Started installing them today cut the holes out welded the plates in and have some issues.....


Mine are the latches for the exterior handles.


-The first involves the lock mechanism, it rubs the back window channel. So much that I was only barely able to get the rail in. The lock mechanism will not budge they are so tight against one another.


-I noticed the lock mechanism would not work smooth straight out of the package. Checked the other latch and it appears one has been ground down to smooth the operation. The other was not, I am not sure if they are supposed to be or not. I will disassemble it and smooth it down to help.


-There were not 8-32 screws included in the kit to hook up the rod from the interior door handle. Were yours 8/32 or 1/4"? I had several extra 1/4" bolts, I am debating drilling out the plate to accept them as the 8-32 leaves a lot of slope in the door rod.


-The arm which the plunger contacts will not completely return, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The door will not latch when it is stuck in. I am not sure if they just tightened them up too much at the factory or what. I am going to try loosening the nuts and see what happens.


Have any of you had to make "adjustments" on your latches? how about the window channels?

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...h-problem.html


Found this thread, wonder if there is any chance that midfifty still has some of the older stock that had the latching issue?

 

Seems to me your having to do a lot of adjusting. Did they send you the right kit? I think I would call and find out whats up. Although I have never done the door latch thing yet and assume some adjustments will be needed it doesn't seem right what your going through.

 

Install Pics:

 

This is the variance/Grinding on the lock mechanisms.


Here are the rubbing areas:

 

Finsished installation today on the second door, still rubbing on it..........

 

I have not had any issues with the window channel rubbing. Your install looks good so that should not be an issue. It's easy to get those rear window channels swapped from side to side, that might be a thing to re-check.

Here is a pic of a floating nut plate that I used on my first couple of installs, I now fabricate my own which looks very similar. The second pic is the outer jamb plate that gets welded in place to fill in the recess in the door jamb where the OEM latch was located. The plate pictured has no hole for the striker pin drilled in it yet...the door has to be mounted with the Altman latch installed in it so that the location for the striker pin can be marked and drilled. Once the plate has been drilled then the floating nut plate is welded to the back of it and the whole assembly is welded to the door jamb.

 

I also had issues with mine, but I have one piece glass, electric windows, and door poppers with shaved handles. The issues I have are that it takes a really strong solenoid to be able to pull the latch up in order for it to open. The first ones I got were 30LB pull and they would not pop the latch 90% of the time. In my opinion the design of their latch arm doesn't afford enough leverage. I think it needs to be angled further down toward the bottom of the door so that when you pull them (via a cable and lever above since the solenoid will only fit down low in the door and it needs to make the latch travel upwards). I had to buy 100LB solenoids to make it work. They seem to be very sticky and a relatively strong spring is needed to pull it back down to be able to activate the latch when the door closes. If I use them on another project I will not shave the handles. BTW, one of mine was much more "sticky" than the other - not so sure about their quality control.

 

I personally think it BS for the price of them.......

 

Another place where you can get in trouble is with the fit of the striker pin into the latch itself. The pin should be perpendicular to the latch, the head of the pin should not bind against the "bear claw latch arm", the pin should be centered in the latch arm when the door is closed, and most importantly the end of the pin should be clear of the inside of the door latch mechanism. If the striker pin is not aligned properly then binding will occur. Here is a pic of what the striker pin should look like when properly aligned...

 

Charlie,


Have you installed the rear bracket in your doors yet? That little tab for the lock shown in your cutout is what rubs my channel.


I checked them as you suggested, they should mount with the track being closer to the outer door skin correct?
Below you can see it rubbing, if I use the opposite track it hits on the inner door handle rod bracket. (So I think I have the right Track in, If not I have major issues.


I have no idea how I am going to be able to hook up the power lock actuators, there is no room!


You can also see how they ground the locking mechanisms, poor quality deal if you ask me. Sad part is it never needed ground, it was just an adjustment that needed made by sliding a piece over, I am hoping they will send me a new piece so I can correct it.

