Interior SCREWS and HINGES- Tired of screwing with them

[Ray Eklund]

Eight years of tightening and replacing cabinet and fixture screws became an... ART. I have yet to understand why Airstream has not found a screw that will stay permanently...

Our 2014 25 footer already has required screwing... and no hardware or hinge is immune to backing out of the materials used for the interiors. Well... I found some fixes.

Fix Number ONE:
Piano or Strip Hinges that come in 36 inch or 48 inch strips. Cut to fit and they use a large number of wood screws. It is labor intensive for drilling small pilot holes, so not to split the finish.. but they hold. Somewhere in Boondocking years ago I illustrated some replacement hinges and they never needed to be tightened again! This was the permanent fix. Remove the original hinges and insert the strip hinges in their place. If you cannot do it, a cabinet shop could in less time and do a better job.

Fix Number TWO:
All possible doors and drawers that could open on their own... secure by tying a rope to a secure available spot. Never had a problem of open cabinets or drawers in our 2006 Safari again.

Fix Number THREE in progress:
My wife found a loose short screw that attaches the male plastic closer for the cabinet door. Vibrated loose on an easy road trip from Colorado to Las Vegas and back this Summer. Other odds and ends came out of hiding places, but were from the Jackson Center installation process and dropped to disappear. Well, we have a few extra screws and some things we cannot identify, but keeping them handy just in case.

Fix number three is where I am at this moment. I am considering using "Elmer's Glue" or a wood glue to cement the screws into the fixtures. It should be permanent. Maybe permanent is a future problem if, for some obscure reason, the wood screw needs to be removed.

I would like to avoid installing strip hinges on a new trailer. Time will tell. Has anyone used a wood glue like Elmer's to secure screws backing out while traveling? An inexpensive cure if it works. I can think of at least one disadvantage... the cheaply made door closers that have the male and female locking system... the female plastic in the cabinet splits apart. I know, we bought spares while in Jackson Center in 2008. Some of you may have experienced this problem. We tried the compression springs, but they were not as secure... thus the ropes to keep the doors from opening on any left to right motion.

The long screws that attach the cabinets to the frame of the shell... just be careful they are not longer than the original when using a larger diameter screw. That took care of the cabinet screws to frame coming loose.

Last comment. If axles are responsible for the screws coming loose... well my new 2014 had better not have axle problems. I lean more towards the road vibration provides the "physics", providing the release of tension of the spiral screw towards least resistance... backing out. Hot and cold will back nails out of house gutters and wood, that does not apply. Automobile bolts are designed different to substructure and they always seem to tighten with use, not become loose. Maybe some with similar experiences can add to this incomplete report of my solutions.

Has anyone used wood glue to secure cabinet screws? Just sounds too simple of a fix... but simple is good enough for me.

[Goal15]

For the first time in three years, we had a serious screw problem. One of the curved doors under the galley sink just came off in my wife's hand after a day on the notorious I-40/I30 cement and spacer roadway that is Central Arkansas. After we ate.... first things first . . . I conspired to best the European hinge set up, finally taking each hinge apart so that I could reinstall the door. What I found confounding is that these hinges are held together with what appears to be tiny wood screws that are connecting metal to metal? Really? No small nuts and bolts available? There is one screw on the door side that appears to have stripped out of the wood, so I may try the old wood glue and sawdust trick or a matchstick to give the screw something to stick to. These type of hinges have never been my favorite, even in the modern stick built houses we have occupied... seems like they are always either out of adjustment, or if you bump a cabinet door the wrong way you suddenly have a door hanging by one hinge..... I'm sure in the hands of a skilled cabinet maker, installer, these are just marvels of modern engineering, but they continue to be confounding to me and I've got 30 years of house renovation experience.

