1947-1951 Chevy Truck Door Latches - Altman Easy Latch™

1947-1951 Chevy Truck Door Latches - Altman Easy Latch™

Name: 1947-1951 Chevy Truck Door Latches - Altman Easy Latch™
Brand: Trique Mfg.
SKU: AEL-CT4751
Price: 384.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.9 (29 reviews)

Are you tired of slamming the doors on your 1947-1951 Chevy Truck?
Are the latches on your classic truck not living up to the other work you've put into your pride and joy?
Face it, most classic truck door latches have been abused over the years and the available options don't offer the quality that your classic or custom Chevy truck deserves. That is where the Altman Easy Latch™ for 1947-1951 Chevy Trucks comes to the rescue.

The Altman Easy Latch™ kit is a vehicle specific bolt-on, bear jaw rotary claw latch kit. This kit features contoured jam plates to match the features of your vehicles doors. These are in no way a universal application. Our bear jaw rotary claw latches are each designed to work with the exterior handles, interior handles, and the exterior door lock cylinders of the specified vehicles. Each piece of our bear jaw latches are zinc plated to fight corrosion. Our internal claws are case hardened and zinc plated. Each kit comes with everything you need for two doors. Latch plates, vehicle specific bear jaw rotary claw latches, templates, hardware, detailed instructions, striker plates, and even stainless steel striker bolts. The Altman Easy Latch™ kit will have your doors opening and closing smoothly and safely.

No welding necessary
Works with exterior handles
Works with interior handles
Works with exterior lock cylinders
Case hardened latch paws
Stainless steel striker pins
Everything you need for both doors

Note: The Altman Easy Latch does not allow the door to be locked from the inside without the use of power lock actuators. We have designed a Lock Actuator Bracket to help locate the lock actuator in the proper position to work with our latch.

Installation

Click Here to view Instructions

Fits:

1947 Chevy / GMC Truck

1948 Chevy / GMC Truck

1949 Chevy / GMC Truck

1950 Chevy / GMC Truck

1951 Chevy / GMC Truck

Bought together

like a bank vault door

The bear claw latch kit is very well designed for my specific 1948 Chevy 3100 and it is very well built. Both sides went in easily and latched properly on the first try...thats the really good news. Really great news in fact! ZERO RATTLES!

The bad news is the instructions are poor...really poor. They cause you to take apart the entire innards of the door's window scissor crank and door latch if you follow the first paragraph.

You really only need to remove the interior door levers and trim cover. That exposes the scissor lift. You do need to remove the glass window... it's held by three 1/4 x 20 button heads, on the upper scissor track. You'll need to remove the trim / frame around the glass and the black fuzzy window slide material to hoist the window out.
There is one window track channel held by 3 screws on the inside of the door on the latch side that needs to have a "bump" ground off for clearance.

Now, trace your template and cut your odd shape hole in your door. Use the curved triangle edge as your guide...don't over cut!

Do NOT disassemble the bear claw latch from the trim plate...no need TO TAKE THE 3 SCREWS OUT AT ALL! ...just place it in your de burred odd shape hole AND MAKE SURE THE 2 HOLES IN THE DOOR EXACTLY MATCH THE TWO COUNTER SUNK HOLES IN THE BEAR CLAW LATCH...
AND I MEAN EXACTLY.

You may need to open up the odd shape hole to get the two flat head screw holes in their trim plate to match EXACTLY the ones in the door.

Now bolt it into place using just these 2 flat head bolt holes for exact alignment.

The two 1/4" holes are ready for you to drill in place, using the plate as a drill thru templet. Drill those 2 holes and use the 2 button head screws to fasten the oversize plate to the door. The 1" hole for access to the inside door pull handle can be tricky.
I marked mine, removed the 4 screws I just put in, removed the entire latch, and drilled the hole with a 7/8" step drill. This avoids damaging the latch with the step drill

De burr that, and re assemble the 4 bolts nice and tight, starting with the two flat heads for best alignment.

Remove your old catch, install the new one with the bear stud "UP" on each door.

If the door closed before, it is still in align., and will close and latch just fine..really simple

I lubed the new latch once it was in place which made it more pleasant to work around and it's easy to lube in the door.

Grind the nub off the window track, put it back on with 3 sheet metal screws.
Cut your 1.25: x 1.25" tie rod hole and de burr, Install the tie rod with the #8 nylock nuts and button head facing the cab.

You are done

The first latch took 2 days, the second latch took less then 1.

DO NOT REMOVE OR DISASSEMBLE THE SCISSOR WINDOW LIFT OR THE DOOR LATCH PIVOT. IF IT DROPS INTO THE DOOR OPENING, ITS A SOB TO REINSTALL BLIND

ITS A GREAT KIT, BIG IMPROVEMENT, ZERO RATTLES

Thank you for your review Paul. It was a pleasure speaking with you last week concerning this misunderstanding. Our instructions DO NOT require or suggest removing your window regulator. We do suggest the window removal (to prevent damage during the door trimming process). We also suggest the removal of the window channel. This makes it easier to grind down the small portrusion as described in the instructions. It also gets it out of your way to make install easier. As we discussed during our conversation, there are numerous ways to go about installing our Altman Easy Latches. We have installers that range from 'This is my first time installing any part on my truck.' to seasoned fabricators/builders. We have to think about this range when creating our instructions. We always appreciate any feedback or helpful tips that customers share with us and we love to pass that information on to others. We hope others find your tips helpful when installing their latches, and we certainly agree, DO NOT remove the window regulator when installing the latches, as it is not necessary.

100% improvement

The directions are very good, it helps if you are decently mechanical but over not terrible hard to install.

great product

This worked just like stated and was simple to install for someone who is mechanically minded.The only thing I would say is that a few more pictures of the install would have been nice

Nice product

Fairly easy to install . 100% improvement on the doors , they open and close so nice now . I would recommend this on any door that you have to slam to close.