Have you seen that somewhere? Ring a bell in your mind perhaps, and you just cannot place where. Well the answer is right at your fingertips...quite literally. It is, in all probability, stamped on a key hanging from your Alto keyring.
Seems that the CH751 key is ubiquitous in the RV world. Virtually every storage door, water hatch or utility door use the same locks...and one key can open all of them. Why you ask? Because it is cheap. Think of how many of these little doors are out there. If a manufacturer can stock just one lock to use on the assembly line, think of the savings and convenience. What about the RV dealer as well, having one key open most any door would sure be handy when wandering around the trailer lot. No real benefits for the owner though, and certainly some negative side effects.
I had no idea about this until at one of the Alto Rallys, a mischievious Steve P wandered over with his CH751 in hand, looking for electrical tape for a little mod he had on the go. I mentioned I might have some in the trunk, and he proceeded to open the trunk door for me, much to my surprise. He then explained the story behind how this was possible. Naturally, my research for a solution started soon after.
Google presented a few options to the issue. One site, www.ch751.com seemed to have the solution well in hand. They had a number of options available in cam locks, so I went with a tubular key design. It offers 9000 possible key combinations, which is probably minimal in the lock world, but it is far better than what is offered in the RV world. Their site is quite organized, and offers templates to help figure out the proper size of the cylinder, the cams, as well as the cam offsets. I changed all the locks, and went with a keyed alike version, as well as a few accessories. It will be great to have one key for all the little doors we have, which in reality, there are only four of them, but it will get rid of some other keys.
The installs were super easy. Out comes the old lock, in goes the new cylinder and cam. I put a little cover on the trunk lock, just to fancy it up a bit.
This is a simple, relatively economical mod, and although it in no way beefs up the physical access to these doors, it might one day slow down an opportunistic individual with their own CH751.
I wonder why this is not an option when purchasing?
ReplyDeleteMuch easier to stock just one lock, option would be more expensive than a self done mod, and perhaps a vast majority might not even consider it an issue.
Delete