storage hatch won't stay closed

[Matt Garcia]

Been there, done that...and it still pops open, driving down the highway, riding in the water, makes no diff. I adjusted it out until the hatch would not close, to no avail. Mine is a weak spring, just haven't had time to take it apart and see if it is replaceable or if I need a whole new latch.

Same here. My hatch opens up to this day. My fix is to put the vinyl pad over it. It holds it down no matter what.

[Weil Thing]

Can anyone on here let me know who is the manufacturer of these latches? The spring inside was indeed shot, twisted, bent, etc. I'd really like to buy a $2 spring instead of a $90 latch.

TIA

[Weil Thing]

Well, fellas, I got tired of thinking about his thing and took a risk. The only replacement latch I found online was $85. So I took a hammer and a punch and punched out the pin holding this latch together. As I suspected, there was a spring inside that was totally messed up. I went to the local hardware store and picked up a new spring for sixty cents, and a bolt, lock-washer and nut for about 40 cents. Then what I thought all along would be the tough part - getting it back together. It took about 4 minutes, by myself, to put it together. I was very surprised it went back so easily. So if you're having the same problem, there you go...

[Matt Garcia]

Well, fellas, I got tired of thinking about his thing and took a risk. The only replacement latch I found online was $85. So I took a hammer and a punch and punched out the pin holding this latch together. As I suspected, there was a spring inside that was totally messed up. I went to the local hardware store and picked up a new spring for sixty cents, and a bolt, lock-washer and nut for about 40 cents. Then what I thought all along would be the tough part - getting it back together. It took about 4 minutes, by myself, to put it together. I was very surprised it went back so easily. So if you're having the same problem, there you go...

Cool. Have a picture by chance? Mine still pops open! I have fixed it several times but nothing seems to last an entire season.

[Weil Thing]

Here's a pic showing the mangled spring, and the nut end of the pin I replaced. After knocking out the pin, the other parts come right out. There is another spring that makes the handle go back down after you lift it - I thought it would be difficult to get back on correctly, and it was not.