Dana

[martin300662]

An alternate to your 2) is to use net curtain wire (not common in the US, but in just about every house in the UK (Amazon.com - Curtain Net Expanding Wire White 8 Metre 8M With 12 Hooks & 12 Eyes Cp - Utility Hooks)). Simply fixing an eyelet at each end of a cabinet run, cut the wire to length and attaching a hook to each end, and you can utilize the 'spring' of the wire the hold the doors/drawers shut. On my motorbike hauler I also add another hook between each door so that not only does the wire run across the fronts, it can also be stretched back over the hook between each door.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

Fix number three is where I am at this moment. I am considering using "Elmer's Glue" or a wood glue to cement the screws into the fixtures. It should be permanent. Maybe permanent is a future problem if, for some obscure reason, the wood screw needs to be removed.

Using glue to secure screws is a time-honored tradition in boatbuilding. No reason why it can't be done in a trailer. Elmer's shouldn't be nearly as permanent as the epoxy glue I've seen used on some boats; sufficient torque with a screwdriver bit chucked into a drill should break the glue bond, but simple vibration probably won't.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by martin300662

net curtain wire (not common in the US, but in just about every house in the UK (Amazon.com - Curtain Net Expanding Wire White 8 Metre 8M With 12 Hooks & 12 Eyes Cp - Utility Hooks))

You may have just solved my biggest headache. I removed the accordion-pleated blinds from my Interstate with the intention of replacing them with thermal lined curtains that not only make the interior a lot darker but do a better job of blocking out summer heat. But then I couldn't figure out how to mount the curtain rods. Curtain wire seems like it could be the ideal solution! I'll have to look into it!

[Melody Ranch]

I use a dab of gorilla glue on all the hinge screws in my old Airstreams.

[Wayne&Sam]

Goal15- I had a hinge come loose I the same location. But attribute it to leaving the lower drawer open and then opening the cupboard door. That makes a pretty strong lever for popping s screw.

And thanks for reminding me to fill the hole (toothpick and elmer's) to fix it.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

You may have just solved my biggest headache. I removed the accordion-pleated blinds from my Interstate with the intention of replacing them with thermal lined curtains that not only make the interior a lot darker but do a better job of blocking out summer heat. But then I couldn't figure out how to mount the curtain rods. Curtain wire seems like it could be the ideal solution! I'll have to look into it!

It's amazing stuff, and sold in just about every 'dollar' and DIY store in the UK, yet here is like gold dust. My only recommendation is not to use the (cheap) eyelets and hooks that come with the kit, instead you can buy stainless steel/marine grade equivalents online.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by martin300662

It's amazing stuff, and sold in just about every 'dollar' and DIY store in the UK, yet here is like gold dust. My only recommendation is not to use the (cheap) eyelets and hooks that come with the kit, instead you can buy stainless steel/marine grade equivalents online.

Not to worry. West Marine is only two miles from where I live. I don't think my new curtains will be too heavy for the curtain net wire; they only weigh 12 ounces per 42" wide × 18" long panel.

[Phoenix]

We no longer have problems with our cabinet doors falling off. See permanent fix at this ink:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...ml#post1306011

[Inland RV Center, In]

Cabinet doors fall off as result of something else.

VIBRATION.

Lack of proper running gear balancing is the usual culprit.

Think about it. If cabinet hinges don't fall off in your home, then why do they do it in your trailer.

Stopping vibration in it's tracks, stops many other crazy things from happing in an Airstream.

Andy

[KJRitchie]

2008 Classic 25fb. I have an Equalizer hitch with 1000lb bars and my tires are Michelin 235/75x15 run at 50lbs and they were balanced on the aluminum rims. I've only tightened one screw so far but I'll check now that I've read this thread.

Kelvin

[dkottum]

I think Inland Andy hit the nail on the head. In five years, ten cross-country trips we've not had screws coming loose on our two Airstreams towing with a full coil spring Ram 1500, ProPride hitch, and balanced wheels.

[Phoenix]

Andy, in our case, it wasn't the running gear -- It was the infamous road to the Madison Arm Resort in West Yellowstone. See descriptions that I have previously posted at the links below:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ml#post1356233

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...ml#post1305989

[Gringo]

Well, of course they back out due to vibration. This is a no brainer. But the answer shoudn't be to treat the trailer as a house. The answer SHOULD be to use fasteners designed to handle vibration.

