Upper Cabinet Doors

[GrayGhost]

Could not find the previous thread on this topic, so starting a new one. Some were having issues with the upper doors popping open while underway, and at the time I wasn't having any issues with mine.  Until the last trip.   One of the hinges came completely undone. You can see from the picture that there is one small screw holding each hinge to the cabinet door. The screw does not grip the door with very many threads at all. If it comes loose, the door will come out of adjustment and will either not close properly, or will close and pop open. In my case, the screw came completely out and the door was hanging by the single screw on the other hinge.

 

I think a simple fix for this would be for Oliver to apply Loctite on the screw when they at doing the final adjustment to the doors during the install. For those awaiting there new delivery, it might be a worthwhile ask of Jason to follow up on.

[KarenLukens]

Thanks GG, I will check all of ours and then get back to the thread. We had another drawer open again today on the 2 hour ride up to Sacramento. It opened up an inch and it's the second time on this drawer below the sponge door in front of the sink...

 

Then look up at the bathroom door... Nothing out of place with the towel behind as a cushion... We can't figure out how the mirror cracked... The door was locked closed, nothing was out of place... Only the usual road bumps... And then we find the drawer open and a cracked mirror door...

 

Time to duct tape the mirror for today :)

 

 

[Hikegsm]

"Then look up at the bathroom door… Nothing out of place with the towel behind as a cushion… We can’t figure out how the mirror cracked… The door was locked closed, nothing was out of place… Only the usual road bumps… And then we find the drawer open and a cracked mirror door…

 

Time to duct tape the mirror for today ????"

 

 

 

I am sorry the drawer issue is continuing.  I have been looking at childproof drawer locks online but hope Oliver can come up with a better solution.  I wonder if something could have hit your mirror the first time the drawers came out and weakened it.  Sort of like a pebble hitting your windshield and not causing a running crack until later down the road....

 

Based on GreyGhost's experience, I guess I will be applying loctite to the upper cabinet screws. It is probably a good practice to apply Loctite to most screw in travel trailers anyway. I can't count all the "mystery" screws I have found on the floor in our campers through the years ????

 

Yvonne

[Try2Relax]

Well that certainly is of piqued interest. If you come up with a few thoughts and guesses let us know. I'm curious if the full length hinge and it's installation might have something to do with it.

 

On another thought, in your travels will you be anywhere near the factory? With this and the potential frame twisting you've mentioned in the other threads, I think I might request a thorough in depth inspection of the entire frame structure, if anywhere close to being close by.

[KarenLukens]

Well that certainly is of piqued interest. If you come up with a few thoughts and guesses let us know. I’m curious if the full length hinge and it’s installation might have something to do with it. On another thought, in your travels will you be anywhere near the factory? With this and the potential frame twisting you’ve mentioned in the other threads, I think I might request a thorough in depth inspection of the entire frame structure, if anywhere close to being close by.

The mirror has us baffled... There was nothing that could have hit it... We will be going back to the factory in the fall because the propane cover doesn't fit tight against it's mating surfaces, so the slide in clamp on the upper back along with the 2 Hummer style hinges are the only things holding it in place. The front piece that secures it to the outside edge that was glued on... fell off before we got to the east coast and we notified Oliver then after we filled the tanks for the first time in Pigeon Forge, TN after touring the Smokies and saw it hanging there.

 

That 30 day California registration time limit really tied our hands... But we have really learned a lot about our Olli and don't sweat the small stuff. I was underneath last week looking at the frame, springs,shocks, and gas lines just doing a visual inspection and it looks stout under there.

 

Are the mirror doors the same on the older models? I can see how this will be an issue if left as designed...

 

This is the inside with the towel rack above with the towel on it. We're probably going to go with a wood insert on the door and then mount a mirror to it for stability like in the Casita.

[GrayGhost]

Is it possible that the bathroom door was shut and not latched, and whatever bump you hit that caused the drawer to open, also caused the  bathroom door to open and slam shut?

 

 

 

 

[KarenLukens]

Nope, it was latched as usual. That was the first thing we checked also... Then we looked in the bathroom and all around trying to find something out of place that could have flown into it, and the towel was covering what looked like the impact point, so we are drawing a blank all the way around being that we only drove an hour and a half to Sacramento from Turlock. There was a plastic cup in the bathroom that is the only possibility, but it's stretching it even then...

