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twestover · 05-09-2012, 07:21 AM

We have a 2009 Flying Cloud 27 FB, and the kitchen cabinets and drawers pop and slide open during travel. Has anyone else had that problem? Ideas would be welcome! We are leaving Friday for a 2 month trip to Alaska.
Terri

dkottum · 05-09-2012, 07:50 AM

We have had a 2007 Safari and now 2012 Flying Cloud and have never had a cabinet or drawer come open, even on some very rough roads.

Could there be too much stiffness in your suspension or hitch?

doug k

twestover · 05-09-2012, 08:18 AM

Thanks for your thoughts, Doug, I asked my husband and he said no, it isn't too stiff. I'm not sure how one actually defines TOO stiff but I guess there is such a thing. How would we know? Ours has done this from the beginning and I just assumed everyone's cabinets and drawers flew open sometimes. It is very discouraging, I must say, to pack so carefully and find everything on the floor when you stop.

xrvr · 05-09-2012, 08:28 AM

Sometimes it seems you have to slam the drawers to get them closed completely. Ours are very hard to open and never come open during travel. Let us know what you find out, please. Jim

twestover · 05-09-2012, 08:41 AM

Yup, we've made sure they are very tightly closed before driving. And the upper ones pop open often, and those are pretty closed or open, not much in between!

Terri

dkottum · 05-09-2012, 08:44 AM

The latches should require noticeable resistance when pulling drawers/doors open, a slight tug to overcome. Maybe they were not adjusted right when assembled, or loosened.

doug k

ROBERT CROSS · 05-09-2012, 08:50 AM

350 Ford TV=Air-Safe hitch

Bob

dkottum · 05-09-2012, 08:50 AM

The upper cabinets have no latches, just "overcenter" type hinges. Never had them come open either.

I would think balance of trailer tires/wheel assemblies ought to be checked.

doug k

dkottum · 05-09-2012, 08:52 AM

Oh, you tow with a Ford 350?

doug k

twestover · 05-09-2012, 09:07 AM

We tow with a 2010 F 250. We used to tow with a 350

dkottum · 05-09-2012, 10:10 AM

Long-time Airstream repair shop owner and frequent contributor to this forum "Inland Andy" says that Airstreams must have a soft connection at the hitch. This advice, in spite of his extensive experience, was scoffed by many here, but its a simple check.

He would stand on the hitch and bounce up and down to look for a couple inches of movement. If so, it was a decent connection. Good advice in my book but I tend to favor experience over science.

If the connection is compliant, he would suggest checking the balance of the running gear, tires, wheels, brake assemblies.

doug k

Gene · 05-09-2012, 10:39 AM

Drawers may open because of too much weight in them. There is a part at the back of the drawers that holds them and is supposed to prevent opening while driving, but they may be installed badly. In ours the drawer under the dinette curbside seat kept opening until the dealer put a 2nd one of those things on it. Now it is hard to open, but doesn't open itself.

A few other drawers have opened on really bad roads like the frost heaves on the Alaska Hwy. And if there is something heavy in a wardrobe it may push against and open the door.

What you have in the drawers or cabinets matters if it can move around. Check the part that holds them to see if it seems to be correctly installed and consider getting an extra one.

While this is a problem infrequently for us, you are having a lot more problems than is normal.

If you are leaving in a few days, not much time to check running gear. Check your hitch to see it is adjusted properly and maybe get the wheels rebalanced. Not much else you can do now.

Gene

SeeMore · 05-09-2012, 11:17 AM

While you sort out your issues, bungees will work.

lylesgl · 05-09-2012, 12:24 PM

My F-350 was causing popped rivets, drawers to open, and even caused a crack in the aluminum skin beneath the locker door on the front of my 27FB. The AirSafe hitch and 800lb WD (weight distribution) bars resolved my issues with the Airstream.

Alden Miller · 05-09-2012, 01:40 PM

Used to have the problem with doors open and things tossed about until I got an air hitch. My Dodge Ram 3500 had too stiff a suspension and was just tossing the poor trailer about.

-Alden

Inland RV Center, In · 05-09-2012, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twestover

We have a 2009 Flying Cloud 27 FB, and the kitchen cabinets and drawers pop and slide open during travel. Has anyone else had that problem? Ideas would be welcome! We are leaving Friday for a 2 month trip to Alaska.
Terri

Several things can contribute to the problem, individually and/or collectively.

Excessive rated tow vehile, excessive rated hitch bars, unbalanced running gear, and bad axle rubber rods.

Airstreams must have a soft, smooth ride.

Anything that creates or contributes to shaking, bouncing etc, will cause cabinets opening, drawers opening, shearing of rivets inside and out, cracks in the frame, cracks in the shell, and broken 120 wires.

Andy

slowmover · 05-10-2012, 05:25 AM

Or, why a truck is unnecessary to tow an Airstream, even contraindicated.

jgerardi · 05-10-2012, 06:21 AM

We have used extra latches. The type you would use to "baby - proof" your kitchen for a toddler. Available at babies R us, or any big box.

twestover · 05-10-2012, 08:55 AM

For all of your ideas about this. We were able to get into the Airstream dealer here in Portland yesterday. The cabinets above the kitchen encounter were way out of adjustment, very loose. Now they are very tight, and we shall see if that helps. That doesn't settle the issue of the drawers, however. I did write to Airstream in Ohio and they said there are two "weights" of latches, and that we probably need the heavier of the two. they also suggested baby latches for the cabinets. I thought we were past all that! I also checked the contents of the cabinets and I don't feel like they have too much stuff, but maybe they do. One drawer has silverware in a silverware holder and that's it and it pops open often. That seems pretty reasonable to me. One of the bigger cabinets does have stuff like containers of flour and sugar and coffee, etc.

I greatly appreciate all of your input. We are going to check the hitch issues this morning. We do have 600 pound torsion bars from the trailer to the truck.

For now, our lovely trailer is decorated with duct tape as we head north tomorrow.

Again, thank you all so much for your input. It takes a village to tow an Airstream! For those of you with an interest in the Alaska trips, we are going to blog during the trip. tandhalaska2012@blogspot.com. We promise to post great pictures and tell everyone about good (and bad) campsites.

Terri and Hal Hendrix

hhendrix · 05-25-2012, 12:02 PM

OK an update. When we first bought the AS, we had an F350 and the hitch dealer (which had little experience with Airstreams, gave me 1200 lb bars. I too, notice a crack in the shell from the bottom left hand corner of the storage door compartment behind the propane and batteries. After read many articles on hitches etc., I went back to the dealer and switched to 800 lb bars. The difference in ride was immediate. Move up to today and we are towing with a 2011 F250. After reading some of the posts here, I decided to have the tires balance before we left. The tire dealer called me latter and said he couldn't balance the tires (Marathons) because they were out of round. I was a little reluctant to buy new tires that probably had less than 15K miles on them until I check the dates on the Marathons. They were a little over 4 years old. That was enough for me as we were starting a 6K round trip to Alaska. So I got back on the forums and went with new 10 ply TowMasters. We were only on the road for a few miles and you could really feel the difference. I also put a section of 1/2" emt tube down thru the drawer pulls. So far only a couple of minor spills on these very rough roads. We have ordered stronger latches from the dealer.