Drawer Opens During Travel.

[knunut]

Bottom drawer (under closet) opens during travel. Any Modification's or ideas to stop this.
Thank's in Advance.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by knunut

Bottom drawer (under closet) opens during travel. Any Modification's or ideas to stop this.
Thank's in Advance.

Have the running gear properly balanced.

A drawer thast opens in transit, is just the beginning of troubles, if you don't.

Or, there are commercial wheel balancer devices that can be installed on the hubs, that will keep the running gear in balance over about 30 mph.

There are several brands of that type balancer available all over the country.

You may also have an excessive rated tow vehicle and/or torsion bars that can cause the same problems.

Andy

[Foiled Again]

All Due respect to Andy but it's a 2007 - and they use those heavy steel drawers and slides with WEAK latches. They'll open if you sneeze on them hard. You can get child proof latches at Ikea that mount inside the drawers, allowing them to open about an inch and a half - and then you press down on the exposed latch to release it, or you can do what I did.

I have the 25 FB - and there are two drawers below a half length closet over it. They fly open if I hit a pothole, which is unavoidable in traffic. I have to go through an hour of heavy traffic to escape Virginia Beach unless I head east - and then I'd have to swim.

I use the awning pole and run it down behind the drawer handles, hooking the big curved end over the closet's handle. In the kitchen there are three drawers over one little cubby door that folds down. I use a dowel rod the same way, running it through all four handles. The bottom is also secured by my wine crate which is placed in the "L" formed by the sink and drawers. For the drawer under the streetside bench of the dinette - I will once again start wedging a pair of tennis shoes between the bottom of the drawer and the floor. That used to come open all the time until I had the latch replaced under warranty at the mothership. It never opened in transit again until my last trip where I had to make a full-on panic stop due to a wreck that happened about 8 car lengths in front of me right at the Hampton Roads Tunnel entrance. The Silverado's ABS brakes and the panic switch on my brake controller saved the day! The guy in front of me? I was about 20 inches off of his compact car's bumper when I got to zero mph. I'll bet "scared s***less" is a highly inaccurate statement about HIS reaction. I gratefully pulled off at the propane inspection station and shook for about 20 minutes.

I tend to use my awning pole for lots of strange tasks, from pulling crap out of the bed of my truck to dragging my spare tire out of it's carrier under the Airstream, to actually putting up my awning. Maybe I ought to get a second one.

Paula

[2dabeach]

Originally Posted by knunut

Bottom drawer (under closet) opens during travel. Any Modification's or ideas to stop this.
Thank's in Advance.

knunut....We had the same problem with the drawers under the bedroom closet on our 25' FB. I solved it by reducing the amount of weight of gear stored in the drawers when traveling and I also replaced the the original latches with new ones I purchased online from D.B. Roberts Co www.dbroberts.com. The latches on our trailer are Southco Push to Close Latches. Southco makes three versions of the latch with pull-up forces of 3 lbs, 5 lbs & 10 lbs. I ordered the model of the latch with the maximum pull-out weight of 10 lb (Southco Part Number C3-810). Since making these changes we have not had the drawers come out while traveling.

[Al - K4GLU]

If you're still under warranty and have this problem Airstream has the stronger latches - I've already had 3 of mine replaced. This is a fairly common problem and why Airstream doesn't just switch to the stronger latches and do away with this irritation I don't understand.

[jcanavera]

Wheel balance is not always the issue.

The drawers on my 2004 Classic are held in by a small tab at the end of the rail. You lift the drawer as you open it which allows the drawer to travel over that tab. All you need to do is to not lift the drawer as you close it and you put a bend in that tab which makes it very easy for that drawer to clear that tab. Also if you hit a large bump in the road, the drawers will rise slightly in the rails which will allow the drawer to slide over that tab. I traveled on some really poor pavement in Wisconsin up by Appleton Wisconsin this summer which almost caused every kitchen drawer to pop open. It's a poor, poor design on the 2004 Classic.

Jack

[vinstream]

GOOD GOD... Running gear for drawers opening..... LOL Whats next..?!?!?! You can go to HomeD or Low..s and find a rear drawer catch... it looks like a small "U" shape that attaches to the back of the drawer. The "U" shape then clamps on to two wheels that are attached to the frame of the drawer (when in the closed possition). The "U" shape catch gives extra "grabbing" when the drawer is closed! It does take a little extra tug to open drawer, but should fix your problem for less than $5.00!
Good Luck!!!

[knunut]

Great Ideas. Went to IKEA and got the Child Proof Latch. A pack of 5 for $2. What a deal. That should solve the drawer for sure. Thank's.
Another problem was the roll of paper towel's. At "Bed Bath & Beyond "
We found the "Kamenstein" perfect tear holder that has a ratcheting system,can mount Hoiz. or Vert. Match's trailer. I mounted it @ about a 45Deg. Angle on the end of the cabinet that runs over the stove on the right end as you stand in front. There is a Dead area between the side and rear casbinet in the 20 ft. Saf. so it has room and work's great !!!

knunut

[Pahaska]

Almost any hardware store has the child latches, Home Depot and Lowes, just to name some.

I have child latches on many of my drawers, including the several drawers that I added. One thing, though, it is hard to install the child latches on drawers right down at the floor unless you have a right-angle adapter for your drill. A stubby screwdriver is also a plus.

I have balanced tires PLUS Centramatic balancers. I also have an air hitch which isolates the trailer from my stiff truck. Without better latches, drawers still opened. That shows that running gear balance or a stiff truck is not the problem. The problem is weak latching mechanisms.

[Isadora]

Earthquake latches (Do a Google search) are also wonderful for keeping things closed. We have them on our galley doors under the sink, and they aren't going to come open when we travel under any circumstances.

[boondockdad]

Originally Posted by Al - K4GLU

If you're still under warranty and have this problem Airstream has the stronger latches - I've already had 3 of mine replaced. This is a fairly common problem and why Airstream doesn't just switch to the stronger latches and do away with this irritation I don't understand.

ditto. they changed out my dinette drawer latches... even better, the littlest crumbsnatchers can't get it open to rifle thru freshly folded laundry...