Beefing up Kwikset 660 Series Deadbolt

[jwhou]

I suppose it's a matter of whether you want to make it secure or if you just want it harder for a specific individual to pick. If it's security than variety is the key (pun intended). Perhaps using a longer pin for one of the top pins just so that when bumped, the shear lines don't clear in unison. The LAB re-key kits have spool pins suitable for bottom pins, if you use one of these as a top pin then a lockpicker expecting a spool pin would pick up on the false set, back off the tension a little and nudge the pin up but instead of finding the bottom of the pin would just find more pin and may second guess himself. As to the tolerances between the plug and the housing, perhaps you can find some brass foil to wrap around the plug till the fit is tight and then braze the plug or perhaps wrapping it with plumbers teflon tape would make it a tight fit. Kwikset recommends that the anti-pick spool pins be in the front three pins closest to the bow with standard top pins in the back two because the key enters from the front so the standard pins would hold the plug with less give for longer but this only help defeat lock pickers who pick front to back, you don't have many options with just five pins so it is a matter of which pins you think will be picked last, the less give means the less feedback on a set.

To a certain extent, beefing up a Kwikset is a matter of having a wolf in sheep's clothing, to lure an overconfident burglar into wasting more time and hence increasing the likelihood of having the suspicious activity spotted. Imagine if you will having an enclosed porch arrangement with the outer door being a beefed up Kwikset and the inner door being a Medco, that would certainly give the would be thief the message that he best go elsewhere's.

I think there's some value to beefing up a Kwikset as it presents an unexpected element to the burglar and most theft are crimes of opportunity. Any lock can be bypassed if targeted.

[cedrice]

Spend a little money and go with Schlage Primus. If you want to go full bore go with Medeco.

Or better yet, avoid those two products due to the overblown rediculous prices they charge for them and the fact that neither are pick or bump proof and with Medeco, you can duplicate the keys on any plastic card (like a credit card). Great security for a $250 deadbolt.

I would definitely recommend Abloy or Bilock as the two most secure options of keyways available in the US market.

I wouldnt touch Medeco with a 10' barge pole.

+1. Though you still pay a premium for both Abloy and Bilock.

Abloy is a solid system to go to.

For those that say that the new smartkey deadbolts by Kwikset/Weiser are a good measure of security, they aren't. I no longer sell Kwikset/Weiser in my shop.

[Evan]

Abloy is a solid system to go to.

For those that say that the new smartkey deadbolts by Kwikset/Weiser are a good measure of security, they aren't. I no longer sell Kwikset/Weiser in my shop.

How much business do you lose from the people who only want ONE door lock replaced with one which would work with the same key as all the others installed on the house ?

~~ Evan

[cedrice]

Abloy is a solid system to go to.

For those that say that the new smartkey deadbolts by Kwikset/Weiser are a good measure of security, they aren't. I no longer sell Kwikset/Weiser in my shop.

How much business do you lose from the people who only want ONE door lock replaced with one which would work with the same key as all the others installed on the house ?

~~ Evan

none as I have found replacement brands with the same keyway. For example, I used to sell a Weiser D9471x deadbolt for say $55.00 CDN, I simply sell a Dorex TLA51 in a Weiser keyway for the same price. The Weiser deadbolt is a grade 3 and my cost on it is more than a UL rated grade 2 deadbolt. The new Weiser design is not the greatest and the material used is a joke. Yet the prices have gone up. The only downside to the TLA51 Dorex deadbolt is that the thru-bolts aren't as heavy duty as the one from the Weiser.

As for the knobs, the new Weiser design is not so great. I can stock a grade 3 Dorex knob for the same price as a Weiser.

After I explain to the customer why I do not sell Weiser, (I offer better quality for same $), the customers buy.