Our rear door lock solution

[crashcarr]

We spent a lot of time trying to figure out a way to lock our rear door since we wanted to be able to lock it from the outside as well. We came up with this solution that has worked well for us so far. I think we may upgrade the lock cylinder if the weather starts to affect it. We posted a video to our channel showing it off:

https://youtu.be/lIYyThwpPyo

 

[o1marc]

Nice, I like that. Will use one on mine.:Thanx:

 

[Sleddgracer]

great idea

 

[crashcarr]

Thanks! We would love to see anyone else that goes this route also.

 

[BarnYardCamp]

great idea

First, thanks for posting your rear door lock solution.
I just completed the rear door lock on my bus using your method, with a couple small modifications since there are some small differences between your back door and mine.

 

[crashcarr]

awesome

Great so glad it worked for you! I was a little afraid the locks wouldn't hold up in the long term, but over 2 years later and they still work well with some regular lubrication.

 

[BarnYardCamp]

Since I did not install the exterior key cylinder, I shouldn't have any trouble at all.
You could get an outlet cover to mount over your key cylinder to keep the elements out.

 

[QuixotryHugger]

+1 for this solution Had to add a piece of 1/8" steel between the lever and the strike to line up but works like a charm. Going to seal around the cylinder housing outside... as with my other residential locksets, WD40 once in a while in the cylinders and I expect it to be all good. I like that idea of adding a flap or cover for the elements, though.

 

[desrtdog]

Locks...

So, jumping around a bit here...One of the issues with busses is the general lack of security. Front door can be closed and latched but then not easily opened from outside; Back and side doors have absolutely no security features - i.e., locks. For me, this was not a real big initial concern, because I rented an enclosed storage unit, so my bus (tools, etc) was secure when I wasn't working on it; Because of this, I did not actually put any locks in until after painting.

Can't remember where I picked this up (somewhere on YouTube, no doubt), but the solution that worked best for my bus was to use deadlock mechanisms. (these are also known as "jimmy-proof" locks.) Started with the back and side doors - these were easiest to fit as they have the big arms (levers) on the inside, so provided a place to mount the bolt receiver plates (or whatever they are called):
View attachment 806252 (side)
View attachment 806253 (back...a little blurry, but you get the idea)
View attachment 806254

(typical outside)

The front door is another story, because the gasket between the two door halves does not permit a direct ("normal") mount of the lockset. After some thought/design (engineering?), I found a workaround that would still allow the doors to close unhindered...Used a piece of thicker (16 ga) stainless steel plate (screwed to the rear half) as a mounting plate for the receiver; mounted the lock to the front half, and ground down the receiver a bit to get the clearance needed for the two halves to close without catching.
View attachment 806256
View attachment 806255
The keyed portion of the lock had to mount right where the bus door vandal lock plate was, so to cover that gap, I used another piece of stainless plate.

I know that there are other ways to skin this cat - such as putting a whole new door in, or changing the way it opens, but I wanted to maintain the original school bus look. Only drawback is that if I push too hard on the door, it can engage the interior safety latch, which means crawling through one of the other doors...or the roof hatch if I've locked all of them and left the keys inside (as I did on my recent road trip...

Hmmmm… if only i had patented the idea….

 

[nikitis]

+1 for this solution Had to add a piece of 1/8" steel between the lever and the strike to line up but works like a charm. Going to seal around the cylinder housing outside... as with my other residential locksets, WD40 once in a while in the cylinders and I expect it to be all good. I like that idea of adding a flap or cover for the elements, though.

Huh, Don't know why I didn't think of that.

I used a similar lock, but put the pad on the wall instead of the door under the bar like that?

NM, I see the reason I didn't do it, Mine is a circular bar, and not flat like in that picture. Can't mount well the lock pad to a round bar.

 

[sportyrick]

another way to lock a rear door, it blocks the catch from moving, sorry can't find my better pic right now.

 

[nikitis]

another way to lock a rear door, it blocks the catch from moving, sorry can't find my better pic right now.

Ah I see, you lock it and it pops up preventing the slide lock from going left. Seems you have a flat bar too, and shorter. Did you shorten your bar?

And here is mine for reference:

I mounted the locking end to the wall, and the mechnism didn't quite line up, so I screwed into the door with that stained wood piece, and then it was level. And locks fine, buy my bar door opener is round and not flat like ya'lls.

 

[sportyrick]

shortened the bar and have key lock on outside also. The nice thing about my design is you can release the lock plunger and the door won't lock until you return the levers (inside or outside) to locked position. You have to lock yours with key from outside .....yes?

 

[nikitis]

I can lock from inside or outside. And I like that capability. I don't want to have to run around the whole bus to unlock it from the inside. With mine you can turn the levar for the original door handle from inside or outside, but the door won't budge at all until you use the key cause the door is literally locked to the frame body.

I can't tell if mine is locked or not until I turn the outside lever into the open position and it doesn't open lol