Hawk Deadbolt Improvement

NorCalSteve

NorCalSteve

Senior Member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
198
Location
Chico, CA
I did not see any posts about this so I figured I would post it. To lock the deadbolt on my Hawk camper, I really had to lean into the door to get the key to turn all the way in the lock position. I had tried to determine exactly what the problem was a number of times and finally think I figured out what was going on and have fixed it. The cover plate for the dead bolt was sticking out so far that it was cutting into the seal around the door and pressing into the metal of the door. So I really had to put my shoulder into it to get the lock to lock. Notice that the top (deadbolt) plate sticks out further to the right. The plate can not be removed so I had to grind it back while it was attached to the camper. Well, I used a belt sander and took it slow so things stayed cool.

BeforePict.JPG and BeforeClose.JPG

I ground down the front, right side in pictures, of the top cover plate, so it did not stick out as far. Below is the after photo where the top (deadbolt) plate has been ground back. This fixed my problem and the door now locks and unlocks as it should.

AfterPict.JPG

Steve
 
I did not see any posts about this so I figured I would post it. To lock the deadbolt on my Hawk camper, I really had to lean into the door to get the key to turn all the way in the lock position. I had tried to determine exactly what the problem was a number of times and finally think I figured out what was going on and have fixed it. The cover plate for the dead bolt was sticking out so far that it was cutting into the seal around the door and pressing into the metal of the door. So I really had to put my shoulder into it to get the lock to lock. Notice that the top (deadbolt) plate sticks out further to the right. The plate can not be removed so I had to grind it back while it was attached to the camper. Well, I used a belt sander and took it slow so things stayed cool.

View attachment 14881 and View attachment 14882

I ground down the front, right side in pictures, of the top cover plate, so it did not stick out as far. Below is the after photo where the top (deadbolt) plate has been ground back. This fixed my problem and the door now locks and unlocks as it should.

View attachment 14883

Steve

Steve do you think the plate was put on reversed?Looks like the "lip" should have been turned 180'.
But your fix has worked.Frank
 
Steve do you think the plate was put on reversed? Looks like the "lip" should have been turned 180'.
But your fix has worked.Frank


No, the plate is positioned correctly. Although it is not needed on the deadbolt, the lip that I removed curved out and away (from photo perspective). It was the same as the plate for the bottom. It may look wrong because of a bad angle when I took the photo. The big problem is that the deadbolt assembly, at least on my camper, is a real tight fit in the door. The bolt ends up being further towards the outside of the camper than one would like it to be.

Steve
 
Seeing as the wider lip is on the outside on both cover plates, it looks like it was installed properly. I'm wondering why you couldn't just loosen the set screws above and below it and slide it back a little to line up with the lower plate. Is there something blocking it from being adjustable?
 
The metal of the plate was so wide between the hole in the plate and the front of the plate, before I sanded it down, that the front of the plate pushed against the door. Remember that the door has a rubber seal and the metal door is behind the seal. If I move the plate back, the deadbolt would not go into the opening in the plate because the plate would be too far back for the deadbolt to go in. By grinding the plate back, I made the distance from the bolt hole to the front of the plate shorter and the front of the plate no longer hits the door. On my door, the rubber seal around the door by the deadbolt has a deep crease from the plate digging into the rubber. Well, the truth is, the metal door is bent at the place where the plate use to hit it before I ground it down, probably from me pushing so hard when I locked the door.

Hope this helps.

Steve
 
This is a little off subject but I'll toss it in anyway. A couple of mods I made to my deadbolt were to rekey it to match my house (one less key to carry) and I removed the interior knob to slow down a bad guy who breaks the window.
 
Yup, they are not aligned with each other. I tried to measure the distance between each latch and the rubber and got maybe 1 centimeter on the door latch and something like .6 or .7 cm on the deadbolt.

In my case, by grinding/sanding back the plate, the lock worked much better because the plate was keeping the door from closing quite as far as it needed to. Although, in others cases, the hole for the deadbolt still may be too far back to receive the deadbolt even after the plate was filed back.

Steve

LatchCompare.JPG
 
Never had an issue with mine. I like the idea of rekeying it. Am I the only one who only uses the deadbolt? Can't remember the last time I bothered locking the other lock.
 
This is a little off subject but I'll toss it in anyway. A couple of mods I made to my deadbolt were to rekey it to match my house (one less key to carry) and I removed the interior knob to slow down a bad guy who breaks the window.


excellent
 
Never had an issue with mine. I like the idea of rekeying it. Am I the only one who only uses the deadbolt? Can't remember the last time I bothered locking the other lock.

I couldn't find a locksmith in town who had key blanks for the door latch lock so I only use the deadbolt from the outside. When I'm inside I use the latch deadbolt.
 
I had this problem also. I finally took the plate off and tweaked the bend a bit to get it to lock easyier. My deadbolt actually failed completely a couple of months ago. FWC could not fix or even get the lock to unlock, they had to tear the door and frame out and replace it with a new door and frame. The dead bolt on new door locks normally now. The Quality Assurance of the door manufacturer is not the best in my opinion. I noticed that the door alignement to frame is not the best.
 
Never had an issue with mine. I like the idea of rekeying it. Am I the only one who only uses the deadbolt? Can't remember the last time I bothered locking the other lock.


You are not alone. I only use the deadbolt also. I don't even keep the door lock on my keychain, just the deadbolt key.
 
Removing the inside knob for the deadbolt might be a good idea! I do worry about theft some but also, the inside deadbolt knob has scratched a circle on the clear plastic slide in the screen door. I know this was white plastic on older doors but is clear on my screen door.

I too only use the deadbolt lock. I have never tried the key in the other lock. But the reason is more because I am only going to use one or the other and, since I have the deadbolt, it is the lock of choice.

I am also going to look into the re-key to the house. Nice!

Steve
 
<snip>
I am also going to look into the re-key to the house. Nice!


And I'm making note of who's camper keys also opens their house! Just kidding but this is the Internet. :eek:
 
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