WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!! No Kidding!

[oldmansax]

No kidding! We came home two nights ago to the door latch ripped off the  door & the bus ransacked. They only got a little money which can be replaced. Fortunately for them, I didn't find them here when I came home!

Anyway, now I need to replace the door latch & need some ideas. The former latch was just a house style, standard lockset. The PO had a Barg lockset, poorly installed & about worn out when we bought the bus. I replaced it with the temporary house style lock shortly thereafter, intending on doing something different later.....

Well, LATER IS HERE!!!!

The door is a standard MC7 one piece almost 2" thick. The PO cut out a rectangle 3" high & 6" wide for the original lock so anything I do will have to be plated I think.

What's out there that is secure & reliable?

TOM

[Melbo]

I installed the kind of lock that they use on commercial buildings in the glass doors available at any lock smith and designed to stand up to the criminal element.

Melbo

[white-eagle]

i'm sorry.  unfortunately, i think it's going to get worse.

anything you need that i can help with?  Wire, spring loads, timers, grenades? 

(homeland security, if you are monitoring, i'm joking. see the smiley at the end of the sentence. )

i was thinking about some sort of air lock as well as the dead bolt we have.  someone also said there is a magnetic lock that really seals the door.  i think it was out of my $ range vs jakes.

[John316]

Tom,

I am sorry to hear about the robbery. I hope that you can get thing straightened back up quickly. What part of the country are you in, I am just curious. Other than getting a big German Shepard (sounds like fun) or an alarm system, I don't think there is much hope of keeping a determined robber out.

Bunny trail...I wonder what a motion triggered figure that jumped out from behind a door and screamed (when switched on, while away from the bus), would do to a robber, that had a guilty conscience? 

Enough rambling. I hope you figure things out.

God bless,

John

[Jriddle]

I'm sorry to here your bad news.  The world is changing and if they want in they will get in no matter how much you try to keep them out. I wish you could have caught them I know what I would have done as I believe in self protection if you know what I mean.
John

[Kwajdiver]

Tom,

I have a house type deadbolt.  The part on the door frame has an 8 inch reinforced stainless still bar that the bolt slides through.

Sorry to hear about your break-in.  I had a house broke into once.  If I had been a little quicker getting out of the car and in the house, I may have been able to show them what a Mini-14 (and a 30 round clip) could do.  By the time I got in the house they were gone out the back door.

Bill

[white-eagle]

Tom,

i researched and found a previous post on the magnetic door locks.

  in raised roof and had trouble with the door at the top moving when in high wind I  ...
...  of another Eagle owner and bought the magnetic lock from Access Control in Houston  ...
...  for me. I believe their web site is Door King the number is 877-688-4283 have a  ...

originally posted by makeminea2stroke in answer to someone's question.

hth

[oldmansax]

Thanks for the sympathy & well wishes!

We live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, way out in the country. The cops & I both think this was some local, probably young thug, who just wanted some money for drugs or a new game boy. Like I said, only money was taken and the really valuable things left, even thought they were in the same dresser.

The detective made more of a mess with the fingerprint dust than the burglar did.

I was planning on moving from here anyway as soon as I put together the rest of the financing on the new home site. All I need is someone who wants 10% on $15,000 for 36 months secured by real estate......  any investors are welcome....     For now, I am temporarily moving  back to the property  my other house is on. We rented the house so we can't move in...

I have a interior dead bolt installed plus the original driver actuated handle affair which makes the bus secure as long as I am on the inside.

The original air operated lock is still in place and operational. I have thought about modifying that some way so as to be operated from outside. It would be almost impossible to open the door with the air lock deployed. That would require an auxiliary air compressor and a way to isolate it from the rest of the air system when parked.  Any one have any ideas on that?

We do a lot of boon docking so energy requirements to run an air compressor are a consideration.

The mag lock is probably a good idea although it would require energy too.

I will check out the commercial locks too.

When I was truck driving, I had a '68 Diamond Reo conventional. It had a fiberglass hood. I rigged up a transformer, similar to a fence charger, to turn on as a security system when I left the truck. I hid the switch on the hood so I could turn it off & on without getting shocked. I wonder how that would work on the bus? My concern is the electronics on the bus. Would the charger damage the inverter, tank monitors, VCR, satellite dish, etc?

TOM

[Len Silva]

I once saw a bus conversion (MCI, I think - don't remember exactly)  that had two deadbolt locks installed in the frame so that the bolts went into the door.  Seemed pretty secure to me.

Len

[cody]

The world is changing but don't let it discourage you, there are still more good people than bad out there.  If someone wants what you have, they'll take it, thats just the way it is, the main thing is that your ok and your family is ok.  For us to go south last winter I had to add locks to the house, for 25 years we hadn't locked our doors and the keys were no where to be found, up here is still isn't much of a problem, libby and I have left for months at a time with cars in the yard, unlocked, many times with the keys in the ignition, course with the cars I drive finding someone to take them is a major problem in itself lol.  Reading about your theft reminds me to at some point fix the lock in the bus door, it can be locked from the outside but not from the inside, something went wrong with it but we'll fix that at some point.  Just sorry to hear of your theft, the hardest part to overcome when something like that happens is the feeling of being violated.

[junkman42]

The world is definitely changing!  I recently was outside working in the engine compartment of the beast and realized that My ratty was barking at something which usually means a rattlesnake, while climbing out I noticed someone walking around in my pole barn looking at My green tractors!  I asked the idiot if I could help Him and the comment was I am just looking!  I guess He could not see the posted signs on the gate.  Only later did I discover the id plates missing off of two John Deere B models.  I sometimes wonder what Our country has come to be.  Hope that Your break in is the last bad thing to happen.  John

[skipn]

Tom,

    Sorry about your bus being violated

   You might consider replacing the current air cylinder with an electric over hydraulic cylinder.
   then wire it up both outside and inside.

    Just a thought.

    Skip

[Sam 4106]

Hi Tom,
Sorry you had the break-in.
As an extension of Skip's idea of using somthing other than the air cylinder to operate the original bus door lock, would a small electric accuator work? It would only require power to open or close the lock instead of maintaining air pressure all the time. Just another thought.
Good luck with your project, Sam 4106

[kd5kfl]

At one time, every member of the New York City Felon Apprehension squad had Medeco locks and Weiser deadbolts. They had them because they know how hard is is to get through them.

[Sammy]

Tom, how about something like this: http://www.medeco.com/solutions/downloads/6PinDB.pdf
Sorry to hear of your troubles.