THE BEST CABINET LATCH REPLACEMENT IN YOUR ROADTREK

 In December 2013 I wrote an article about the cabinet latches in the Chevy chassis Roadtrek models. 

https://roadtrek190popular.blogspot.com/2013/12/roadtreks-cabinet-latches.html

Since the original Roadtrek that built the Chevy chassis Roadtreks is long gone and the new owners no longer support the Chevy chassis Roadtreks the latches once available from them are no longer available from the "new" Roadtrek. The brown push bar latch is infamous for how easily it breaks. While there is a way to avoid as best as possible to keep it from breaking - when closing the cabinet door keep the brown push bar pushed all the way in until the cabinet is completely closed so that inside the cabinet the latch goes over the metal catch open - and once completely closed and you let go of the latch bar it is not pushed and broken by the metal catch - eventually that latch will break. What is available looks like these latches but are even less strong than these are. 

So when you need a new latch what should you get?  The best way to go is to get a latch with NO movable parts and nothing to break.  Does such a latch exist? Yes!

You want a latch that has strong enough hold that the cabinet door will only open when you want it to open and not when taking a sharp curve on an interstate or when something in the cabinet falls against the door and pushes it open. What you want is a 40 pound pull 90 degrees magnet latch. What does 40 pound pull mean? To pull the magnet off the metal catch it takes a physical pull of 40 pounds. There is nothing that is going to push the cabinet door open from inside - and no way that cabinet is opening by the pull of gravity going while driving. 

 Here is what such a latch looks like - in its parts -  

 

This 40 pound pull magnet latch is made of stainless steel.  Two screws go onto the 90 degree magnet bracket into the side of the cabinet door (before putting in any screws check to make sure they are not too long and will come through the wood of the cabinet to the outside of the cabinet. One screw goes around the metal disk into the back of the cabinet door frame to match up with the 90 degree magnet on the bracket. Again - make sure the screw is not too long. IF the screws are too long - stainless steel screws like these are available in all sizes in Home Depot, Lowes, or Ace Hardware.

Since you need a strong hold on the door to pull it open - get a decorative and functional door pull handle - again -  Lowes, Home Depot, Ace or any other local store that sells cabinet hardware. The handle must be put into the solid wood edge frame of the door. Do not put the pull handle on the thin wood on the center of the cabinet door - that wood is too thin and will break if you pull on it.

Now you have a cabinet door that is going to stay closed when it should be closed and likely will never have to replace that cabinet's latch again. This will work on cabinets, wardrobe doors, and the bathroom door. 

Where to get these - I have not seen these in the local big box home stores' hardware departments. They are available on Amazon, and other hardware supplies who will ship. The lowest price I have seen for these is $10,99 each. They do go up - for the same ones - to over $20 - for one. Google this - 

" 40 pound pull magnet 90 degree cabinet latch " 

and they will come up on a search. 

Woodcraft Stores - a tool and woodworking specialty stores has these in their stores and online for $10.99 each. 

Rockler woodworking supplies - another tool and woodworking specialty stores has these in their stores and online also for $10.99 each.

Some listings for these will also show lower pound pull magnet latches that look the same - 10 pound pull and 20 pound pull are NOT strong enough to keep the door closed. 

Walmart online shows the 40 pound pull magnet for almost $30 - way too much to pay for this.

Amazon - $17.00 and they claim "free shipping" but it is being shipped by a third party. 
 

ROADTREK TIRE PRESSURE

 When we first got our Roadtrek 2011 190 Popular new I was curious about the tire pressure that should be used. Inside the driver's door frame there is a sticker that says 50 psi front tires and 80 psi rear tires.  It sounded to me to be a big difference between the front and the rear psi - so I called Roadtrek's factory number and spoke with a Roadtrek service technician that I was connected with. 

I am going to share what he told me - as this comes up often on the Roadtrek Facebook groups and Roadtrek forums. He was very clear that the 80 psi in the rear is a MUST - do not go higher and do not go lower. He then said that the 50 psi in the front is a suggested starting point for the front tires. He said that by varying this number up in increments of five the ride of the Roadtrek changes. 

He said to drive with the tires at 50 psi in the front and evaluate how the ride feels. Then go to 55 psi in the front tires and do the same. Do this for each more 5 psi until you get to 65 psi - and stop. He said that after 65 psi in the front the ride starts to degrade - so do not go over 65. 

We did this - and found that the best ride (for us) was at 60 psi in the front.  We have kept the tires in the front at 60 psi since then. I have read that others also have preferred the feel of the ride at 60 psi - but this does not mean that you will like it there - so you should do the changes by 5 psi from 50 to 65 psi and see what you like. 

One more thing that we learned right away with the Roadtrek and the front tires, was when Meryl drove the Roadtrek home from the dealer in Pennsylvania with me following in our car (yes - Meryl was the first to drive our Roadtrek) she found that the Roadtrek was not holding straight in the lane of the highways we were on to get home. She felt it moving all over the road.  When we got home she told me about this and we both got into the "new" Roadtrek and I drove it on a local expressway - and sure enough it was all over the road. (I did not doubt that it was doing this when she drove it home - but if we were going to call the dealer - etc. I wanted to be able to describe it myself.)

 We thought it needed an alignment and we called Roadtrek who told us to call Chevy - and show them the papers we were given showing the warranty started on the Chevy chassis when we took delivery of the converted  Chevy Express 3500 van a couple of days before when we picked up the Roadtrek.  When we got to the local Chevy dealer they said that they do not do alignments but send them out to a local alignment shop and they sent us there. When we got there the manager looked at the Roadtrek and told us that it would not fit into his shop and his alignment rack would not hold the weight of the Roadtrek. He suggested a local truck service shop that could do the alignment - but he said wait a minute and let him check the front tire pressures. (This was before we set the fronts to 60 psi - what was in the tires at this point was what the Roadtrek left the factory in Canada with in the tires which was driven to the dealer in Pennsylvania by a Roadtrek driver.) 

The tire alignment manager checked the two front tires. They were over 20 psi apart from each other. He got the tire hose from his compressor and put the two tires at 50 psi (which is what they should have been when they left the factory). He said take it out for drive and see how it is now. He also said watch to see that they don't go down in case there is a leak that caused this. 

We took it out on the expressway and drove for a distance and it was perfectly holding the road and centered in the lane! Driving and days went by and the tires never lost any air - there was no leak.  It needed no alignment! It made us wonder why the Roadtrek driver who drove from Canada to PA did not report to the dealer that the van was all over the road... (but this was typical of Roadtrek at that time in 2011!) 

So the point of this little tale -  make sure that both front tires are exactly the same psi - or the van will go all over the road and not hold straight in a lane.  

What to know about the PSI when you are driving:

When any vehicle - van, car, truck, RV, Roadtrek is driven the friction between the tires and the road cause heat to build up inside the tire and that results in the tire pressure increasing. This is normal and tires are manufactured to allow for this to happen. SO while you are driving the Roadtrek and if you have tire pressure monitors on the tires (my Roadtrek came standard with this - and the readout is shown with the push of a button to the left on the dash) you may see the back tires not at 80 psi but close to or over 90 psi - not a problem - this is expected.  You might see your 60 psi in the front tires reading 70 psi  - again this is expected - and one of the reason's why the Roadtrek tire size has an E at the end of the tire size - E rated for high pressure in the tires. Don't get excited if you see this. Don't panic!