Rear barn door lock?

[kmack67.km]

Hi,

My 7x14' CTC has rear barn doors with with a bar lock, which is great for keeping stuff in while driving but wouldn't be great as a fire escape. Have any of you figured out a way to keep the door closed and locked from the inside, and the bar lock in the unlocked position on the outside? I thought of using a dead bolt on the inside but the door won't close all the way with the bar lock in the open position, which lets the bugs, rain and cold in.

Best regards,
Kevin

[hankaye]

kmack67.km, Howdy;

About 5 or 6 years ago there was a conversation on here about that very same question.
You could do a search in that Enhanced by Google box up top in the header.

Here's one search to get ya started;
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=67442&start=0

hank

[pchast]

How about: https://www.amazon.com/Accessbuy-220lbs ... 164&sr=8-3

Over center (draw) latches on each side of the door inside?
A second, lock open, setting for the bar lock too.

Otherwise, a picture of your door closure would help
to understand the situation.....

[Modstock]

Here's pics of my doors. I use the rear door as a main entry.

RV latch from the inside view.


I believe if your bar is on the right (overlapping door) , you could turn it upside down and install it on the left side.

Sent from my H1611 using Tapatalk

[slgrafton]

Because I'm cheap and not a skilled carpenter, I did this.
Also, drilled thru the barn door lock so it can be padlocked in the open position. Dont want any of my jokester friends to get any ideas about locking me in

[kmack67.km]

Thanks to all of you for your ideas. My barn doors do have the bar lock on the outer (overlapping) door.

Modstock, I wish I had seen your door lock configuration before I bought my trailer. That looks like exactly what I need. I am going to give some thought to flipping my bar lock onto the other door and adding either an RV door latch or one like slgrafton's. I am only hesitating because the switch will leave about a dozen surplus holes in the outer door that will need to be sealed up somehow.

slgrafton: I wonder if your friends went to school with my friends. If I gave them the opportunity, it would only be a matter of time before my friends locked me in as well.

Thanks again everyone,
Kevin

[kmack67.km]

slgrafton, I just noticed your bar look is also on the outer (overlapping) door. When you lock your bar lock in the open position, are you able to close the outer door all the way? On my CTC the outer door will not close all the way unless the bar lock is in the closed position. When the bar lock is in the open position, there is about a 1-inch crack around the door.

Best regards,
Kevin

[pchast]

It appears that you can open the 'man door' when the bar lock is engaged.
Your pictures seem to show the overlap on the conventional latch side.

Please explain more what you want to accomplish.

[kmack67.km]

It appears that you can open the 'man door' when the bar lock is engaged.
Your pictures seem to show the overlap on the conventional latch side.

Please explain more what you want to accomplish.

Hi Pete, I didn't actually post pictures of my doors yet (my trailer is at a storage place right now). My door is similar to slgrafton's above but when the bar lock is in the open position, the outer door doesn't close all the way. I could use some of those latches you linked above but the gap will let bugs and rain in. Modstock's door (also pictured above) is what I wish I had but I will have to deal with lots of extra bolt holes to seal up if I do that now.

I basically want to be able to fully close and lock the barn doors from the inside while the bar lock (on the outside) is locked in the open position.

Best regards,
Kevin

[hankaye]

kmack67.km, Howdy;

Here's a link to something that you might want to incorporate for your doors.
The one with the chain goes to the upper and the rear is spring loaded for easy
unlocking. If you install them on the door that closes first then install a slide
bolt on the other you can securely latch the doors and they can be opened
quickly if necessary. They are available at most Farm Supply stores as well as
Lowes/Home Depot/Hardware type stores.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/7951736818268916/

hank

[slgrafton]

Thanks to all of you for your ideas. My barn doors do have the bar lock on the outer (overlapping) door.

Modstock, I wish I had seen your door lock configuration before I bought my trailer. That looks like exactly what I need. I am going to give some thought to flipping my bar lock onto the other door and adding either an RV door latch or one like slgrafton's. I am only hesitating because the switch will leave about a dozen surplus holes in the outer door that will need to be sealed up somehow.

slgrafton: I wonder if your friends went to school with my friends. If I gave them the opportunity, it would only be a matter of time before my friends locked me in as well.

Thanks again everyone,
Kevin

Kevin, yes I can close the door completely with the bar locked in the open position. Although there is some sag to the door and it rubs on the bottom "sash".

[beachguy005]

I've been thinking about securing my doors from the inside and although I haven't yet, I think the bar lock issue is an easy solution. Rather than removing it, just lower the U bracket at the handle. Looking at mine, doing that will allow the cams on the bar to slide below the cam brackets on the body, making it easy to close the door tightly from the inside.
You'll still be able to use the bar for locking just by raising it up to latch it to the other door.

[kmack67.km]

That is a great idea Beachguy. Only two extra holes in the door to deal with. I may try that along with some gate latches inside.

Best regards,
Kevin

[onehoser]

since we don't use the rear doors for access i installed 2 slide bolts, 1 at the bottom of the left door and 1 about half way up the overlapping door. the important thing is to have the bar lock open when the slide bolt on the overlapping door otherwise it will pull the screws out of the slide bolt when you try to lock/unlock the bar lock. it's just for emergency exit and would open fairly easy if i had to put my shoulder to it in panic mode