Cabinetry in 2304 DS

TxLightkeeper · 08-08-2015, 01:01 PM

I just got my Rockwood back from warranty repair for my fridge going out. They did a great job of fixing that, but today as I was going thru things, I was looking for my digital thermometer and attempted to open one of the cabinet drawers next to the stove/range top. I could not get either drawer to open. Figured something was caught up as they would open slightly, but not enough to get a hand in or even see in. Finally with some persuasion, I got the top drawer to start to open and found that the bottom had fallen out letting everything wedge between drawers. The bottom of the drawer is maybe 1/4 inch thick. I had kitchen utensils in this drawer, so not like I had it loaded down way over expected carry limits. Called dealer and they will schedule me in for another fix. This is a relatively new unit that I have had out only four times since I purchased in May. Anyone else experience cabinet failures like this?

TxLightkeeper · 08-08-2015, 03:17 PM

Hope this works, picture of the cabinet for reference.

jgahlhoff · 08-08-2015, 03:53 PM

Did the cabinet joints fail of was the bottom piece to small?

jgahlhoff · 08-08-2015, 03:53 PM

I meant drawer joints. Sorry

TxLightkeeper · 08-08-2015, 03:59 PM

My opinion is poor construction. The bottom is maybe 1/8in at best and fits into groove along sides, by maybe 1/8 in also and then tacked at front and back along the bottom.
With highways and roads to get to campsites not being smooth as glass, I guess the stuff I had in drawer bounced around and caused bottom to let loose.
Thinking of having a cabinet friend add a 1/2 inch bottom insert to this to help support. I opened one of my other drawers and barely pressed down and you can see where it would easily break loose.

TxLightkeeper · 08-08-2015, 04:00 PM

I forgot to mention, no signs of any glue used anywhere in assembly. That would have help a lot.

jgahlhoff · 08-08-2015, 04:20 PM

If your friend can't help right away put the drawer together and use some silicon around the entire drawer bottom edges should give you some added strength. Good luck, I know is a pain with these issues on a new unit.

TxLightkeeper · 08-09-2015, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgahlhoff

If your friend can't help right away put the drawer together and use some silicon around the entire drawer bottom edges should give you some added strength. Good luck, I know is a pain with these issues on a new unit.

Thanks jgahlhoff, I finally figured out how to release the slides on the drawers and have taken the drawers out to basically rebuild with Gorilla Glue (for wood) between all joints and the slide in bottom. That should help a lot and should have been done at initial construction. And it gave me time to wash the exterior while I wait for the glued joints to dry properly before I stab them back into place.

jgahlhoff · 08-09-2015, 12:21 PM

Great,always good to have a solution. Hope everything else about your unit is good as well. Happy trails

TxLightkeeper · 08-09-2015, 02:16 PM

Thanks Jerry, it is just me and my two puppies, so this unit is perfect for me. I love everything about it and not even that bummed about the poor quality of the cabinets. Dealer was more than willing to fix the drawer for me, but honestly, as decent as they are, I am sure they would have just tacked it back together with no glue and I would be having the same issue again. Don't mind repairing minor things.

Bobaloo · 08-09-2015, 02:41 PM

Don't forget to wet the joints with water before glueing. Makes them bond much better

Bob

BruceM · 08-09-2015, 04:02 PM

I had a problem with the cabinets on our 2109s but not exactly like your problem.
The unit sits outside in my driveway and over the winter the cabinet doors over the stove came apart at the joints.
I figured the wood swelled from the humidity but this had never happened on our previous trailer.
I tried to clamp the doors back together but that just made it worse. They were really warped!
My dealer, Blue Dog RV, is 100 miles away so I sent them photos of the doors and they sent me 2 new ones.
So far, so good and now I keep an electric heater turned down low in the trailer over the winter.

hollywood91 · 08-09-2015, 10:50 PM

I had the same problem with the drawers under the bed. Used wood glue and renailed. I will probably take the kitchen drawers out this fall and do the same thing before they fall apart. The cabinets are certainly not as good as my previous trailer, a Holiday Rambler Alumascape.

BruceM · 08-10-2015, 12:22 PM

I think they should mold the doors out of foam core plastic.
It would save weight and no warping besides.

jgahlhoff · 08-10-2015, 12:33 PM

agreed

DNBINFV · 08-10-2015, 04:18 PM

I opened all 3 of my kitchen drawers and the entire structure fell forward. Found that there was 1 screw used to hold the entire unit in place The screw was stripped. Instead of having the dealer fix it, we used gorilla glue and 5 screws.

TxLightkeeper · 08-10-2015, 04:46 PM

I have rebuilt the three drawers on the slide out to add 1/2 cabinet grade plywood bottoms, all glued and fastened as well as other joints glued to reinforce. The one by the sink has a silverware tray that rests on the top rails of the drawer, so no weight against the bottom. That project will be reserved for another day.

trudinator · 08-11-2015, 11:09 AM

We've had shelves collapse in our bathroom closet. It's easier to fix them ourselves than to haul the camper back to a dealer, even under warranty. Because chances are, they'll just replace with the same 1/4" junk and we'll make it better, and stronger, than new.

trudinator · 08-11-2015, 11:11 AM

The reason glue isn't used in construction of drawers is because wood moves with changes in humidity. If it's glued into place, the drawer had no where to expand and contract. When that happens, the wood will split.

Skidooman · 08-16-2015, 07:35 PM

Other than the raised panel door on my 2504 the cabinets like the whole construction is horrible. Ive taken most of the divider panels out and replaced them with stronger pieces and screwed them in place that made them able to actually hold up to things bumping into them. And also gained some valuable storage space because they had screwed the dividers in such dome places. I under stand they try to cut down on weight but a few extra screws and some craftsman ship doesn't add much weight. And every panel I have take off it has been filthy behind it, wire insulation that was stripped off during assembly, loose screws, insulation, paper towels. Loose wiring, just really shoddy construction practices in IMHO. It really is sad how little pride they put into the products that come off the assembly line. I have worked in the auto industry for 22 years if cars came off the assembly line like this the backlash would be unbelievable. Compared to camping equipment, cars and trucks are made extremely well in my mind. Even though I have seen some poor excuses of vehicles in my time.

After all that ranting, I am generally very happy with our trailer though. Most of the repairs that have been needed were do to assembly errors. However they have been few. I was told rockwood is an above average brand as far as construction goes. If that is the case I would hate to camp in a lower end line.

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