 

 

Travis,

I'm glad you called us to let us know that you had posted this on the forums. We would have gladly assisted you with any of these issues over the phone or via email and possibly got you taken care of in a more timely manner, but here we are, so here we go. I will try to answer each of your points:

-The first involves the lock mechanism, it rubs the back window channel. So much that I was only barely able to get the rail in. The lock mechanism will not budge they are so tight against one another.

The part of the lock mechanism you are referring to is used for attaching an aftermarket lock actuator should you choose to do so. It is a very close fit to the window channel when the latch is installed as instructed. You opted to weld your kit in, and it also appears you did so by cutting a hole in the door and moving the entire mechanism toward your window channel. We always recommend that even when welding the kit in, you still mount the plate on the outside of the jamb and overlap weld it just in case moving it that little bit toward the inside of the door should happen to throw off the math that was done during the design of the kit. In some trucks the gap between the lock mechanism and the window channel is so minimal I have had to sand surface rust off of the channel to get the lock to move, on others there is an 1/8" or more clearance. Tolerances weren't near as close back then.


-I noticed the lock mechanism would not work smooth straight out of the package. Checked the other latch and it appears one has been ground down to smooth the operation. The other was not, I am not sure if they are supposed to be or not. I will disassemble it and smooth it down to help.

Each of our latch kits are assembled by hand and each piece is hand tightened and tested. With that said, we are capable of missing things or making mistakes and apologize if the lock mechanism was not dialed in correctly. If it was the drivers side latch, these locks are usually tightened to avoid them accidentally locking should you not choose to install a lock cylinder in the side of your truck.
You are correct, the lock was ground down to assist in clearance. While this is not a common practice and rarely needed, it has been done on some latches to ensure a smoother engagement of the lock mechanism and the latching paw located in the lower part of the latch. I would like to apologize if this adjustment was made unnecessarily, but can assure you that your lock lever, as it is installed, is more than strong enough to keep your door locked. However, we will gladly send you a replacement lock lever that is un-ground.


-There were not 8-32 screws included in the kit to hook up the rod from the interior door handle. Were yours 8/32 or 1/4"? I had several extra 1/4" bolts, I am debating drilling out the plate to accept them as the 8-32 leaves a lot of slope in the door rod.

This was definitely a mistake on our part. We recently started making the latches smaller (which you have the latest) and through some of the part changes we changed the hole size in the lever you are referring to. The first latches used a 1/4-20 hex head bolt to attach the inner door handle strap. Your hardware bag contained those bolts instead of the intended 8-32 bolts and accompanying washers.


-The arm which the plunger contacts will not completely return, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The door will not latch when it is stuck in. I am not sure if they just tightened them up too much at the factory or what. I am going to try loosening the nuts and see what happens.

This could be an issue where the bolt that holds the arm is just a little too tight or the wave washer that is found under the lever may be hindering the levers movement. We have recently been experimenting with flat washers in place of the wave washer to give a more uniform surface area for the lever to pivot on. It seems to be working well.

While I am here I will address the comment made by "topmoo". If I were you, I would consider the angle at which you are pulling the lever to trip the latch. There is no situation where it is acceptable for our latches to require 100lb solenoid to open them. It takes less than 5lbs of force to trip our latches on a bench. Now of course, once installed in a truck you have to factor in the weight of the door, amount of resistance between the latch and the striker pin, and the outward pressure caused by weather stripping, alignment, etc. If those elements are dialed in correctly and the latch is functioning properly, 30lbs is more than enough to open a door with our latch kit installed. If you believe there to be an issue with the functionality of our latch, please contact me and I will see to it that you get the quality of kit you paid for. chris@triquemfg.com

 

Chris,


Can you mentioned on the phone case hardened steel, is the lock mechanism case hardened as well? If not I will be fabbing one up.


Thanks

 

This is a great thread as I am wanting to order this set of latches from Mid Fifty....but they are currently out of stock. I plan on welding them....and was planning on cutting the doors like I have seen

CTurner1978 Am I understanding you correctly that I should not make the cut in the door, but rather just weld the plate onto the doors surface?