Tailpiece for Kwikset deadbolt too short

[roskoe99]

Newbie with a problem. Just finished boring my door for a POS Kwikset deadbolt and discovered the u-shaped tailpiece is too short. The "thick door kit" I was sent from the manufacturer includes a longer tailpiece will fit up to a 2 2 1/4" door, but my 90 year old door is 2 3/8" (had a mortise lockset before). Are their any other longer tails that will fit Kwikset locks? Any ideas for a creative work around?

I would return the lock but it is the smartcode version that integrates with my automation system , so I really need to make what I have now work.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[keysman]

Newbie with a problem. Just finished boring my door for a POS Kwikset deadbolt and discovered the u-shaped tailpiece is too short. The "thick door kit" I was sent from the manufacturer includes a longer tailpiece will fit up to a 2 2 1/4" door, but my 90 year old door is 2 3/8" (had a mortise lockset before). Are their any other longer tails that will fit Kwikset locks? Any ideas for a creative work around?

I would return the lock but it is the smartcode version that integrates with my automation system , so I really need to make what I have now work.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I am assuming you mean the " D" shaped tail piece. Kwickset does not make a longer tail piece than you have. The Kwickset style of tailpiece is specific to Kwickset , so basicly no other manufacturers part will fit. A little creative welding / soldering should be able to lengthen that part.
HINT: the part for the inside of a double sided dead bolt will fit inside the "D" snugly , it might be used to reinforce the joint.

Be sure to test the lock thoroughly, make sure it doesn't bind anywhere and all parts work smoothly.
No offense , but many “ do -it -yourself “ installations have poorly/ incorrectly drilled holes, causing the lock to bind, eventually causing the cheep ass tailpiece to break … lock out time

[Evan]

Newbie with a problem. Just finished boring my door for a POS Kwikset deadbolt and discovered the u-shaped tailpiece is too short. The "thick door kit" I was sent from the manufacturer includes a longer tailpiece will fit up to a 2 2 1/4" door, but my 90 year old door is 2 3/8" (had a mortise lockset before). Are their any other longer tails that will fit Kwikset locks? Any ideas for a creative work around?

I would return the lock but it is the smartcode version that integrates with my automation system , so I really need to make what I have now work.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

@roskoe99:

It sounds like you didn't measure the door first...

If you MUST use this lock, the best option would be to carefully recess the inside surface of the door so that you can properly attach the tailpiece from the front half of the lock to the thumb turn inside...

~~ Evan

[Squelchtone]

Oh man, I can understand the want to automate or integrate with a home system, but a big thick old door like that tells me it's on a nice house, and Kwikset and nice house aren't usually used in the same sentence. Also, aside from the benefits of having an electrified/audit capable deadbolt, removing a nice old mortised lock and drilling huge holes in the door to install a typical North American "tubular deadbolt" with the 2-3/8 backset just hurts me to think about it.

Best of luck with the conversion, I defer to the real locksmiths here for properly fitting a lock and making it work under the current conditions.

Squelchtone

[2octops]

Oh man, I can understand the want to automate or integrate with a home system, but a big thick old door like that tells me it's on a nice house, and Kwikset and nice house aren't usually used in the same sentence. Also, aside from the benefits of having an electrified/audit capable deadbolt, removing a nice old mortised lock and drilling huge holes in the door to install a typical North American "tubular deadbolt" with the 2-3/8 backset just hurts me to think about it.

Best of luck with the conversion, I defer to the real locksmiths here for properly fitting a lock and making it work under the current conditions.

Squelchtone

I agree. I cried a bit as I read the post.

To the original poster. Go buy yourself a nice wood chisel and make your door skinny.

[roskoe99]

Thanks for the replies, even the snarky ones. Yes, I have egg on my face and did not even think to confirm the door thickness. Yes, I also regret the conversion. However, I have no choice but make this lock work.

To that end, Keysman, you mind giving up your hint? I'm pretty dense, frustrated, and desperately need to get this lock installed......

Other ideas?

[Evan]

Thanks for the replies, even the snarky ones. Yes, I have egg on my face and did not even think to confirm the door thickness. Yes, I also regret the conversion. However, I have no choice but make this lock work.

To that end, Keysman, you mind giving up your hint? I'm pretty dense, frustrated, and desperately need to get this lock installed......

Other ideas?

Modify the thickness of the interior side of the door where the inner part of the lock needs to be to make the tailpiece you have work...

Don't try to play around with the tailpieces trying to make a longer one, this could break and cause a lock-in (the reverse of a lock out)...

Use a wood chisel to remove material as needed... My only concern would be that your carpentry skills are on par with your experience with locks...

~~ Evan

[roskoe99]

Evan, thanks. That makes sense but would require that I chisel out a fair amount of material for the keypad as well. If I ever have to replace this crap deadbolt I might end up with an unsightly door.

[Evan]

Evan, thanks. That makes sense but would require that I chisel out a fair amount of material for the keypad as well. If I ever have to replace this crap deadbolt I might end up with an unsightly door.

Wrong, you would only remove the material from the INSIDE face of the door which only has the thumb turn knob and battery door cover...

If you ever had to replace the lock you would patch/repair the door using a specifically made "dutchman" type patch which would fill in the recessed area... This is how really old doors are patched when new locks are fitted to them... So it would not look unsightly at all...

There is no other way to use your chosen lock on a door which is too thick for the longest tailpiece made by Kwikset that would not void the warranty of the lock or possibly break locking you in if whatever you cobbled together using pieces from multiple locks ever failed...

~~ Evan

[Raymond]

I do not know the specific deadbolt he is trying to install or if the tailpieces are the same design but may I suggest this idea. Go to any locksmith and ask for a replacement tailpiece for a SINGLE cylinder deadbolt. It will be considerably longer than a double cylinder tailpiece and the inside tailpiece will still fit into it snugly.

Tip: Often when I am installing or just rekeying many brands of deadbolt I find that the bolt in the large hole swings in and out too much. This has occasionally caused a disconnect of the tailpieces. My solution is to slip a measured piece of neoprene tubing over both tailpieces. The tubing forces the bolt to remain exactly in the center. (Think Schlage with their fall out tailpieces on a hollow metal door.)

[cledry]

Raymond's is the best way to resolve this. Simple and cheap. I've done this several times and it works great. Just trim it to the size needed.

[cledry]

Sorry just realised you have the Smartcode which is a single cylinder.

What you can do is take a double cylinder tailpiece inside and cut it so you have a solid coupler then epoxy the original tailpiece to a cut off single cylinder tailpiece with the solid coupler epoxied inside.

Hope that makes sense. You are joining the two hollow d sections with the smaller solid d piece inside for strength.

[Raymond]

Right you are Cledry! Smartkey Kwikset - duh. Making the extension is the best option.

[roskoe99]

Hello all. Just wanted to follow up and thank everyone for their helpful suggestions. After much internal debate, I completed the lock install this past weekend following Evan’s advice. My biggest concern was that any attempt to mate the tailpieces together would increase the odds of a future failure and/or prevent the lock from smoothly engaging.

It turned out great! Dutchman patched the door jamb, mortised a new strike, filled the old mortise pocket completely with old growth fir, and, after neatly tracing the lock profile, chiseled out about 1/8” inch of material on the door around the inner part of the lock. It was definitely more work than I expected but I can sleep better knowing the lock won’t fail from my actions.

Any way to post pics on this site?

[femurat]

I like happy endings Upload the pictures to a web server, like imageshack or similar, and post the link here, or even better include the direct image url between the [ img ] http://www.blablabla.com/imageurl.jpg[ /img ] tags you'll get if you press the Img button you see above the text editor.

Cheers