I bought two U-Bolts to replace Schlage deadbolts and am finding that the Schlage cylinders, while they physically fit, have their tailpieces at an angle such that they don’t completely close (or retract) the bolt properly. The tailpiece of the U-Bolt cylinder is perfectly straight up & down, or flat left-to-right, unlike the Schlage. Is there an easy solution to make the Schlage cylinders work in the U-Bolt?
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Was this solved? I have the same issue, it seems all Schlage deadbolts have their tailpieces at a 45 degree angle.
Hi Mike, after a long back-forth with CS, this is what they said to me:
“We are sorry that other cylinders are not suitable for our locks. Please use the original cylinder.”
I found-out the hard way, after replacing the cylinder, that it didn’t work because of the 45deg angle i.e. the handle and motor don’t throw the bolt far enough to work. I suppose a locksmith might figure-out how to fix it but maybe not.
I considered replacing the bolt mechanism using the Schlage’s but I don’t think that will work either as it has a tighter spring i.e. the motor wouldn’t be strong enough to activate it.
If you figure something out, by all means post. I’m disappointed since I bought these on the strength of apparently outdated info that I could use my Schlage cylinders & thus keys.
Thanks for the reply and info. I’m disappointed too even though I got the lock for free as someone was replacing theirs and I welcomed the opportunity to test the product and app without anything at stake. U-tec seems like they have a pretty good product line but it’s a pretty significant product oversight not to support a major lock maker.
Anyway, I went to the local Ace Hardware and found a $10 deadbolt latch with the correct tailpiece orientation, and was able to install the lock without any physical issue. Now testing it to see how it works.
The only $10 bolt I see on acehardware dot com is a Kwikset; the Schlage is $16. In any case if it works for you by all means post a link or pic(s) to the solution Mike. Thanks.
I used this, a “Universal Deadbolt Latch”, Ace branded. https://www.acehardware.com/departments/hardware/door-hardware/door-latches/5407770. I guess on the site it’s $8.99 and our local stored charged an extra $1.00.
As I look at that bolt, it seems it has a 0deg–90deg receiver and not 45-angled. Is it adjustable somehow?
Maybe we have misunderstood each other and you are simply trying to use your gifted U-bolt with your existing Schlage deadbolt latch. I in turn am trying to replace the cylinder that comes with the U-bolt with the Schlage cylinder that I used previously, in order to keep the same key as my Schlage(s) for use in the U-bolt(s) of which I have two, with the idea of getting a third.
But I won’t get the third replacement if I have to use different U-tec keys with every one of them!
Yes we are probably chasing different issues. I guess I would also like to reuse our Schlage cylinder but could not even install the U-Bolt at all because of the tailpiece angle of the deadbolt latch.
I bought a KW1 cylinder online, put the tailpiece in a vise, heated/rotated it 90 degrees CCW, and installed it. It works great, and my entire home uses the same KW1 key.
Why are people looking to replace the supplied cylinder with another Schlage cylinder? Why not just take it to a locksmith and have the supplied cylinder re-keyed (which is what U-Tec suggests since the cylinder is just a Schlage cylinder). Also, it is relatively easy to swap tailpieces, although not all Schlage cylinders can work with the U-Tec tailpieces. If you google Schlage tailpieces you will see that Schlage supplies pages of different tailpieces and lists them by which cylinders they are compatible with.
The U-bolt cylinder is a Schlage cylinder and can be rekeyed to match your other locks. You can find this information on U-tec support pages.
Of course the U-bolts can be re-worked and/or re-keyed via a locksmith, but it had been my (incorrect) understanding prior to buying the U-bolts that I could simply swap-out the cylinders with the Schlage deadbolts I already had.
I vaguely recall that I’d even found a video showing how easy it was to accomplish. Not so. Who knows–maybe the guy who made the video had an early version of U-bolt and U-tec changed them.
Yes, you did see a video demonstrating how to remove/replace the cylinder in a U-Bolt… but the intent of the video was to move the cylinder from a defective unit to a new one so the new unit would use your old keys. It is on their support pages in two places, but the page that “should” have been the one you looked for says:
If you want to rekey the cylinder or duplicate your keys for the U-Bolt series, please share this FAQ** [Description of the Ultraloq U-Bolt Series Cylinder Lock]{I deleted the link} with the locksmith**.
Ultraloq U-Bolt Series uses the Schlage shape C Keyway and Keys, and it’s pretty simple to replace it yourself. You can follow this [video]{link deleted}.
I don’t know why the locksmith would need the description of the cylinder - there’s nothing special about it and if the locksmith can’t see that it’s a Schlage then you should leave immediately - and I assume they include the video about replacing the cylinder so you know how to take it out to take it to the locksmith and replace it after rekeying.
Thanks but… that’s clear as mud. 
Sorry if it wasn’t clear. Bottom line - search Utec support for “U-Bolt Series Cylinder Lock”… follow the video for removing the cylinder…take cylinder to locksmith with your old key… bring cylinder home and replace in U-Bolt.
Easier than swapping out cylinders and, as you learned, Schlage makes a ton of different tail pieces so the odds of your particular old deadbolt having the same tail piece is slim.
NOTE: Schlage also makes at least two cylinders - one with 5 pins and the other with 6 pins (I think). I remember the U-Bolt probably uses a 5-pin - if your old key is for a 6 pin cylinder then you can’t rekey. You can compare the new and old keys and probably tell if it’s worth pulling out the cylinder.
What REALLY makes no sense is that there are tons of KIK Cylinders that could be used but they have designed the lock to ONLY use the style cylinders that they sell, at least from what I am finding. I have ordered KW1 cylinders to match my house and it will not fit. If I am wrong, tell me where to order it and I will.
KIK = ?
They use a pretty standard Schlage 5 pin cylinder. If you want to substitute a differently keyed Schlage 5 pin cylinder you can, but you may have to swap the tailpiece. But why would you swap in a different cylinder when you can have the one in the lock rekeyed.
KiK is a locksmith term. It means Key in Knob. To answer your question, why do I want 1 Schlage lock in my house when all my locks are Kwikset. Either I change this to what I have, change every door in the
facility, or carry 2 keys. I prefer to change the lock cylinder to match my facility. It’s what locksmiths do. They also look for products that are accommodating to the industry. This product is not. Not everyone is happy carrying a pile of keys. Hope this makes sense.
If you look back, this thread started with someone who wanted to replace the existing cylinders with Schlage cylinders from their old deadbolts… and found they fit but that the tailpieces were not compatible. The question there, clearly, was why was he swapping in his old cylinders in the first place… just get the Schlage cylinders in the UBolt rekeyed.
In any case, I’m not sure why you would expect every Schlage lock (since this is a effectively a Schlage lock) to accept their main competitor’s cylinder, even though I understand many do.
Finally, about 22 days ago, @Wakefield wrote: “I bought a KW1 cylinder online, put the tailpiece in a vise, heated/rotated it 90 degrees CCW, and installed it. It works great, and my entire home uses the same KW1 key.” So when you say it doesn’t fit do you mean the tailpieces aren’t oriented correctly?
Obviously, you may not want to rework a tailpiece from KW cylinder not designed for your Schlage lock.
