the Internet and couldn't find an acceptable substitute. Right now, I'm using 3M blue tape!!!

As I said in the post to PA, I'm going to try to replace mine with quality magnetic latches. When I get home and do one, I will report on the outcome. It might be a while, having too much fun on the road!

Don't slam the doors,, close them gently by pushing in the button as you close them, helps a bit

Then install mag latches,, especially on the drawers.

Icarus

I have a 2013 and those aren't the latches on mine. I never slam the doors, however they don't break when closing. They cabinets stick shut and are impossible to open unless you push up very hard on the door to gain more clearance on the latch. I have after a bit of trial and error learned how to adjust them. However, when you gain the proper spacing for them to release easily, you lose the ability to lock them shut.

On most of mine, the person who assembled them has put two, three or more "flattened " catches along with the regular catch to act like a shim or washer to lesson spacing between the door and catch. Sometimes the screws only have a few threads holding the catch because of the added shims. Very poor craftsmanship in my opinion. There's got to be a better way for Roadtrek to do this.

I think my fix will end up being to break all the plastic latches off so the knob is still there, but doesn't function being that they are placed in the door by drilling a 3/4" or so hole. They look nice, just function poorly. I will then have to find something to lock them shut while traveling. You guys mention magnets... are they strong enough to keep the doors shut? Even down a bumpy gravel road?

I have a 2013 agile I got about a week ago and one of those latches broke while the dealer was showing me how to operate the unit. They replaced it before I drove out. Then as soon as I got it home, another latch broke. I tried finding them on the web, but was having trouble so wrote an email to Roadtrek explaining that the dealer was 3 hours away and I just wanted to know where I could get the latches. They offered to send me a replacement so I took them up on it and asked if they could send 3 (just the plastic inside cabinet part, not the metal outside) since I expected them to continue breaking. They said fine and are shipping me 3. They must realize what crap they are. I finally did find the manufacturer on the web, they are located in China and have a minimum purchase requirement of 2000 units, They are only about one dollar each. Suppose at some point I will be replacing mine with ones that I don't have to baby to keep them from breaking.

Trekker is correct- the campingworld..

latches that appear the same as came on our 2011 RS is different. I bought one for a spare last year and finally compared it , and it is smaller with different hole pattern. I guess it could worl but I will try to find some originals.

Bob Skillman
Ellicott City, MD
2011 RS

I recently replaced several of the cabinet latches in my 2007 RTA. While they are NOT identical to the OEM ones, the hole position IS the same, making the switch out simple.
It took me a while to track these down. The ones from Camping World will not work without making new holes which likely will interfere with the old ones causing much damage.

Here is where I found the replacements.
http://www.rv-supercenter.com/store/Search.aspx?SearchTerms=RV%20Hidden%20Catch

Cheap enough that I bought enough to replace the whole rig once over...eventually.

The latch push part is smaller in width so it definitely can replace the OEM ones, and more importantly, the screw holes are in the same location as the OEM ones. Because they are "hidden" I don't care that the width is not identical. Definitely close enough. I've found that making minor adjustments (loosen the screws, tap it back, forth, etc, retighten) in the catch (the small metal piece on the cabinet to which the latch "catches") makes a big difference in the fit, as does dremeling the plastic part of the "catching" part of the latch to smooth out the action. You can easily see which part to dremel, b/c it's the part that gets scraped in the latching action and "jams" it during shutting, making you want to "slam" the doors shut. Even gently lifting on the latch as you shut doesn't always work. The dremeling took care of it.

When I picked up my 2013 RS a couple of weeks ago the other RS on the the dealer lot had seven broken latches. All of mine were fine, except for one where they forgot to install the part on the cabinet. I left the next day on an 11-day, 5,000-mile honeymoon with my lovely bride to the Rocky Mtns. Four or five of the latches broke during the trip. I never liked those latches anyway since it is a two-step process to open the door - push the button first, then grab the little button and open - I'm just lazy I guess, but I would rather just grab a handle or something and pull to open a door.