 

Then I took the Mercedes in to the service center this morning and was greeted by an old friend that was our Certified Rep in Rocklin a few years ago, so it's nice being close to home even if we haven't actually made it there yet :)

[sailorashore]

Is it possible that the mirror cracked because the closed bathroom door was subjected to unusual racking forces. You mentioned in another thread that from time to time your entrance door would stick because of frame flexing. Coincidence or possibly connected?

[SeaDawg]

Wow, sorry to see that. Something I've not seen ever.

My guess is, small crack or tiny ding , unseen, grew later.

Give Oliver a call,though you probably already called.

Vertical, framed glass is very strong and stable... at least, that's what my dad always told me.

Like I said, I've never seen or heard of this before.

I know you are close to home now, but safe travels....

Sherry

[KarenLukens]

Is it possible that the mirror cracked because the closed bathroom door was subjected to unusual racking forces. You mentioned in another thread that from time to time your entrance door would stick because of frame flexing. Coincidence or possibly connected?

 

No, there was nothing unusual, normal speed bumps and dips, nothing unusual that we don't drive over everyday. Yea, twisting over a speed bump is a posibility but this trailer hasn't seen any off road time yet. Frame flex is normal no matter what we drive, but without being inside the trailer to see what happens over speed bumps or pot holes, all we can do is speculate. I'm going to be taking this trailer over some dirt roads in the future, but here in California, the dirt roads are usually smoother than the poc marked pavement :)

[geO]

No, there was nothing unusual, normal speed bumps and dips, nothing unusual that we don’t drive over everyday. Yea, twisting over a speed bump is a posibility but this trailer hasn’t seen any off road time yet. Frame flex is normal no matter what we drive, but without being inside the trailer to see what happens over speed bumps or pot holes, all we can do is speculate. I’m going to be taking this trailer over some dirt roads in the future, but here in California, the dirt roads are usually smoother than the poc marked pavement

 

If you have a small video camera like a gopro I would film the inside of the trailer while going down the road.

[KarenLukens]

Good news :)

 

We received a bunch of boxes today and one of them was the new Bathroom Door. It took maybe 10 to 15 minutes to replace, it was real easy. This door is a lot stiffer then the old door that broke. From day 1 the old door was wobbly and this one is real solid. So we are thinking that it must have been cracked or weakened before it was ever sent to Oliver in the first place because you couldn't see any difference between them. I did also notice that the screws in the door plate were loose today, so I tightened them as well.

 

Then the other boxes were our used Cobb Grill that we won on eBay over the weekend. It looks like it was used once and then someone took it into the Salvation Army and then they put it on eBay with a starting bid of $50... Karen was the only bidder, everything was still new and in the original boxes :) So today was a great day :)

 

[Raspy]

Could not find the previous thread on this topic, so starting a new one. Some were having issues with the upper doors popping open while underway, and at the time I wasn’t having any issues with mine. Until the last trip. One of the hinges came completely undone. You can see from the picture that there is one small screw holding each hinge to the cabinet door. The screw does not grip the door with very many threads at all. If it comes loose, the door will come out of adjustment and will either not close properly, or will close and pop open. In my case, the screw came completely out and the door was hanging by the single screw on the other hinge. I think a simple fix for this would be for Oliver to apply Loctite on the screw when they at doing the final adjustment to the doors during the install. For those awaiting there new delivery, it might be a worthwhile ask of Jason to follow up on.

 

I've had a couple of my cabinet doors open while traveling too.  But it wasn't the hinge screws, it was the catch.  The catch just barely caught the strike plate and would open from movement.  The fix is to space the strike plate down with a small spacer, made of plastic or something.  I had a left over plastic slat from a venetian blind that I cut mine from.  You may need longer screws with nuts.  About 1/8" will fix it and give the catch more bite.  Once the door is open while driving it will likely over stress the hinges and I think that is when your damage occurred. Check all of the doors and look for ones that are not securely caught.

[GrayGhost]

Thanks. After I applied loctite to the screws, I noticed that it was easy to get the latch out of alignment. There is about 1/4" of adjustment room in the slot in the hinge. I found that if that was adjusted properly it would catch enough of the plastic lip so that it would not pop open.

[Raspy]

Here's my solution.  1/8" plastic shim.