Broke down and ordered a pair of sealed Southco C5s last night. Hoping someone out there has some input on replacing the C2s and enlarging the latch opening
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It voids your warranty on those panels, but it’s definitely an option since you can get covers for those. Curious to see how you make out. Keep us updated!
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Excited to see. I don’t live where it freezes, but I never lock mine because of the odd design of the lock cylinder on the latch release. It drives me nuts that it opens when you push the key in the lock.
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following along as well and trying to meet the 20 character minimum
following here’s my 20 characters GO FOR IT! it shouldn’t be too hard to enlarge the hole. it’s the alignment of the latch that might be the challenge of the whole process… and that shouldn’t be hard. you just need to make sure everything is centered around the original placement. please let us know how it goes. I really want to get rid of my redneck rubber inner tube covers.
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I agree that lock design needs updated. From the first time I opened the lock I kept pushing in on that release and they just plane don’t work that great. They need a better lock design for sure.
$850 for V1 side panels. V2’s probably close.
Finally found time to get this done and I’m stoked. No clue why GFC doesn’t use these in the first place, except for cost.
Only thing that sucks is having a separate key for the side panels now. The bigger latches weren’t an insignificant cost and took a couple hours to install, so I don’t anticipate changing out the side panel latches any time soon. I did the whole project with a Dremel tool and file, but I’m sure someone could do it faster with a router if you popped the door off.
If anyone is interested, here’s my order from Southco. Total cost was $167 with shipping.
Compression Latch, Sealed Lever Latch, Key Locking, Locking with dust shutter, 1-11mm Panel, 29-45mm Grip, Zinc Alloy, Powder Coat, Black. x2
SKU: C5-31-35
Grab Handle, Large, Rear Mount, ABS Plastic, Black, Bulk Packaged
SKU: B8-66-3
Rubber Bumper, Black x2
SKU: C5-25-301-82
Flange Gasket, Black x2
SKU: C5-82
Latch Cover x2
SKU: C5-0-34682
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Nice work! Looks great!
This is brilliant… Glad it worked out! That looks so good! Can I see a picture of the latch open?
that brings the hotness!
freaking awesome. you should be able to switch the tumblers from the old locks. really can’t figure out why these don’t come with the campers
Here ya go. Feels way more robust than the old one, and the lock isn’t part of the opening mechanism. I think I could even take the covers off for the summer for convenience and not worry overly about dust, etc.
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2020 F150. I’d assume the locks are situated the same. I expanded the height of the openings equally (.14" both top and bottom), but only expanded the width away from the frame (.16"). GFC’s lock openings were substantially different than Southco’s published dimensions, so it pays to measure twice and cut once and be ready to fine tune it to fit. They also weren’t square, so I opened it up with a file after cutting to fit.
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