You could also say "notice the hardware on your airplane doesn't fall off". And then look at that hardware, holding aluminum sheet together. See any wood screws in your Boeings? No. See anybody from Cessna suggesting you use Gorilla Glue from now on to hold your doors closed? No.

In the marine construction industry, it's a pretty common thing to specify marine grade hardware. Everyone knows that the stuff you get from Lowes or Home Depot is basically unfit for marine use. In the aviation business, you definitely use Aviation grade nuts and bolts and fasteners. Yet the RV people still insist on using common wood screws to hold together assemblies that are supposedly designed to be pulled down the highway and over park roads. To say eliminate the vibration is a cop out. How about designing the product for the application?

Threaded inserts. Locktite. It's not rocket surgery.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Gringo

See anybody from Cessna suggesting you use Gorilla Glue from now on to hold your doors closed? No.

Of course not. They use 3M Scotchweld adhesive.

[SteveH]

One of my hobbies is radio control model aircraft, both fixed and rotary winged, and keeping fasteners in place is a problem. So I have transferred the things I've learned about fasteners in this hobby to the Airstream. If it's a machine screw into metal, or with a nut, I use Locktite blue if I want to be able to take it apart, Red if I never want it to come apart.

With a screw that comes out of wood, simply retightening it will insure future failure. The permanent cure is to use some CA glue (crazy glue) soaked into the wood that the screw goes into, and let dry for a moment or two. This makes the wood itself hard as metal, and then reinsert the screw and tighten as usual. It will not come out again, but you can still get it out if you want because the CA glue actually does not stick well to the metal screw, it just hardens the wood allowing the screw to hold.

Thick CA glue works well with screws or machine screws into plastic, but apply the glue to the threads and then insert. Thick CA takes a little longer to harden than the thin.

[idroba]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

Has anyone used wood glue to secure cabinet screws? Just sounds too simple of a fix... but simple is good enough for me.

The self closing drawer slides on my 2014 FC 20' were only held to the drawers themselves with two small screws. One did not work on delivery. After I got it, I looked and found places for at least two more screws on each of the slides which had not been used by the factory. I put tiny, short flat head screws in each of them, sealed with some white (or yellow) wood glue. I also glued the original ones. I have driven about 12,000 miles since this "repair/modification" and have had a couple of the drawers out for various reasons. All looks sound now, the extra screws and glue have held up very well.

It is hard for me to believe that AS used only two very tiny screws to hold the slides onto the drawers, some of which are pretty big and expected them to hold up.

[Denis4x4]

Easiest way to keep screws in place is to get a handful of wooden golf tees and insert them in the existing holes with a dab of glue and break or cut them off flush.

[Ray Eklund]

One suggestion for the 2006 Safari with the front couch that pulls out to become a bed, or some sorts.

There is a strip of wood to support the, sorta bed, to firm the frame. Those screws go through holes in the metal to the outside strip of wood with fabric. I drilled a hole through the frame hole, a slightly smaller hole would work, all the way through the outside wood with fabric cover.

I used 5 or 6 carriage bolts, inserted from the front and tightened from the inside. These never came loose and the carriage bolt heads look fine as well.

Bob... I hope you add your suggestion(s) as well.

I hope that the axle vibration do not loosen the lug nuts like the wood screws back out at will. Some other brands of trailers have walls that seem to be made of compressed... cardboard. How do those screw hold up? Or do you need a shopping cart full with glue, epoxy putty, liquid nails...?

My thought was trailers were made to come apart so a new one looked better the longer you kept yours. I use to drive my pickups and SUV's for 150,000 to 200,000 miles. Now, with the cost of replacement parts... I sell or trade when the drive train warranty is still in full force. An Airstream with the two year warranty, for some, might be a few summer trips of wear and tear. Still practically new when sold.

You need at least five years or more to use the depreciation between what you paid and being able to sell at a reasonable price, used. By the time your trailer is six years old, it is held together better than from the factory. I do not know how you can let your current AS go when you have tweaked it to exceed the factory built interior... As Napoleon discovered: For the want of a nail (for a horse shoe), the war was lost.

For the want of a "screw, the trailer was lost". May the "force" be with you. In the form of glue or epoxy putty.