Drawers

[kupchu9702]

I am wondering if anyone else has had trouble with the drawers. Mine have those push button handles, but they do not latch with a locking devise. The drawers latch via a plastic open/close clip at the back of each drawer. They only use one clip per drawer. I find that the drawers with the heavier items such as cooking pots and pans tend to let drawers pop open when you make a sharp left turn or coach rocks side to side when crossing curb. I have had this rip the tracks for the drawer right out of cabinet.
I have added an extra clip to the back of these heavier drawers. It has helped cut down on this, but makes it hard to open drawer. I know that the push button handles are available with a locking mechanism. I feel Airstream is cutting corners to save a few bucks by going this way. It's like they are designing their units for occasional users. We do not use ours full time, but do spend considerable time in ours and therefore may carry more items than your average owner.
Do others have this problem and what have you done to solve this issue.
Thanks

[xrvr]

Are there weight limits for these drawers? Perhaps you are overloading them.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by kupchu9702

I find that the drawers with the heavier items such as cooking pots and pans tend to let drawers pop open when you make a sharp left turn or coach rocks side to side when crossing curb.

Do others have this problem and what have you done to solve this issue.

I've never had a drawer pop open, though a couple of times I had the wardrobe cabinet door open by itself when the contents of a shelf shifted and slid against the door and subsequently out onto the floor. Repacking so that the items on the shelf couldn't slide took care of that problem.

Perhaps your problem with the drawers is similar, if the items in the drawers have room to slide around.

[73shark]

Back when AS switched to these drawers, someone started a thread dealing w/ the issue and there were various fixes discussed.

Protag: Ours have some type of hook mechanism inside the front of the drawer.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by kupchu9702

I am wondering if anyone else has had trouble with the drawers. Mine have those push button handles, but they do not latch with a locking devise. The drawers latch via a plastic open/close clip at the back of each drawer. They only use one clip per drawer. I find that the drawers with the heavier items such as cooking pots and pans tend to let drawers pop open when you make a sharp left turn or coach rocks side to side when crossing curb. I have had this rip the tracks for the drawer right out of cabinet.
....
Do others have this problem and what have you done to solve this issue.
Thanks

The drawer under my stovetop would come open occasionally when I first got my van. I did a slight adjustment on the latch which helped as it has not come open since.

You might be going to fast if it ripped the tracks out of the cabinet. The only time I damaged a cabinet was when I mistakenly drove over a 5 inch curb making a left turn with a center divider. Yikes!!

That really shook things up and one of the overhead cabinets popped open with stuff flying everywhere - not a good scene. I'm now more careful as any high speed corning maneuver can really get my van rocking.

- - Mike

[73shark]

The overhead locker doors can be tightened by tightening the spring on the hinge on each side.

[kscherzi]

Is this what you're looking for?

http://email.shipstation.com/wf/clic...6lZsyeFA2auCL6

[OTRA15]

It is important to make sure that heavy items in the drawers, like cast iron frying pans, are not able to slide freely, as they can really build up a head of steam, moving independently on their own, and their momentum can overcome the resistance of the drawer slides, which is mainly designed for the weight of a drawer with average STATIONARY objects in it IMO.

When taking a sharp turn, it does not take much for a cast iron pan to start sliding on the plywood floor of the drawer. Once in motion, look out . . .



Some kind of nonskid matting in the drawer bottoms helps a lot, and quiets things down as well in an Interstate. I swear the nonskid matting in our trailer does the same thing.

[InterBlog]

Not for the push-button cabinet types, but for the benefit of T1N Interstate owners, one word: Velcro. I run strips of it through the handles and bind the cabinets shut that way. It is particularly important with the wardrobe, which I bind to the TV mounting rack. The wardrobe will fly open and disgorge its contents without any substantial provocation.

I also use mini-bungee cords in numerous places inside the cabinets. Helps to prevent that head of steam from building up when objects start to slide.

Now if I could just figure out how to stop food containers from dancing in the refrigerator...

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

I also use mini-bungee cords in numerous places inside the cabinets.

Now if I could just figure out how to stop food containers from dancing in the refrigerator...

Mini bungee cords, of course! You've got wire racks in there to hook the cords to…

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Mini bungee cords, of course! You've got wire racks in there to hook the cords to…

In places, yes. But little screw eyes in strategic interior locations can be used for this purpose as well. They don't have to bear any weight, just serve as a stopping mechanism.