Drawer Glide Failure

[abqdor]

We took our maiden voyage in our new '16 Flying Cloud FB last week and everything went surprisingly well. We're certainly looking forward to many AS adventures in the future.

We did have one problem however. The drawer under the gaucho apparently was not latched fully at the back and came off the glides when traveling. I was able to get the drawer back in the glides, but it doesn't want to stay and keeps popping out of one side or the other. The glides themselves don't look damaged or bent in any way.

I did a Google search on the forum and found many ideas for keeping the door closed, but nothing about the glides. I'm tempted to replace the factory glides with a more heavy duty set as we'd really like to be comfortable with storing things in the drawer.

Does anyone have experience with the glides that AS is currently using or has anyone replaced their glides with am beefier aftermarket product?

[Foiled Again]

Your idea to replace the glides probably isn't a bad one. They aren't BAD but they aren't top of the line either. If the roller on the drawer popped off of the glide there's a good chance that the both parts were twisted or damaged. Quite often it's the nylon outer "tire" on the wheels that separates from the metal hub or gets deformed. On office furniture I've often replaced the wheels - thus repairing a drawer. But most of the time replacing the whole glide mechanism is a better choice. You might try CALLING the mothership and asking them to furnish you with new glides for that drawer if you are up to doing it yourself. It's a lot cheaper for them to give you the parts than to pay your dealer to do the repairs under warranty!

It's all small stuff in the end, and getting a little bit handy saves a lot of frustration and angst. I had a door handle come loose and I lost the screw... then went through a box of bits and pieces to find a match, reinstalled it with a dab of lock-tite, and stepped on my cushy rug in bare feet and OUCH! found the original. Ain't it the way that always works out?

Paula

[OTRA15]

This has happened to a couple of people. Stand by for links.

When you put the drawer back in, you have to make sure that the two parts of each slide click into place. Since you can't look under the gaucho drawer in question (I am assuming), look underneath a higher drawer to see how the two parts on each side of a drawer click together. You may have to use some force to get them to "marry" and click into place as designed.

Check the top part of the following post, and nearby posts, about the drawer slides:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f516...ml#post1696467

TerryC may have the same slides?

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f516...ml#post1767719

I thought there were other threads with similar issues, but I can't find them right now.

Good Luck!

Peter

[wolf146]

I had the problem with my 2004 30 foot classic. The problem was that the bars on the right and left side weren't parallel and the right side kept coming off. A new slide and a little readjustment on my part fixed it. Haven't had a problem since. Wolf146

[dznf0g]

I had to replace the glides for the lower galley drawer. It came open (due to operator error solely) while driving. Better half insists upon ceramic dishes.....of course they bent with a fully opened drawer. I don't know if they are the same ones as you have, but I got replacements from the AS dealer. They OEM ones are pretty robust...just our loading and oversight was the problem.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by abqdor

We took our maiden voyage in our new '16 Flying Cloud FB last week and everything went surprisingly well. We're certainly looking forward to many AS adventures in the future.

We did have one problem however. The drawer under the gaucho apparently was not latched fully at the back and came off the glides when traveling. I was able to get the drawer back in the glides, but it doesn't want to stay and keeps popping out of one side or the other. The glides themselves don't look damaged or bent in any way.

I did a Google search on the forum and found many ideas for keeping the door closed, but nothing about the glides. I'm tempted to replace the factory glides with a more heavy duty set as we'd really like to be comfortable with storing things in the drawer.

Does anyone have experience with the glides that AS is currently using or has anyone replaced their glides with am beefier aftermarket product?

Does this help?


Bob

[Nuvite-F]

Originally Posted by abqdor

Does anyone have experience with the glides that AS is currently using or has anyone replaced their glides with am beefier aftermarket product?

I don't know what Airstream is currently using--our trailer is a 1980 model--but I do have experience with upgrading the drawer suspension.

We have a 3-drawer cabinet next to our dinette which we use as a pantry. It's amazing how much food can be stored away in there--a lot of it in cans--but the drawer slides were never intended to be bounced down the road with a drawer full of canned goods!

I was having a lot of trouble with the existing slides and decided to upgrade to ball-bearing dresser slides rated something like 100 pounds per drawer. (Note that the dynamic forces when the trailer is bouncing down the road are a lot more than the weight of the drawer.)

Replacing them was a real pain because ball-bearing slides won't accept much lateral misalignment. So it took several tries with trimming and shimming.

But when the job was done we had drawers that always roll easily when full of heavy stuff. The double-extension ball bearing slides even let you pull the drawer all the way out, making it easy to find stuff at the back of the drawer. One of the best mods I ever made to our trailer!

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Nuvite-F

I don't know what Airstream is currently using--our trailer is a 1980 model--but I do have experience with upgrading the drawer suspension.
. . .

Do you recall what brand you used? Accuride maybe?

Thanks

[Nuvite-F]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Do you recall what brand you used? Accuride maybe?

That's the brand. I got them at my local Woodcraft store. I just looked up their web site, and that's the brand they carry.

http://www.woodcraft.com/category/su108-25/slides.aspx

[btsmoots]

When you try to open the top drawer on our 2022 Globetrotter it is extremely hard. I can see the marks on the drawer handle as it is rubbing against the cabinet. I took it to the AS dealer and thought it would be handled under warranty but $185 later they said it is not. Any thoughts as I expected them to fix it.