Deadbolt

[1989excella]

Mother of all Deadbolt Locks"
We have had our 1989 25 foot Excella for 6 years and have wanted to add an outside deadbolt from day one! Now, our camping routine has changed. We will be permanently parking our AS on a small lot that also has our cabin on it, but not many people around, so security is questionable. Its at a lake and I would feel much better if the deadbolt was there to keep people honest. I searched the forum to get ideas and even made a trip to the AS factory for them to look at the trailer, for their input. Unfortunately, due to the trailer's construction characteristics, vertical rib location, and lack of space, there just wasn't any way of making the installation without greatly weakening the trailer. Of course I didn't want to do that. I almost gave up on the idea, but during one of my sleepless nights thinking about a way to do this, I figured it out! The trailer already had an inside factory deadbolt, so all I had to do was figure out away to utilize that same deadbolt mechanism and hook an outside deadbolt to it. I have attached two pictures that illustrate what I came up with. I am happy to report that it works better than I thought! I had a machine shop make an "adapter plate" to hold the deadbolts assembly, drilled a very small hole (3/4 inch) through the trailer's skin to connect the deadbolt's link to the inside deadbolt, (ref small square inside of hole) so the lock could be operated from the inside and outside. Notice the ring of rivets around the adapter plate, these mirror the rivets construction around the window frames. Simple! I forgot to mention that I had to also relocate the grab handle a little higher, because of the new deadbolt, it is still very functional. My overall recommendation is to used this method, ie Airstream's internal deadbolt parts, because it looks more professional inside and outside, and it requires less cutting into the AS body.

If you look real close at the bottom window, about the 8:00 O'Clock position, you will see a small white square behind the glass. This is a LED light which simulates/represents an alarm system.
Last edited by 1989excella; 06-10-2010 at 08:25 PM. Reason: missing words and sentenes