Trailer Door Hook and Keeper are Not Lined Up Properly on a Outback Enclosed Trailer

Question:

I have an enclosed Outback Cargo trailer 5x8 with barn door stylerear doors. Both the left and right side doors Hooks will not reach to the Keepers. The keeper is about an inch too far or the hook is too short. The wheel fender prevents it from reaching. The factory goofed! I know the answers is move the keeper but doing so will expose the screw holes and that will bother me. Plus it was installed with screws heads that require a very unusual shaped driver-some sort of star patterned head. Is there such thing as a hook extension or are they available in different lengths? With the right driver head, I could replace the old hook with a slightly longer one and not have to stare at 4 empty screw holes in my perfect trailer. Thank you

asked by: Markus

Expert Reply:

So when you open the door and swing the hook part out to meet the keeper the door hits the fender before the 2 can reach each other? If that is the case then I would agree that somewhere along the line a mistake was made.

The only hook and keeper we have is # 383400 and the hook is just 4 inches long. The best solution is to move the hook and/or keeper. It sounds like the screws used are Torx style or something similar. A hardware store should have the appropriate tool to remove and reinstall them.

That just leaves the holes left behind. You could plug them up with silicone or a similar filler, sand it down, and paint over them to match the trailer color.

expert reply by: Michael H