Front door lock ideas

[spenceadventures]

Hey all-

Trying to wrap my head around the best way to secure our front door on our '89 Thomas. It has an old style manual door that swings open two-ways. Pics below. We want to keep the mechanism on the inside to keep the feel of the bus, so we need a way to lock it from the outside without totally engaging the locking mechanism on the handle. Tall order, I know.

I have gone back and forth on various ideas, and have landed on two I think might work, but would like some thoughts/preferences/"hey, I did this..." from the community out there.

IDEA #1:

Steel hasp with padlock, as pictured in first photo. This seemed to be the simplest and easiest way to lock when we are away from the bus. I would lock the padlock to the open hasp when we are around/sleeping, to prevent someone from locking us in. This idea requires no welding, no cutting down of the hasp, but maybe lacks the "look" I'd like.

IDEA #2:

I like the look of this one better, but the dimensions of these type of hasps and puck locks are much bigger than my area I have to install it will allow. Has anyone ever cut these down to be slimmer in height, but keep the width, and then weld onto said thing you want to lock?

Last two pics are our inside opening mechanism for door we want to keep and the outside of the doors. Middle bar area between top and bottom windows is about 2 1/2 inches. My idea was to cut the hidden puck lock hasp down so it would fit on that metal of the door nicely and weld it to the door. It would then get dressed up and painted nice once we reach that stage.

Any thoughts are appreciated and welcome.

Cheers!

-David

 

[banman]

I like the elegance (and pry resistance!) of the Paclock.
Pricey with the hasp but worth it...
They make smaller hasps if you look on their website...

The issue for you would be I don't think you can lock it open if you're worried about being locked in...

Unless I'm mistaken the puck come completely off when unlocked leaving the hasp exposed to pranksters...

You should always have multiple ways out of your bus for emergency anyways...

I know I'm pretty paranoid -- but how many stories of skoolies being locked into their buses are there really?

Now it's a question of would my paranoia keep me awake at night...?

 

[banman]

Well obviously you got me thinking -- thanks!

This hasp says the lock can stay in place so the only question is "is it locked open?" or can if fall off while driving or be removed while unlocked?

https://www.paclock.com/product-line/pl810-hasp/

 

[musigenesis]

Is people getting locked inside their own skoolies a common thing? Seems a bit fanciful to be worrying about that. As others have said, you probably want to have an alternative way out of the bus anyway.

 

[spenceadventures]

I had been taking a look at their site, PACLOCK, and really like the look of some of their locks. And, yes, I saw that it can be set to stay on the hasp when unlocked. That would be my thing, will it fall off when driving? I also like the elegance of the PACLOCK, kind of leaning that way. First step would be to buy one and start trying to cut it down to size. DIY to the rescue, maybe......

We will still have access to get out of the back door of the bus, should any funny people decided to try and "lock" us in, no matter the style of locking we use. I can't say I am not paranoid, but the whole idea of people running around and then trying to lock you inside, seems far fetched. Like it happened one time, somewhere to someone, and now it is a thing to worry about. A lot of various elements have to happen for that to even be a reality.

 

[spenceadventures]

We have a deadbolt similar to this one installed already on the back door:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00BAFI...olid=1PNIDDTV2PCDH&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Simple elegant solution that I wish I could replicate for the front doors.

 

[TJones-SKO]

I was reading up on pac locks puck lock for securing my doors. The puck has threaded holes so that it can be bolted to one side of the hasp so it would not be lost while driving. I was thinking of getting a second puck and hasp and using it to secure the interior at night when sleeping in the bus. A single puc could be used for either interior or exterior hasp but I like the idea of having the puck attached to the hasp so that you don't have to fumble with it when locking the door or worry about loosing it. I think for my doors I will cut down the hasp so they are a little narrower and then weld them to some 4 inch by 1/4 inch bar stock. I could then sandwich the doors between the 1/4 inch bar stock and secure them with either carrage bolts or by cutting the heads off grade 8 bolts and welding them to the exterior bar stock and putting nuts on the interior.

Ted

 

[lynn sylvester]

I was reading up on pac locks puck lock for securing my doors. The puck has threaded holes so that it can be bolted to one side of the hasp so it would not be lost while driving. I was thinking of getting a second puck and hasp and using it to secure the interior at night when sleeping in the bus. A single puc could be used for either interior or exterior hasp but I like the idea of having the puck attached to the hasp so that you don't have to fumble with it when locking the door or worry about loosing it. I think for my doors I will cut down the hasp so they are a little narrower and then weld them to some 4 inch by 1/4 inch bar stock. I could then sandwich the doors between the 1/4 inch bar stock and secure them with either carrage bolts or by cutting the heads off grade 8 bolts and welding them to the exterior bar stock and putting nuts on the interior.

Ted

Yikes! Did it work?

 

[lynn sylvester]

Hey all-

Trying to wrap my head around the best way to secure our front door on our '89 Thomas. It has an old style manual door that swings open two-ways. Pics below. We want to keep the mechanism on the inside to keep the feel of the bus, so we need a way to lock it from the outside without totally engaging the locking mechanism on the handle. Tall order, I know.

I have gone back and forth on various ideas, and have landed on two I think might work, but would like some thoughts/preferences/"hey, I did this..." from the community out there.

