Securing for travel

[Bob n Jo Nealer]

Anybody have anything special to secure there cabinets or the refrigerator for travel? Picking up a champagne 38EL and if I needed to get anything beforehand to bring it home. Thanks

[Kimber45]

Securing cabinets is huge. If you find something good let me know. I had a door come open and transit that i didnt see. Got pinned behind a slideout. Upon opening the slide some cracking wood and damage occurred.

[onetonford]

My fiver has the knobs on the doors that are just right for the child locks to work on them. The refrigerator latches lock OK an are not a problem. The only problem I have is the drawer by the entertainment system keeps coming open I have to watch this one because it is hidden by the slide and I already killed it once been looking for a latch like I have on my tool box when you close the drawer on it takes a certain amount of pull to open.

[keith52]

I have not had any problems with the cabinet doors coming open...yet. Did have to get a few extra Velcro straps for the fridge. The freezer wanted to open up during travel. I put 2 straps around the double doors, then a single strap around the double doors and freezer door.

[actadh]

Might try straps designed for earthquakes such as appliance straps
Refrigerator & Appliance Door Earthquake Safety Strap

or secure-latch cabinet and drawer items
Secure-Latch Cabinet & Drawer Earthquake Latch

[Jim34RL]

I use the child locks on my cabinets and drawers in the RV. I like the type that you open slightly about a 1/4 inch to allow your finger in to push the latch down. These are out of sight and easy to install and adjust them. With our residential refrigerator it came with a star hand screw that keeps both doors closed when securely tighten.

[SidecarFlip]

This thread reminded me of an incident I witnessed some years back, was following a motor home in my car and the driver made a hard right turn and my wife and I could hear stuff falling out of (I presume) cabinets inside. It was loud and I imagine expensive too.

[steelpony5555]

Just had the same thing as Kimber45 had. I use Velcro on cabinets where the doors meet but I have 2 overhead cabinets that are behind the slides and I am unable to get back there to see if they are open since my slides close in on the kitchen island....yep opened it up and only heard a crack but it popped off the cabinet door and it crunched the paneling on the wall....going to look for child locks today lol...

[ckabrahamson]

I had huge issues with my refrigerator opening during travel. My coach shipped from FR with a bungee wrapped around the refrigerator handles, but even with the bungee, it would still open enough for stuff to fall out. Also, I typically travel alone with my young children, and when they would try to open the fridge, they would get the bungee snapping them in the face.

I have designed, and am patenting a device that will secure the refrigerator doors when traveling. It installs in less than five minutes, requires no modifications to the refrigerator, allows the refrigerator to be accessed with one hand, and can also be used to keep the doors open during storage (to prevent mold and mildew).

The device consists of a frame that expands to the width needed to mount to the refrigerator door hinge bolts. The front of the frame is then set to extend just past the front of the doors. The frame fits in the gap between the refrigerator and freezer doors, and secures the doors closed with a block. Drop the block in the frame and the doors stay shut; lift the block out and the doors are free to open.

I've driven over 7500 miles with my original prototype, and I have had no problems with the doors opening unexpectedly.

Hopefully, this post will have a picture showing the device. I've had trouble with posting photos.

I'm presently working on finalizing the design, and putting it on the market. I'm hoping to have it available through a distributor this spring.

If anyone is interested in knowing when this device is available, please send me a message to ckabrahamson@cox.net

[SunDowner16]

I have tried Velcro straps on my refrigerator with limited success traveling to California and back I found doors to refrigerator open an inch or to and ice melted and contents scrambled. Sure would be nice if our inter state system was in better shape.

[kway]

Originally Posted by SunDowner16

I have tried Velcro straps on my refrigerator with limited success traveling to California and back I found doors to refrigerator open an inch or to and ice melted and contents scrambled. Sure would be nice if our inter state system was in better shape.

Same here.