The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Replacement Door Latches

anybody have have a very strong preference for a door latch supplier? the 50 doors i have now have replacement latches from classic truck, give me nothing but trouble. the tiny little ridges never seem to hold, it released and the little tab at the bottom is now locked and behind the striker. i cant even use the key to unlock it and open it. thank god the driver door was unlocked or i would've had to pop the rear window to get back inside it.

i bought replacements for another truck a long while back, dont remember if it was LMC or brothers or whoever. is this the only style being made now? do i have to wait for an OEM pair to pop up somewhere?

please tell me somebody has a line on good replacements?

If you don't want to cut a hole in the door for Bear Claw latches, I would keep looking for NOS latches.
I have successfully repaired original worn latches by completely disassembling them and TIG welding any worn away metal. It is very labor intensive and you need a good latch to use as a reference to know what to weld and grind into proper shape.
Carl

I went down that same road you did with the door latches...Nothing but trouble and one of the latches actually broke the first time I closed the door. This aftermarket latches are CRAP!! Try to find some NOS latches. They are available as Carl stated. Got mine on E-PAY.

Tim

I haven't personally tried these out but I have seen a post or two about them, Trique Mfg Altman Latches. They are NOT stock latches but from what I have read they are solid and work well. They are a little pricey.

You may want to reach out to some other 'Bolters who have used this brand for direct feedback.

I did what Carl did, weld up the worn part on your latch and finesse into the proper shape. Mine went click click when I was done.
After I was done my father came in. Being quite proud of my "idea" on my latch fix, I showed him how I did it. He then dug back into his past and told me a story:
"Remember Melvin? (How could I forget our beloved neighbour? He was a bear of man, grade 3 educated, and one of the smartest, nearest old guys I had the privelege of knowing.) Well, years ago he had a similar problem, but not on a door latch. His cam shaft was fried on his old International tractor. He pulled it and went to the store to get a replacement. Well the new cam was $300! And being the '70's that was a lot of money. Melvin said, "I'll just fix the cam myself." The guys at the store laughed at him. So he took it home, he put it in a vice and proceeded to weld up the lobes. Then he hand filed each lobe until he was satisfied. That tractor is still going today. The old red 400."

WHAT?! I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I learned to drive tractor when I was 10 on that old 400 international! It always did have a strange sound.

Door latches are pretty easy to build up 😉 And they work better than replacements.

I did this ^^^^^^^^^. Absolutely perfect, doors close and seal like a modern truck. While the instruction say they will not fix door flush probelms. With a little work they will fit and finish of the doors to modern standards. But the truck still look stock. Highly recommend..........plus they make the truck safer. There is a good reason those stock latch type were discontinued..........they will not hold in an accident.

I have heard they have had some quality issues with the pre-51 kits for the turn down handles.
Apparently the locks have a pot metal cast part that mates with the door handles square drive shaft.
It binds and fails causing the doors to jam and makes them very difficult to open again without damage to the door and or lock.

A friend of mine in Florida has used them exclusively for some time in all his truck builds and has had a few fail,he contacted Trique/Altman and has been assured the issue has been noted and rectified...time will tell.
He still modifies all his ones before installation now but still claims they're better than re-pop stock units despite the problems.

I'd love a set myself as my stock latches are pretty tired but i'm a little reluctant to drop the cash on a set until it is definitely rectified as any warranty issues/claim would be compounded as i'm over the pond.
Add to that my truck is my only daily so the extra downtime would be a problem for me.....

I did a lot of posting (ranting?) about after market latches when I did the 48 2 ton. The biggest problem being the originals have a toothed cam on the latch. You can close the door to the optimum position and stop and it's latched. The after market don't have the teeth so it's all or nothing, making the final adjustment a nightmare.
I don't care about the "over center safety" I'm not going to fall out of the seatbelt. Also drive a lot of things that don't have doors.
Had to combine parts, machine pieces and make originals work.
Eventually found NIB on Ebay.

Successfully disassembling, repairing/welding, reassembling an original '47-'51 door latche should qualify one for The Master Man Card stamp.

I bought (two) original LH latches for my truck off eBay, less then $100 for both. I also used an NOS striker which when compared to the reproduction I had was almost 1/4" off on the catch area. Between the latch and the striker my door now locks perfectly. My passenger side like most works great just due to usage, I did buy another NOS RH just in case.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/25279723473/in/album-72157631868452754/