Overhead cabinets

[Red SandS]

Upon arriving at our destination this afternoon we found that the overhead storage cabinet over the sink and stovetop had fallen, completely shattering the glass stovetop cover. It appears that there are only six half inch screws that were holding the entire cabinet up.
Not feeling too confident tonight about the overhead unit over the bed! Thinking we will sleep with heads at the opposite direction!

Will definitely be taking to our local dealership for warranty repairs but do not have much confidence that the job will be done correctly.
Wondering if anyone else has had this experience with their GT and what fix did you do for extra reinforcement to the upper storage cabinets.

[J. Morgan]

Well, as a person who has put an interior in an Airstream, and after just completing a run to Chicago and Detroit across some rough a-- roads, six screws seems kinda insufficient.

I'm confident that Airstream will make it right though.

[drbrick]

we had the cabinet over our bedroom area come loose on one side and had to replace the screws with substantially stronger. we know check the cabinets frequently making sure they're all tight to the ceiling if we notice any gaps we investigate whether or not the screws need to be tightened.

[majorairhead]

Terrible, Terrible, Terrible.



Absolutely an awful experience.



I'd notify Airstream Jackson Center for sure, and this is just me, and I know you're a long way from there, but I'd not have anyone other than Jackson Center do the repair.

[dst]

I think they had a recall or factory service bulletin on that issue. When our 2019 GT 27 FBT d in for some warranty work the service manager made a comment that the modification head been done to our trailer.

[lsbrodsky]

Welcome to the world of Airstream! There will be defenders who will say these things are infrequent and Airstream will make it right. But I suspect there are more who are silent but have had the disappointment of finding issues with Airstream design, workmanship, quality, or maintainability. I don't care that all RV's have problems and Airstream may be better than most of the others; Airstream has just not lived up to my expectations.
I hope that you have no other problems after you get it fixed. A recall on installing overhead cabinets? How many years have they been installing overhead cabinets?
Larry

[Red SandS]

Originally Posted by dst

I think they had a recall or factory service bulletin on that issue. When our 2019 GT 27 FBT d in for some warranty work the service manager made a comment that the modification head been done to our trailer.

Interesting. Will be checking on that ASAP.

[Red SandS]

Originally Posted by lsbrodsky

Welcome to the world of Airstream! There will be defenders who will say these things are infrequent and Airstream will make it right. But I suspect there are more who are silent but have had the disappointment of finding issues with Airstream design, workmanship, quality, or maintainability. I don't care that all RV's have problems and Airstream may be better than most of the others; Airstream has just not lived up to my expectations.
I hope that you have no other problems after you get it fixed. A recall on installing overhead cabinets? How many years have they been installing overhead cabinets?
Larry

This is our second AS. No real issues with the first one but we did pick it up used, original owners may have fixed any issues before we had it.
We have had a few issues with this one that although have been minor, they shouldn’t have occurred. This issue with the cabinets though is unacceptable!
Agree with your comment that after all these years of installing cabinets a recall seems illogical. They should know what they are doing by now!

[Red SandS]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

Terrible, Terrible, Terrible.

Yes it is!

Absolutely an awful experience.

Heart stopping when we opened up the door and saw it.

I'd notify Airstream Jackson Center for sure, and this is just me, and I know you're a long way from there, but I'd not have anyone other than Jackson Center do the repair.

They will be hearing from us first thing Monday!

[Red SandS]

Originally Posted by drbrick

we had the cabinet over our bedroom area come loose on one side and had to replace the screws with substantially stronger. we know check the cabinets frequently making sure they're all tight to the ceiling if we notice any gaps we investigate whether or not the screws need to be tightened.

What size screws did you find that works?

[GOUSC]

Sorry to hear of your issue. We also have a 2018 27FB Globetrotter. We have not had that issue and have been told that the fix to prevent this was done to ours in production. I have no idea what the “fix” was. I do know that our GT has 3 longer screws coming through the upper pantry side wall into the overhead cabinets. I do not notice any screw holes coming out of your pantry into the overhead cabinets in your 1st or 2nd pics. This should give the upper cabinets some additional support if it has not already been done on yours.

I will also say that all three of these screws kept backing out in my pantry area. I was able to change 2 of them out with a more permanent fix. I can’t recall what you call these but they are interlocking screws that will permanently hold two pieces of wood together. One end goes through the pantry side. It has a flat head on one end and has a threaded opening on the other end. The other piece comes in from the cabinet side. It screws into the other piece with an allen wrench or screwdriver, (depending on which part you use). It also has a flat head on that piece. You screw it down tight and it will never come apart. I’ve used these in joining cabinets together on other woodworking projects.

These would also be appropriate to use, instead of those half inch screws, on the upper supports. I’ve also used them on a wardrobe door that had ½” screws that kept falling off. They will not come apart.

As others have stated, I would get Jackson Center, (JC), to do the work versus the dealership but you still have to monitor what they do, see my notes below.

