Re-Keying a Kwikset Deadbolt & Door Knob (How-To)

[@Emerii1]

Never thought I could rekey a key myself in my life, but 10 years later your video is a gift that keeps on giving. Thank you!

[@breamamaof3aaak]

I just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this video. I recently had my keys stolen in front of my house and needed to change all my locks. I still had a spare set so I was able to re key all of the front door locks with the help of your video. I feel safe knowing they can't use my stolen keys to get inside my home.

[@dingram3588]

Thanks for the video, it was of great help to me. I was able to re-key all 5 locks to my house with absolute success by watching your how to video.

[@francie503]

The video is so helpful. Now Pime Line needs to have a video explaining how to rekey a Kwikset double cylinder deadbolt with a key for each side. Is it possible to rekey the double cylinder or too complicated?

[@jimwolongevicz5096]

Just wanted to say "thanks!" Your video was very informative and easy to follow. I was able to rekey my house by sitting at my computer with the hardware while watching your video. Much appreciated!

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

Jim Wolongevicz Thank You. We try and film pretty detailed videos so that we don't skip over anything, and I think it helps. Have a good night.

[@33736]

Hi, great video. I just bought a new house and it has several kwikset locks that are all keyed the same, with the exception of the front door (different brand lock). I want to buy a rekeying set, but the seller didn't have any keys for the kwikset locks, so I have none. I saw in your video that you need the original key, do you have any suggestions for someone like me, who doesn't have a keys for them?

[@charleslohriii6560]

It would be helpful if he identified which primeline rekey kit he used! There are 4 Primeline part numbers shown but no clue what the part number is for the Kwikset in the video.

[@ruthkuzmanic6813]

How do I know which re-keying kit I will need?

[@leewarren]

Excellent, clear, detailed instructions. Thank you!

[@DEATH_TO_TYRANTS]

The absolute best video I've seen on the subject.

[@ElmasVincent]

I re-keyed 3 locks with one to go. Re-keyed the deadbolt and cylinder lock on the main door and the deadbolt on the security door. The other lock on the security door is a lever style. There are NO exposed screws. Before I start prying at the cover, any tips/suggestions on how easiest to remove it? Other than that, love the product and the video. I did have parts fly everywhere and it took me a bit to figure out how to get the springs and push pins back in. A video for that would be nice.

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

Hi Vincent, Could you send a couple photos to [e-mail] and we'll try and help you out.

[@ElmasVincent]

Thanks for replying. I did finally find some info. There was a spring release for the lever. Once it slid off, I popped the cover off and found the screws.

[@JimPNY55]

What happens if you don't have the old key?

[@freewoodencrosses]

Good video, but you should explain why you have the follower and that they hold pins in the cylinder and not to pull the follower out.... plus the kwiksets I remove don't make you remove the door bolts completely just losen and rotate remove the inner knob . You also did not explain that you can put the keyway into the knob upside down (because I have done this by mistake). Thanks though

[@JohnJMGNoleGoodson]

This was a great help to me. Thank you.

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

John Goodson You're welcome. Video was a little long, but sometimes people need to see ALL the little details.

[@mikes5029]

Prime Lin

[@monkeyking-self-proclaimed7050]

How do you know what Part No. to use? 5 pin, 6 pin, etc etc

[@cdmcfall]

Count the number of notches on your key.

[@francie503]

I have to add when I rekeyed a Kwikset (one cylinder) deadbolt I had 2 small springs that I didn't know what to do with. The springs fell from "somewhere" when I took the cylinder out. I followed all the instructions and the deadbolt is working with the new key but I did not use the 2 small springs. Should I be concerned??

[@soloban81]

Francine G Yes. Those little springs push the upper pins down into the lock cylinder when the key isn’t inserted to keep the cylinder from rotating. It makes your lock much easier to pick without those springs.

[@Feldspar__]

Amazing explanation.

[@jimmychanga2692]

I have a double keyed dead bolt that I re keyed. One of the deadbolt works perfectly but the key will not turn to the left on the second deadbolt. Switched the deadbolts but the problem persists. Any suggestions?

[@jclopez12353]

I have a question. Why would someone want to re-key an old kwikset doorknob as appose to just replacing it?

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

Lots of people. It might be quicker to replace, but cheaper to re-key. Think about a landlord who has 50 units. They might have 3-4 people moving out every month, over the course of a year that's a lot of money on doorknobs and deadbolts. Some doorknob styles also go out of production and people might want to keep the style they currently have. Re-keying is the best option for them.

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

@party4real We haven't shot a video specifically for Schlage yet. Until then I added a link in the video's description to the instructions that Schlage supplies on their website. Hope that helps.

