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Bay Door Latches?

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Michael Kauffman:
[size=14]The bay doors on my 98' Patriot are hard to get latched.  I close the door and have to push in while lifting the handle to get them to close.  And most of the time just one side latches so you have to go back and forth to get them both to latch.  Is this common in this vintage Beaver?  Is there a remedy?  Thanks for any help, Mike[/size]

Jim Bentley:
I go through the same routine each time. Jim

Richard And Babs Ames:
I do also and have to be careful here in FL as the doors can get pretty hot and when you do the leg push can be a real pain. If they were not hard you would not have a good weather seal.

Larry Fritz:
Mine have been that way for 10 years.

After lubrication the latches, I actually cut some shims out of thin aluminum and spaced the latch aluminum catch blocks out a bit but not too much. This helped some.

My tried and true method is to shut (slam) the door, visual both ends and if one door side is not latched, it will stick out a bit. Take your leg and lean against the bottom angle portion of the door and push and it will latch shut. You can hear it click. This works well (but you could get your leg or pants dirty!).

Larry Fritz
1998 Beaver Patriot 37'
3126B CAT

Jim Shaw:
HI, Larry, It seems we all have the same problem with our doors. I clean mine with spray parts cleaner and lube with spray silicone and they seems to work better for a few months, then I have to do it again. One of the techs at the Bend service center told me to do that a few years ago.
Jim

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