The entry side door lock on my 2001 Forest River Windsong has broken and we are locked inside with our dogs (Newfoundlands 180 and 140 lbs) outside and my husband has gone in and out the drivers door, thank God for that door or we would be locked in with me disabled and not able to climb out the emergency window. There needs to be a recall on all these locks that break and strand owners in or out of their motorhomes with pets and or grandchildren inside or out.
This is a National Safety Hazard for thousands of motorhome and RV owners with these defective locks. We have been talking with the service facility of a Forest River dealer in the Sacramento area trying to find a way to get the lock open and replaced. Hopefully with another better locking mechanism. I think I will give this off to my congressman to have this type of lock recalled if possible as they definitely are defective.
We have had to replace all of the underneath compartment locks when the cheap pot metal latches broke off in them and could not be accessed until we spent repair dollars and had a RV repair dealer who had made a special tool that we copied to get in to the others that broke and then made and replaced all the other pot metal pieces with our own latches my husband made out of a better quality material . Very poor materials and locks. LOTS of comments on line about this type of lock and now it is time to remove this hazard from our lives. We have enough to worry about without wondering how we would get out in case of a fire and get our pets or others out a window or side door without good mobility when getting the door lock in this broken mess.
My husband finally was able to dismantle the lock by taking off the plate and getting the broken piece out and then removing the molding from the side of the door inside and getting the lock pushed back to get the door open. Now we are going to have to figure out how to keep the door locked when traveling to get another lock installed. At least we are able to use the deadbolt for now and it seems to work to lock the vehicle up. This is very hazardous and needs to be addressed by as many as possible and if there is a list of how many of these locks are or have gone bad the NHTSA can be given a report and not try to have the company describe it as a one off manufacturing issue.