[@eminusipi]

Does your kit have standard kwikset pins? Seems you only include five different pins whereas an arbitrary existing lock may use any one of six pins. What is the missing pin? So this won't work if you add a lock and just want to rekey it to the existing locks that require that missing pin? It's a lot easier to rekey one lock instead of doing all of the locks. If you would include all of the pins it would be more useful.

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

This kit is designed and sold for Kwikset 5 pin cylinders. There are more than 5 pins of varying lengths that may appear in any original lock set a consumer may have. The Prime-Line Rekey Kits are designed with 5 pins to correspond to our various keys available from PLP packaged in the Rekey Kits. Using our key provided our kits will rekey the typical Kwikset (use E-2400 kit) or Schlage (use E-2402 kit) dead lock or dead bolt. Using a random key other than the one provided may require the other pin lengths.

[@eminusipi]

Thanks for your reply. I was suggesting that including all six pins in your kit, it would be much more versitile and hence more useful for very little extra cost. It's better to have them and not need them rather than returning a kit that doesn't meet ones needs.

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

eminusipi The kit was designed for homeowners to be able to re-key their own cylinders. Most homes only have a five pin cylinder in their handle sets. Six pin systems are usually found on commercial locks. Most people/places with commercial locks will not want to bother with re-keying their own, and will just call a locksmith. I get what you're saying, but I think we would just end up with a higher priced kit, and lots of pins being thrown away.

[@eminusipi]

Prime Line I don't want to belabor the point, but 5-pin cylinders still have six pin choices for the five pins. I'm astonished that you don't get that. I won't bother you anymore since apparently it's pointless.

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

eminusipi Not pointless. We actually use suggestions to help improve our products and I will be passing yours along. I'm just explaining who the kit was designed for. The kit is put together with 5 pins, because the key is already cut for 5 pins. The kit is not designed for keying a new cylinder the same as an existing lock, 5-pins, 6-pins or otherwise. It's made to re-key an existing 5-pin cylinder to the new key included in the kit. Would it be better if it had more pins? Possibly for a small amount of customers, and I will pass that along. *"It's better to have them and not need them rather than returning a kit that doesn't meet ones needs."* I will thank you for this comment. On our website it clearly states how many different pins each of our re-key kits have. I looked at our package and it seems it doesn't say how many different pins, but does show 5 different ones in the photo, and shows a 5 pin cylinder. I will talk to the art dept. about making it more clear on our packaging. *Website says:* "Kwikset Re-Key A Lock Kit, 5-Pin Tumbler Sets w/Keys, Tools Re-keying kit for Kwikset 5-pin door locksets. Pre-cut keys, pin tumblers, special tools and instructions allow novice to rekey up to 6 locks."

[@JefferyStachnik]

Thanks for this it really helped me. The directions that came with the set were not very informational

[@kira-wd6tf]

i can't get the first step on the door knob part.... what gives?

[@PrimeLineHowTo]

You can do this. You'll have to take the cylinders apart. You'll take the chrome spring/pin cover off, being careful not to lose the springs, push the plug into the cylinders like in the video (pushing out the plug with the pins in it), then put the pins, and springs back in. Put the new pins in, and back into the cylinder it goes.

[@juanfranciscosantana4793]

Thanks very much 👏👏🗝️🔑🎩🎩

[@party4real]

Anyone know if schlage locks are done the same way?

[@donlaycock9749]

It does not work on new Knob locksets. Kwikset want you to buy there new (Twice as expensive) Smartkey Knob Locksets

[@jaybee5177]

A video on how to do this without the original key would make a killing for you. Every video on YT is how to do that but with a smartkey lock. I've been watching videos and looking for videos for two hours now and can't find one

[@LeeFreeland]

Ever wonder why Smartkey locks are so much more expensive?

[@timtoth168]

You forgot to mention rotating the key one quarter turn prior to removing the cylinder.

[@51-FS]

Tim Toth 8:10

[@cosmicaug]

Disappointing. This was the E 2400 kit. The included keys were not what one would want to use as they looked like bumpkeys (all the position using the same size pin -I'd guess a #5 but I didn't check) and would not have matched the code shown in the included sheet of directions. This was no big deal as I already had different keys that I wanted to use. The bad part is that there were no #1 pins included in this kit. Instead, this kit had two sets of #2 pins color coded to different colors (so presumably one of the colors should have been a #1 but it wasn't). Obviously, there was a failure of QA somewhere in the process. I ended up spending about an hour filing a #2 pin into #1 pin size with a Leatherman style tool because the key I wanted to use needed one #1 pin.

[@tonywilliams5107]

great, ty

[@guesswhomartin9249]

Your video, yes and no... I've noticed you have skipped several steps while you were demonstrating. Your video would be good for someone who has somewhat knowledge of this.