Altman/Trique Easy Latches.....1952-1954 kit

[rhodog77]

Hey guys,

Has anyone used the altman easy latches by trique.mfg for the 1952-1954 AD trucks. I installed the drivers side and ran into a snag. I got them in but had to do some modification to the stricker plate to get it to work. The hole for the striker bolt was way off, like and inch to an inch and half off. I had to flip the plate backwards and drill an new hole for the striker bolt to mount thru. Maybe I did something wrong but I tried installing the striker plate every which way but loose....with no luck. I will post some pix tomorrow when I finish the other side. I will say that the door now shuts and locks awesome. Im very happy with the kit. There are a few little things that I would change but overall very satisfied.

[BlueJeep]

They may have sent you the wrong plates. They are different for both series, and they sent me the later plates for my 47-51 kit and I had to call and have them send me the correct ones. Post up a picture and we'll see.

[rhodog77]

thanks bluejeep,

I checked the website and looked at both sets. I pretty sure they sent me the correct set. i will Post some pix later. Im about to start on the pax side.

[Roddude]

I just installed them in the 48 panel truck I'm building last weekend. They took about 45 minutes each door and work great. We installed a set in a 56 pickup last month and also no problems and they worked great.

[rhodog77]

thanks for the info guys. I finished up the pax side today. took about an hour. the latches are great and it was a pretty easy install. I had a issue with the driver side but i realized that it was more from bad door gaps than the striker plate. i would reccommend this kit to anyone. the owner of the truck I did had shaved door handles so the kit was only 229.00. At that price it was worth it to me and the owner. One bit of advice for anyone thinking of using these latches. As Trique stated these latches will not address door gaps or fix old,bad weather stip issues. So with that being said, get your door gaps where you want them before you install the latches. that might be common sense for some, but for a first timer like me it wasnt.

[BigJock]

rhodog, thanks for sharing your experiences and pics.
The original latches are the one thing that bugged me about my otherwise perfect doors.

I'm about to take the plunge on a set of these, so it's good to get the good and bad sides of things.
Glad you got the problem sorted,from what I can see the trique ones are the best out there.