I've wondered what options may be out there for upgrading the locks on our storage compartments. We have the notorious 751 key for ours, which is one of the most popular keys out there. And that means that most anyone out there with an RV has a pretty good chance of having the right key to just open our compartments and take whatever they want, do no damage to the compartment door, and even lock the door again after taking what they want.

Granted, we've never had it happen. But I was wondering if there may be a lock that would be a better choice for our storage bays.

I know that if someone really wants in, there's not a lot to stop them. But I had thought that perhaps a slightly better lock that not everyone and their cousin has a key to, might at least make our storage bays a little less easy pickins.

Anybody have an idea?

Thanks,

Brian

Take them apart and swap the pins and get new keys cut.

Downside is that a thief will try their 751 and it won't work. Downside? Yep, then they will stick a screwdriver in the lock and open it by twisting the lock body in the door. Now your stuff is just as gone and you have expensive door repairs to do.

Take your RV to a locksmith so he can measure the length of your locks, cam locks come in different lenghts. Once measured, have him order Medeco locks. Medeco locks are high security, very very very pick resistant and no one key will go in let alone work the thing. They are expensive and will require lubricating with a teflon or silicon lubricant such as Tri-Flo. Do not use WD-40 unless they need cleaned and then lubricate them with Tri-Flo. Properly installed, the screwdriver trick should not work.

Rex

Another thing, the Medeco locks are very drill resistant. Carbide bits will not work. These are very tough locks. There are other pick resistant locks on the market, but I would use the Medeco.

Rex

Couple things here- first, RV doors are not that hard to get open if you don't care if you trash them. Second- yes, Medeco locks are A-1, but they are a "franchise". Each store has it's own special key configuration. You can't go to a Medeco vendor ANYWHERE ELSE and get keys cut, you must get them from the original seller.
Moral- if you go Medeco, get a few extras & never forget where you got them. Ever.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have mixed feelings about getting a set of Medeco locks. They seem like great locks but they don't really seem to match the structural level of the RV they're going onto.

Right now, I think I'm liking Stan's suggestion the best, though I don't want to accidently change the pin combination to another popular key... I'll have to do some checking on that just to make sure.

If someone really wants in that badly, no lock, no matter how good will stop them. I just wanted to make it so their key doesn't work. If it's a target rich environment and there are 25 other storage bays on other trailers that their key WILL fit, I doubt they'd get to crazy trying to get mine open. But for someone determined, the screwdriver trick will do less damage to the trailer than a prybar.

Now if I were going to substantially rebuild those basement doors so that a theif would really have a hard time getting in, even with a pry bar, then maybe I'd have a reason for the Medeco locks.

I just don't have all that much under there that's worth the effort on their part, or the expense on my part of fixing a busted up trailer. Just wanted to discourage the one that has a handful of keys saying, "Let's see what these will fit."

Thanks for the thoughts.

Brian

I went to Mcmaster Carr web site and was able to order locks for all the basement doors that were keyed the same for around $25. If you are at all handy you can install them yourself.

Brian,

Our RV has the 751 locks also. Saw these at the local store yesterday and will likely get a set as soon as I get a chance to measure whether I need the 5/8 or 7/8" ones.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/5-8-ace-stora...r-locks-4-pack/11536

I didn't think to look and see if any/all the ones on the rack had the same number key

TCW, They look like they would stop the screwdriver attack. The trick would be to get enough keyed alike but not in a common key pattern or you'd be back to the 751 problem.

Here is a Medeco story. I am a believer in Medeco locks and everything said here is accurate. I once had a contract employee lock up the office, put the Medeco key into a postage-paid addressed envelope and dropped the key in the mailbox across the street. He did everything just right. That night the local post office was robbed. You guessed it. Thieves got my enveope and came in and helped themselves to a bunch of video equipment. Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!

I bought a bag-full of lock assemblies on eBay that were all keyed the same for $10 or $20. Must have been 20 or so locks. Be sure you get the right size - length is important.

Charles

The problem with having your existing cam locks re-keyed or buying new ones is the limited number of possibile key codes. There are only 5 possible depths for the key to be cut to and the lack of tolerance in these locks make them easy to defeat. Medeco is the best solution, but another less expense solution and almost as good as Medeco would be Ace locks. The Ace locks use a round or tubular key rather than a flat key like the 751. These Ace locks can be ordered keyed alike and in the various lengths that are required.

Rex

I just can't see Medeco locks at $40 plus each in an RV compartment door since they can be easily defeated with a screwdriver and twisting them in the door's mounting hole or prying the door open.

Personally I'd stay with the stock locks or go for the ones TCW suggested and raise the risk of getting a door destroyed.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/458850/Medeco_601150T...DL_Straight_Cam_Lock

My wife worried about security of our bays for years until I convinced her that most everyone in the RV Parks had more money than we had. We have never had any trouble.

This is a little off topic but somewhat interesting. I was at the Country Coach factory in OR last year. They were working on two custom coaches that had electronic locks on all basement doors. There was a master control on the dashboard and also two key fob transmitters. The key-fob transmitter only had an OPEN ALL button while the master control had a selective door opening feature. If you pressed OPEN ALL every door would open, on their own, to a 1/4 inch open position to keep rain out while the driver went to the doors of choice. When you press CLOSE ALL they would latch shut on their own. As far as I could see there were no latches or key slots in any doors. It sounds like a maintenance nightmare to me but they said they come with a lifetime warranty and a lifetime 24/7 emergency service policy. Pretty cool.