Haven';t posted before, as I'm a relative novice in the world of Airstream (just sold our 2017 Interstate, and are picking up a Flying Cloud 25 TB at the end of the month). What I am not a novice in is cabinet making. We had screws loosen and fall out on the cabinets on the interstate. If you can tighten (not over tighten) before they fall out and work the holes too big, you can keep things happy, but my recollection is our cabinetry was made of particle board, and this has very limited holding power compared to plywood or solid wood.
Key take-aways:
1) Always make a correct size pilot hole. What is the right size? Look at the central "core" of the screw, not the thread around it. Make room for this core (just)! Too small, and the particle board will pucker, and chip, paradoxically providing less hold. Too big, and you will not have enough material for the threads to bite into, and allowing a certain amount of wiggling, which will cause it to fall apart quickly in a jostling Airstream.
2) Use centering drill bits as shown in posts above. If not the right size, use one a bit on the small side, and finish up with the correct size. Allignment counts.
3) Use the right type of screw. Ever assemble Ikea stuff? Then you've probably seen this type of screw. They look a bit funny (no point, very wide threads). Use these for composition board, they have vastly more hold. Here is a link to flat head versions of this:
https://www.rockler.com/centerline-5...ickel-100-pack There are pan head versions available for applications that need those. Most of the "euro" style ones are PoziDrive, which looks like Phillips head, but isn't, which explains why assembling Ikea stiff can be maddening. You need to get a PoziDrive #2 bit, which is NOT available at you local hardware store.
4) it is easy to strip the hole in composition board. Tighten carefully. Once stripped, it is a pain to repair the wood to take a new hole. Kind of like you can back the trailer until you hit something, and then pull forward 6" to make it better.