I couldn’t do this fix on the upper 3rd screw in my pantry cabinet as I couldn’t get access on the overhead cabinet side. This screw kept backing out so I asked JC to fix this for me. I requested they not touch the other 2 screws as I had those under control, Their fix for the upper screw was to just put a longer screw in. They then removed my fix for the other 2 screws and put regular screws into a piece of sheet metal in the overhead cabinet.

On my next trip all three screws started backing out again. I had to re-fix the 2 screws that I had previously fixed on the road. I will be putting toothpicks and wood glue into the 3rd screw hole to see if that will hold.

[GOUSC]

Thought a picture would be better at illustrating the cabinet joinery parts. You may want to suggest JC to consider these vs screws. It would probably help if you already had the parts before you went to JC.

The smaller ones would be better than the half inch screws at the top. You might want to add a larger washer around the heads to make sure it doesn't pull thru if the wood is suspect on that overhead cabinet. It won't pull thru the metal.

Either one would work to attach the overhead cabinet to the pantry. You can get different sizes of each.

I'm sure there may be others on the forum that have other suggestions.

[stevejones]

After we picked up our 2019 GT 27 FBQ the first place we went was Jackson Center to stay in the TerraPort for our "shakedown". While there we asked the Factory Service Center to fix some things we had discovered with our initial inspection that the dealer could not. Without being asked our tech Matt shot some extra screws in the overhead cabinet since they had seen a few of them come down. Was glad he did that after hearing about this problem.

With a history of these cabinets coming down or loose we have avoided putting much weight into them. Our dishes and pots and pans are stored in other places.

I'm sorry yours has come down and hope JC or the dealer does a good job with all repairs. As someone else said, if you can make the trip I recommend you take your unit to the Factory Service Center in JC instead of taking it to a dealership. I think JC will do a better job.

Steve

[SYC2Vette]

Not a GT, but after reading this I checked our overhead cabinets for secure fastening. Guess we are good so far. One curiosity is that both two of our three galley overhead cabinets have identical rivets added near the center of the top mounting bracket. Can't imagine that adds much security but is a curious addition. See photo.

[jameskuzman]

Frankly, this is very unsettling. I thought the poor person whose Globetrotter cabinet DOORS fell off had a reason to be upset.

Even allowing for the fact that all trailers - including Airsteams - are pretty much hand built, Airstream isn’t new to this game. They’ve installed cabinets before and should know half inch screws are inadequate.

What makes it worse is that these are supposed to be lifetime trailers that you hand down to the next generation. That’s what helps justify the VERY premium price tag, is it not?

As it sit here perusing and participating in this wonderful forum and trying to learn all I can about these trailers before we decide to finally buy one, stories like this keep me second guessing my interest.

One final note: Everyone seems to be suggesting taking it to JC for the work, but those are the people responsible for this debacle in the first place...

Jim

[ROBERT CROSS]

What were they saying?
I've heard rumors that they were planning to leave.🤬👎

Bob
🇺🇸

[batman]

Red Sands, Sorry that happened.

I am sure disappointed in the quality of the newer AS. The cheap materials, insufficient hardware and poor workmanship seem to be the norm.

I am glad I got an older one and stripped her to the bones and rebuilt her. It was fun and I learned so much doing that. The cabinets I built are solid Maple and we have never had an issue. Real hardwood was not that expensive, it holds screws like iron, has no off gassing and should last indefinitely if kept dry.

IMO, There is no excuse for using such cheap materials, insufficient hardware and poor workmanship (I would have said Craftsmanship but these are not craftsmen) on such an expensive trailer. Such a shame.

-Dennis

[dhroberts]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Well, as a person who has put an interior in an Airstream, and after just completing a run to Chicago and Detroit across some rough a-- roads, six screws seems kinda insufficient.

I'm confident that Airstream will make it right though.

Another story of Airstream 'making it right' after failing to construct it properly. A manufacturer shouldn't get credit for fixing problems they caused. Interesting consumer behavior - we love our rigs so much that we are often oblivious to very real quality concerns. The bathroom mirror in our 2016 Classic's bathroom completely detached from the wall while we were in transit. Very poorly adhered to the wall! I love my rig. That said, I had to go through an extended shakedown cruise - find and fix the problems. Only then is your rig fully yours. Be safe; good luck.

[Suza]

Sounds like overhead cabinets with sliding doors are a good choice!

I'm getting concerned about spending $100K for an AS

[Farmer Dan]

We have a 2019 27' Globetrotter FBT. I understand how the OPs cabinet came loose. After several trips, we found screws loose inside the pantry cabinets. I tried the toothpick and glue trick. Still found both screws loose. Tried 1 size bigger screws with same results - even a broken screw !! There is a panel you can remove in the overhead cabinets adjacent to the pantry. A check with a mirror revealed a gap between the pantry wall and the overhead cabinet. I made a spacer of the right thickness and put in place. I then drilled out the holes (and through the new shims) for the screws to 1/4". I installed 1/4" stainless steel machine screws and washers with self locking nuts. We haven't yet been on the road but I can tell by bumping the cabinet that it is rock solid. Fastening that cabinet to a panel that goes clear to the floor and eliminating the possibility of flex between these with the addition of the shims has to be a good thing.

Dan