Last Updated on December 31, 2021 by Douglas
Most of us have gone through this difficult and embarrassing situation. You can get locked out of your camper if the door gets jammed, or you simply lost/ misplaced the key.
So, whether you list your key or not, you’re now locked outside the camper, and are now looking for a method to unlock the vehicle. Well, the definite solution in this case would be to hire some locksmith and ask for their help in replacing the existing lock. But if you are in a remote location, you can try to force your way into the RV, but keep in mind that this will require you to spend more money on repairs afterwards.
When you are locked outside, it is convenient to become aggressive and try to force yourself into the vehicle, but this should only be used as the last resort.
So, here are some fixes that you can try in a desperate situation like this. Also, we’ll tell you how you can avoid a situation like this altogether.
Things to Do After Getting Stuck Out Of The Vehicle
When this happens, you might want to trick open the RV lock, or straight up force your way into the RV. While these options can definitely help you get inside the RV, they will likely damage the door of your vehicle.
If you’re stuck outside the vehicle, you’ve probably misplaced the keychain, or have the door jammed.
Let’s discuss both of these situations in detail, and what you can do to get out of these.
Do This If You Have Misplaced The Keys
Misplacing the keys of your RV can be one of the leading causes to why you might get locked outside the RV. If you make this mistake again and again, you should always have some spare keys as a backup in a situation like this.
If you lack spare keys this time around, you should spend some time in finding the lost keys. Try going back though the day and remember where you placed your keys. You might be able to retrace your steps and find them.
If you’re on a camping trip, try going to the relevant authorities, someone might have returned them. If the locks on your vehicle are manufacture-fitted, odds are great that you’ll find another person in your locality with matching keys. That’s because many RVs have locks with the same keys on them. The keys can be found by the number CN751. Ask for them from the office of the campground, or from other fellow RVers.
Do This If The Door is Jammed
You can also get locked out of your RV if the RV door itself, or it’s lock gets jammed. In this situation, the keys will be working fine, however, the door itself will be malfunctioning. This can happen often if you’re an RVer with a Global Lockset.
Keep in mind that Global locks have “G” on them, and they are prone to getting stuck. You can get past this problem by pushing the door on the left side of the RV door close to the handle. This should solve the problem for Global locks.
You can also get stuck if your RV is old. In this case, the thing just gets stuck because it’s old. Try wiggling the key for a while and that should solve the problem.
If none of the above mentioned fixes work for your RV, you can try buying a lock cleaner to make the lock turn smoothly.
How to Unlock a Camper Door Without a Key
If the above mentioned fixes didn’t work for your RV, below mentioned are more things for you to check.
Here are some of the best ways of unlocking your camper even with no key.
Try The Window Made For Emergency Exit
Many models of Campers have emergency windows which allow you to immediately escape the vehicle if a fire bursts, or any other emergency happens.
If you’re locked out, you should recheck all the ways and see if the locks are applied or not. You might have forgotten to apply a window lock, and that might help you get inside the RV. Otherwise, you should know how to open the window made for emergency exit on your specific RV model.
While a majority of the emergency windows are designed to be unlocked from inside the vehicle, you might be able to get inside if you possess the right tools. However, if your RV is very tall, you’ll also have to have a ladder to get inside. If you don’t possess any screwdrivers, you can visit the camp office or ask another camper for one.
Try to Remove The Lock
You can try picking or removing the lock as well if you can’t use the emergency door either. This is of course subject to the availability of the right tools.
You won’t be able to do it if you don’t know the process, or you don’t have the right tools available. However, you can borrow the tools from a neighboring camper. You can watch one of the easy and step-by-step videos online to do this on your own.
Remember that you might need to replace the lock afterwards. You can remove the lock, or even the whole door. While removing the lock is easy, you’ll need all the right tools for this task.
Hire Any Nearby Locksmith to Open The Lock
If, for any weird reason, nothing has worked out for you so far, then the last step should be calling a lock picking expert. This can be a costly option, but is still better than breaking your door or lock.
If you don’t have contact of a locksmith, try calling towing companies in the area, as they also have locksmith services available. However, make sure they offer these services before hiring them.
This way, you can save some money if you have towing insurance. You might also be able to get a lockout insurance with certain RV providers.