I much prefer the new closures they put on the RS drawers - you just grab the drawer and open it, then push it to close - they use a simple latch design that is probably 100 years old. So instead of messing with replacement cabinet latches that would probably break again and torment me along the way, I have decided to simply remove all of the buttons on the cabinet doors - leaving the hole - and install the same closure latch design that is on the drawers. I just put a finger through the hole and open the door, then close the door to close it. At least I'm hoping this will work.

After talking with the Roadtrek Pres. yesterday about these silly latches a couple of times, he told me they had just decided to quit using the current cabinet latches (I assume because they were getting so many complaints). He did not say what the new latches would be, but at least they are listening to customers, and are trying to do the right thing...

Off topic, but what do you use to span your automans to form the bed. Is it the table or a board? If it is a board, is the board short leaving a gap either forward or aft depending on where you slide it or is the board a proper length?

I have seen some RSs use the table to span that space. My table is too small. The board they supplied me with is too short and either leaves a gap at your butt if slid forward or at your feet if slid aft.

2013 RS

PA Slammer

I took both tables out when I got the van and put them into storage and used the board to make up the bed - we just spent a couple of weeks sleeping on it and did not notice any issue. We leave our bed made up all the time. I just now looked at the board and it is about 3" short - I just put that part towards the middle of the bed and never noticed it. It is odd that they did not make this board the same length as the boards on the sides - they would all have the same overhang. Is yours more than 3" short?

Mine is 18 inches long. The area to fill is 29 inches long. I bought a board and cut it to fit, but a 100k vehicle should not have these issues in my mind.

BTW, my table is 20" x 28". The width of the area to fill is 23 3/4". I have seen another RS where the table was used to span the space. So either a bigger table was used or a more narrow space was there...

Also, I double checked just to make sure I'm not going crazy, my back up camera really does show things on the wrong side. I had my wife stand on the drivers side behind the vehicle and it showed her on the passenger side!

I think I'm going to make the four and half hour drive tomorrow to the Hershey RV show and talk to the Roadtrek guys there. At least I'll be able to compare and take pictures of the RS being shown...

PA Slammer

Hum, the area in mine to fill is 34", and my board is 29.75". Their national sales rep told me back in July that they had redesigned the power sofa, and I figured that had been done by the end of the 2012 run. But it sounds like you got the board for the Agle by mistake or something like that, and perhaps the older sofa (or did I get the older sofa?) - I don't know - yours and mine should be exactly the same, but obviously not (my chassis arrived at the factory and begun production on August 7th). I don't know what they did to the sofa, or even if the new one is better probably just different. They keep making little changes here and there. No telling what unit they have at the show, but please report back what you find if you make it to the show.

They have been advertising a new RT for several weeks that was to debut at Hershey and be a really big deal, but I hear they have had some issues with it and so far it has not appeared - perhaps you will see it! Overall I'm thrilled with our RT and plan to keep it for a couple hundred thousand miles, unlike our 210 that we only had for six months...

Parked and settled in at a rest area 30 minutes out of Hershey. Be there tomorrow. I'll report back. Thanks a lot for all the info. I really appreciate it.

I agree btw, I think we'll have this rig for a long time. It's perfect for our family... just a few fit and finish issues that if I were CEO of Roadtrek, I would never allow. I know it's probably a tough company to run, but these things could break you.

PA Slammer

Looks like I just ended up with some Frankenstein board. I have no idea why mine is so much shorter. I guess the cabinet maker just had a rough night.

I checked the RS there and the board is the length it should be.

No new Roadtrek. Guys there say it wasn't finished in time.

PA Slammer

Hope you got a chance at the show to speak to the big-wigs and tell them about your quality issues?

Finally found some latches I like!

PA Slammer

PA Slammer

mowog said:

It appears that RT has changed the latches. The older ones were like this: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/positive-catch/49830
You could try to email customer service at RT to see if they could provide the manufacturer part number, as it is probably easier to replace it yourself than drive to your dealer (probably true). If they sent you the part it would actually save them money on warranty repair.

Bob

Click to expand...

I have used some of these and while the holes do not match and the latch is plastic vs metal on the original, so far they are holding.