A New Drawer Latch

One of the few warranty issues I have had with my Fuse was the rear drivers side drawer under the bed opening when I make a turn.  When we brought in the Fuse for some warranty work this was on the list.  They adjusted it and that seemed to fix it.  Seemed being the word.

After a while I noticed it started opening again.  Well, not all the time.  Only when there was a lot of stuff in it.  If there were only a couple of things in the drawer,  it would stay closed.

I guess inertia wins.  With more mass in the drawer, there was more pressure on the drawer and the latch would not hold it.  It made sense.

So how to fix it?  I bought some new latches.   The part I bought from Amazon was a Southco Inc SC-4320 Side-Mount Grabber Catch 10 Lbs. Pull Force,    They did NOT include screws but the old screws were a perfect fit.  The original part on my drawer had a 5 lbs pull force so this one with 10 lbs of pull force should have double the holding power.

New Latch set - Old Latch set

The new latch (upper part) was identical match externally to the old part.   The holes were in the same spots and they were the same size.  The new hook was longer that the old one so I had to make a new hole in the inside of the drawer.

Old hook on top - New hook on bottom

The steps I followed were fairly simple.  You do need a short screwdriver or an offset screwdriver to change out this part.  There is not much vertical space to work in.

1. I unscrewed the hook part from the drawer.  I made sure to keep track of the screws since I would need them for the new part.
2. I screwed in the new hook.  I reused the screw hole on the short side and had to create a new hole on the longer side.  The wood is very hard, so a drilled a small pilot hole maybe a 1/8 of an inch deep into the drawer face.  
3. I unscrewed the latch from above the drawer.  It is held by 2 screws.
4. I screwed in the new latch.  No new holes needed since the holes are in the same place.  On my unit, Winnebago had the screws going through the round holes on the catch as opposed to the oblong openings.  I  did the same.  I think they should have been using the oblong opening on the latch so there was some adjustment.  If I had done this I would have had to make new holes in the wood.  Where they were at they were fine.
5. Screwing in the new latch was the hardest part.  You can't see very well and I had to find the existing holes by touch.  Not hard, but it took most of the time in the project.  If I was handy, it would probably not be a big deal.

The task took 15 minutes.  It would have probably taken 5 if the space was not so tight and I was handier.

The new latch setup holds the drawer much much tighter.  It requires a firm pull to open. 

I did try them both when they were not connected to the drawer.  The original catch was pretty easy to come apart.  An easy pull.   The new one required real strength.  I got concerned that I was going to need a screwdriver to get them apart, but did eventually get it.  Once on, the drawer leverage helps.