Wardrobe Closet Doors Fly Open During Travel

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by Perpich

I have a new 2017 Interstate and ALL the doors fly open, including tbe trash, which ends up on the floor. Yuck. Really a poorly design system. I don't think bungee cords will work on my pull knobs. Any other ideas? I hate to drill holes in a two week old vehicle.

Warrenty issue?

[3wd67rg]

Originally Posted by Perpich

I have a new 2017 Interstate and ALL the doors fly open, including tbe trash, which ends up on the floor. Yuck. Really a poorly design system. I don't think bungee cords will work on my pull knobs. Any other ideas? I hate to drill holes in a two week old vehicle.

Hair Rubber Band? We use these to keep our fridge closed and the blinds up when we drive. You know the little black one you put ponytails up with? On the fridge door and the wall we have tiny clear command hooks, the hair rubber band hooks into both hooks and keeps the fridge door from popping open. If you have knows you would just put a rubber band on them. If they are too big, tie a knot in the loop. I had to do that when the elastic began stretching out.

[DEWASSINC]

Go to the kitchen dept at Home Depot and purchase some strong kitchen cabinet door latches. Only a couple bucks each.

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

^
X2

Old...



What we used...not 'marine', but work well.



Bob

Bob,

I used some of those on the three drawers under our queen bed that were often rolling out on a trip.

I left the existing latches in place and added the new ones at the backs of the drawers.

They have worked well, no ore drawers rolling out! And a plus is that you can adjust the tension on the springs that hold the detent balls to vary the holding strength as needed.

Got mine at "Lee Valley" here in Canada.


Brian.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Brian,

Tip...once set, a small drop of Loctite 242 will hold the adjustment.

Bob

[Adiredneck]

Opening drawers, cabinets, closets may be more of a symptom than the problem. What are you towing with? If it is a pickup truck, especially a HD 3/4T or 1T, that may be the real culprit. We noticed that, towing with our old 3/4 ton 4x4, that every time we'd hit a rest stop after a stretch of bad interstate, there would be cabinets and drawers open and pillows everywhere. When we upgraded to a 1ton 4x4, I added an AirSafe hitch to the Equalizer WD hitch. Now, not a drawer opened or pillow disturbed. Is $1200 a lot to pay to keep your cabinets and drawers shut (I got the Class VI AirSafe)? Yes. But, if you are seeing all of these "symptoms", what is that rough ride doing to your rivets, frame and suspension on your Airstream? So, let me rephrase the question: Is $1200 a lot to pay to keep your $60,000 tow vehicle and $80,000 Airstream from beating the snot out of each other? I submit that it is some pretty cheap insurance and preventative maintenance...

[RadioGuy]

UPDATE: Problem Solved. Here's how.
Door latches were too weak to hold during travel and doors would swing open when the latch wouldn't hold. Some suggested to use duct tape. Not an option on these thin veneer doors. the tape residue would be a mess to get off if it didn't take the veneer off with the tape. Others suggested Bungee Cords....but what do you tie them too?
My solution after several conversations with folks in the big box stores and friends is to use a shower curtain rod across all three doors. It's spring loaded so I can adjust the tension to the correct amount. It's easy to set up and remove and leaves no damage. I place a small towel at key spots along the pole so any vibration during travel won't put wear spots on the doors.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ag...=w1011-h758-no

[Perpich]

Considering how ridiculous it was that doors (especially the trash) flew open during travel, I decided to take it up with Airstream. As it turns out, the latches can be swapped out for stiffer versions, or another can be added to the existing setup. My two, 5# latches on my trash were swapped out for 10# latches at first, but then we determined we needed super human strength to open them. SO - we now have one 5# latch and one 10# latch on the trash and a few other cabinets that were giving us pains. This is an easy, aesthetically consistent solution for the 2017 Interstate.