IDEA #1:

Steel hasp with padlock, as pictured in first photo. This seemed to be the simplest and easiest way to lock when we are away from the bus. I would lock the padlock to the open hasp when we are around/sleeping, to prevent someone from locking us in. This idea requires no welding, no cutting down of the hasp, but maybe lacks the "look" I'd like.

IDEA #2:

I like the look of this one better, but the dimensions of these type of hasps and puck locks are much bigger than my area I have to install it will allow. Has anyone ever cut these down to be slimmer in height, but keep the width, and then weld onto said thing you want to lock?

Last two pics are our inside opening mechanism for door we want to keep and the outside of the doors. Middle bar area between top and bottom windows is about 2 1/2 inches. My idea was to cut the hidden puck lock hasp down so it would fit on that metal of the door nicely and weld it to the door. It would then get dressed up and painted nice once we reach that stage.

Any thoughts are appreciated and welcome.

Cheers!

-David

Update please. Padlock looks like the way to go to my bus.

 

[heimlich]

What kind of bus do you have? My bus door had a hole in it already with a plastic plug in it. I enlarged that hole and then used one like this.

 

[spenceadventures]

Had a couple long conversations about how to do this with a rep from PacLock, and we came up with this. Got a RAW metal version of their hasp that has key opening on bottom. I ended up cutting it down to fit in the door frame. Had to also cut the rubber a bit on the back side. PacLock puck is attached to one side so it stays there when opening. Works perfect!

We use the bolt, which drops down nicely to keep door closed when we are outside of the bus, say at a campground, or at home. I decided to do the bolt dropping down, so that in case of rain and then freezing temps, it lowers chance that lock and keyhole will fill with water and freeze.

We still have the original manual door opener as part of our door, so when driving and at night, that's how we keep door closed and secure.

I will try and get a video of how it works.

 

[Mr P]

Hey all-

Trying to wrap my head around the best way to secure our front door on our '89 Thomas. It has an old style manual door that swings open two-ways. Pics below. We want to keep the mechanism on the inside to keep the feel of the bus, so we need a way to lock it from the outside without totally engaging the locking mechanism on the handle. Tall order, I know.


Any thoughts are appreciated and welcome.

You mention the "locking mechanism on the handle", the inner, driver opening handle, right? If so, my 1996 Thomas has what appears to be a factory lockable handle under the RH front windshield (outside the bus). When rotated, it pulls a cable that connects to a lever that releases that "locking mechanism" you mentioned.

 

[spenceadventures]

You mention the "locking mechanism on the handle", the inner, driver opening handle, right? If so, my 1996 Thomas has what appears to be a factory lockable handle under the RH front windshield (outside the bus). When rotated, it pulls a cable that connects to a lever that releases that "locking mechanism" you mentioned.

That's a cool little feature that mine does not have. I wouldn't really need that anyway, as the setup we have allows us to close without the handle locking into place. We only use that part while inside the bus, in camp or on the road driving.

 

[Mr P]

To clarify, my bus locks from the outside. Isn't that what you want? (My doors have to be closed at just the right speed for the inside handle to "latch". At that point the exterior handle can be locked.)

 

[Cheezewhiz]

This is what we did. It's a european-style long throw gate latch.

The bolt moves about three inches, plenty to sink it in the jamb. This one requires the key from either direction, but there's models that have a regular deadbolt style handle on the inside.

Secure enough that when some motherfucker tried to crowbar the door open, he gave up before getting in

 

[nikitis]

You mention the "locking mechanism on the handle", the inner, driver opening handle, right? If so, my 1996 Thomas has what appears to be a factory lockable handle under the RH front windshield (outside the bus). When rotated, it pulls a cable that connects to a lever that releases that "locking mechanism" you mentioned.

Not all of the buses have what you described. Those locks only seem to be on the 94-97 Thomas buses that I've noticed. 3Box era. With manual door swings. And even with those some are actual handle with a key hole, and some only have a Hex bolt. (Mine has a hex bolt where the handle should be). You turn the hex clockwise and it pulls that bike cable to pull the handle down and pop the door open.

Also the manual door opener wears out over time, and you cannot as easily lock it. Doors can be pried open with those lock types if you use a crowbar easily.

 

[Mr P]

Not all of the buses have what you described. Those locks only seem to be on the 94-97 Thomas buses that I've noticed. 3Box era. With manual door swings. And even with those some are actual handle with a key hole, and some only have a Hex bolt. (Mine has a hex bolt where the handle should be). You turn the hex clockwise and it pulls that bike cable to pull the handle down and pop the door open.

Also the manual door opener wears out over time, and you cannot as easily lock it. Doors can be pried open with those lock types if you use a crowbar easily.

Mine works slightly differently. The release "cable" pulls on a lever which "rocks" to "pry" between the handle and latch.

My over all point is this: There are fairly simple ways to add a lock to the factory door latch. Any door can be defeated with levers, battering rams, or explosives. I think my "factory" lock system will be good enough for when we are outside the bus. When inside sleeping, I'll have another layer (of locking mech.).

 

[James6287]

I have an 86 Bluebird. It's got a lock on the front door which is really nice. Here's an idea for y'all to try to find. It's got a simple cam lock on it, but it's a good set up for simple security.

 

[nikitis]

Makes you wonder why they stopped doing that?

 

[heimlich]

My Blue Bird come with a hole in the door. There was a plastic plug in it. I found out that there is an optional lock.