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The star-shaped piece just turns and doesn't lock up. I haven't taken it apart yet to see if I can figure out why it's not working properly. So I thought I would ask you guys if you might have experience with these latches. Is this a common issue? If I have to replace it, would I be better served with going to a bear claw type latch or the OEM style. I'm not concerned about originality in this case.
Other people here have more/better experience with the 55 style door latches than I, but I do believe the stock latch is available in either good used, reproduction or NOS. They work just fine when they're not worn out or broken. It would be a simple job to swap it out with a like-kind replacement. Bear claws are an invasive modification with their own set of problems to deal with. Then the question would be do you do both doors, or have a mis-match on each side? If it were me, fwiw, I'd replace it with a new, stock latch and be done.
My passenger door had been giving me fits ever since I got the truck back on the road. I was going to replace it with a repo from Mid Fifty till I saw a show on TV about the Altman Easy Latch. Picked one up from Mid Fifty. Easy to install and took care of my door latch issues.
I fought door latches on my 49 for years. I pulled the originals out and rebuilt them and had them working pretty decently for a lot of years. Earlier this year it all went south on me and my drivers door got to where it wouldnt open and my passenger wouldn't shut....not a good situation. I had just about talked myself into bear-claw latches and/or the Altman easy latches, then I started reading a bunch of tech articles on the Bear-claw style and the Altman Iatches and decided that they weren't really what I was looking for. There are pro and cons for doing the conversion, and if my truck was every going to be a nice finished, good looking truck then I'd probably do it. My truck is more of a "parts chaser" beater type truck.
I found a company that made reproduction latches for the earlier trucks, bit the bullet and ordered them for each door. I couldn't be happier. Now both my doors open and close like they should with minimal effort and, my door handles are level.
I just want them to work and be safe. I can't really fault the originals, after all, they're 66 years old. The passenger side seems to work great at keeping the door closed. I haven't tried the locks. Almost afraid to lol. I don't see anyway to lock the doors from in the inside either, but maybe there is a trick to it.
I just want them to work and be safe. I can't really fault the originals, after all, they're 66 years old. The passenger side seems to work great at keeping the door closed. I haven't tried the locks. Almost afraid to lol. I don't see anyway to lock the doors from in the inside either, but maybe there is a trick to it.
Drivers door got used a lot more than the passenger door.
Can't remember by who on this forum but I ordered the Altman latches for my doors and I also ordered their latch for the hood, I have not installed them yet but they are supposed to be steps above the original latches.
Had the same issue with my driver's side door. The star latch had a bunch of play. I ordered a replacement from Mid-fifty, installed the new latch and it works like new.
I have a nice pair of latches listed on eBay right now. I'm not allowed to toot my own horn and post a link here of my items forsale so someone else will have to do my dirty work for me
I installed the reproduction drivers door latch Mid-Fifty sells on my 1956. It works just fine. It comes with new attaching screws. Why . . . to be nice, no. Because the latch is made in China and uses metric fasteners.
Forgive me if this isn't the correct place to pose this question but I am new to this site (it is remarkable btw) and I am struggling to find a manufacturer of torsion springs that can be found in a few places throughout these beautiful trucks (mine is a '51 F1). Namely, I am looking for the torsion springs on the door latch mechanisms. Various suppliers like Doug Carpenter etc..... sell new latch assemblies so somebody out there makes the torsion springs? If anyone knows a good source, please let me know. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
I have a set of 51 door latches that you can have for the cost of shipping. I switched to Altman Easy Latches and won't be using the originals. I modified the driver's door latch by cutting off the door lock portion as I eliminated the outside door handles. So, they are perfect for scavenging parts and pieces. Let me know if you are interested. I am always interested in helping to pay it forward. Email me at burnettd01@sbcglobal.net
Hope this helps
Dan
