KT Lock assembly reassembly snafu

[Shapmaui]

Oh, no….I’m just taking my KT lock assembly apart on my ‘73 Sovereign.
I pulled two small pins to release a spring and was able to pull out the angled bolt that fits into the door frame, which hold the door right into the body of the trailer.

Am cleaning all the parts for reassembly.
There’s a small lock lever, with seemingly like a brass head which moves up and down as the key engages a small mechanism. It also locks the door from inside I believe..

When all of this was apart (and still is), I tipped it upside down to get a different view, and a very very small round ball bearing dropped to the ground! Aaah, where did that come from? Somehow I found it on the floor luckily! But I don’t dare to put it together again until I know where the ball bearing goes.

Anyone know?? Any guesses? Any KT lock experts out there??

I’ll try and post pics.

Thank you!!

[Shapmaui]

It seems now that the ball bearing is out, that the locking mechanism is sticking, where before it was a smooth turn of the key. Now it’s not a smooth turn…

[Shapmaui]

More photos
# 1 and 3 photo show the “brass” head mechanism.
#4 photo shows the back of the key entry. It’s a round piece with an “o locking ring nut” on it. Which is just to the right of a vertical part that receives the brass head pin.

[Shapmaui]

I put the KT back together without the ball bearing - and reinstalled in the door to test. The cleanup of the lock worked amazingly well on the bolt action. Buuuut, I figured out that the ball bearing allows the brass head “pin” to stay in the unlocked position, when the door key is used. Without the ball bearing, the pin drops and stays into a slot of the bolt mechanism, keeping the bolt from receeding into the door. Basically making it locked all the time..Hmmmm, I think I found a small hole it goes into, but it just drops out very easily. Not sure how to replace it correctly..

[DavidsonOverlander]

Do you have a deadbolt as well? I spent a lot of time cleaning up the same lock on our '74 and putting back together before realizing that since I didn't have a key I was better off if the door could not be accidentally locked, so I took out the parts that allow it to be locked and covered up the hole where that little lever sticks out on the inside. One less thing to think about.

[cole3444]

If you will take the small allen head screw out on the end where the shaft slides in a small spring will fall out. If your locking shaft is slide back into the lock where your key moves it to lock and unlock you can drop the bearing back in the hole then the spring and replace the allen head screw. Tighten the screw until the shaft has tension this is the locking rod. I have rebuilt numerous KT locks this happens a lot. Put a rag under your lock while taking apart and putting parts back saves you money. Good luck.

[Shapmaui]

Originally Posted by DavidsonOverlander

Do you have a deadbolt as well? I spent a lot of time cleaning up the same lock on our '74 and putting back together before realizing that since I didn't have a key I was better off if the door could not be accidentally locked, so I took out the parts that allow it to be locked and covered up the hole where that little lever sticks out on the inside. One less thing to think about.

I think I will be getting a deadbolt for this. And disabling the locking mechanism as you suggested.
Need to focus on a good deadbolt. One that requires the min of metal work. I am not experienced in cutting metal….

[Can of beans]

cole3444 is right.

the ball goes in from edge of door side under the screw and spring. and holds the lock retainer rod in position up or down.


your roll pin looks to be in fine shape. your door lock should work just fine when you get it back together. this area circled in red is the trouble spot I found

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by Shapmaui

I think I will be getting a deadbolt for this. And disabling the locking mechanism as you suggested.
Need to focus on a good deadbolt. One that requires the min of metal work. I am not experienced in cutting metal….

Check out the one at Vintage Trailer Supply that minimizes the size of the hole in the door frame. It's not cheap, but it reduces the chance that your doorframe will crack, and that's a lot of work to fix. The deadbolt can be mounted in the wall to the front of the door.

[Shapmaui]

Originally Posted by Can of beans

cole3444 is right.

the ball goes in from edge of door side under the screw and spring. and holds the lock retainer rod in position up or down.


your roll pin looks to be in fine shape. your door lock should work just fine when you get it back together. this area circled in red is the trouble spot I found

I spoke the other day to an older expert locksmith, who works on vintage locks, he was from Phoenix area, and he said I could learn like he did. Take the old lock to the kitchen table, take it apart, put it back together, and do that again and again..

All the parts after cleaning seem solid including that roll pin. I see the opening where the set screw is. I understand I need to take that out, and place the spring and bearing and replace the set screw with tensioning. But, on the complete other end of that “tunnel” where the spring, bearing and set screw go, is an open hole/opening, so the ball just drops out of that.. This opening is very hard to see at first, and it’s on an inner wall of a 4 wall small compartment. It seems like another screw went in that opening. . Or something closed that opening. I’ve put my lock back on in the meantime and have the lock arm lifted by a wire for now. I’ll take it out again and try to take a photo of where this opening is, in case you can’t follow what I’m describing. Again, if you were to open the outer set screw, take out the spring and bearing, and look through the now empty “slot” or tunnel, you could see all the way through to daylight on the lock I have..I need to close up that daylight on that far side, but it’s in such a tiny space, I’m not sure how to tackle it..

[Shapmaui]

Originally Posted by cole3444

If you will take the small allen head screw out on the end where the shaft slides in a small spring will fall out. If your locking shaft is slide back into the lock where your key moves it to lock and unlock you can drop the bearing back in the hole then the spring and replace the allen head screw. Tighten the screw until the shaft has tension this is the locking rod. I have rebuilt numerous KT locks this happens a lot. Put a rag under your lock while taking apart and putting parts back saves you money. Good luck.

TY. If you have a second to check out my response in #10 above, where I describe the issue in more detail, I hope it might clarify what I’m facing, and thanks for your comments, this is all very helpful.

[cole3444]

The fourth picture in post three is what holds the ball and spring in place. The shaft moves when the lock cylinder is turned and the ball puts tension on the shaft.

[pjpalm1964]

I found the allen screw that holds the spring and ball that holds up the vertical locking pin. It is on the edge (1-1/4 thick side) where you will find 3 drillings. Drilling 1 is the screw that holds in the interior pivot arm. Drilling 2 is the screw you had to remove on the door frame (under the door gasket) when you removed the lockset. Drilling 3 is what you want the allen hex screw. I thought it was another scroll pin, but sure enough a tiny allen wrench will fit in the hex and after removal and a few careful taps on a rag the tiny spring and tiny ball will fall out. This makes removing the vertical locking pin (the pin the inside brass lock lever screws into) possible without damage. Mine was really dirty and I filed the hole and lubed it a little bit to allow it to slide easy. Reassembly is the ball, spring, then screw. Fine tune the allen screw in/out to make the brass interior lock handle move up and down easy, but not too easy.

Hope this helps.