does it ever end?

Pulled out the drawer under refrigerator today, and it wouldn't go back in all the way,
took a closer look, and saw that the drawer bottom had come away from the side
pieces. Not really happy with our choice of 5er at this point, I am not sure if all manufacturers have the same crappy Q C but we are not too happy with Heartlands
Q C.
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
Jim and Dale, sorry to hear that you're having a problem with your Silverado. We had a similar problem when too many items were loaded into one of the drawers. A little bit of glue, some brads and we are good as new, possibly better! Good luck.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
I had the same problem 4 years ago. I pulled the drawer out and turned it over. Put the bottom back in the notch. I ran a bead of white wood glue along the underside of the drawer bottom where it meets the sides. I let it dry for a day and it is solid as a rock. Never another problem with it. Better than new. The whole job takes about five minutes. Trace
 
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gwalter

Retired Colorado Chapter Leaders
We had a similar problem with the bottom of our chair storage areas. I used Gorilla glue and some small brads and no problems since. My problem was due to drawer overloading. I also did this on my current 5ver before we even put items in the chairs.
 
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pegmikef

Well-known member
Jim,
I am on my third Heartland product and have had to deal with drawer and chair bottoms in all of them. You will find that this forum is full of stories about these failures. I am sure that part of it is due to somewhat poor workmanship, but a lot of it is probably from stuff bouncing up and down in the drawers/chair seats the whole time the rig is moving down the road (bound to weaken something). I am just thankful that the fix is simple, cheap, and quick and that (in my case) these repairs are about the only ones I have had to deal with considering the complexity of these rigs.
 

RoadJunkie

Well-known member
Yup, bouncing, combined with an overloaded drawer, caused the bottom of my drawer to fail. It took more time to unload and redistribute the stuff than it did to glue the drawer. The expectation, for some, may be a tad high if you're thinking the durability of these "trailers" is like a stick home. Still, it's disappointing when you open a drawer and the bottom falls out.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Fortunately after six seasons, none of my drawers have failed. But if they do, I've got the ability to fix them without getting an ulcer over it.
 

CB3Tige

Member
Another drawer bottom fix

OP: I trust this one minor issue is not the reason you suspect Heartland QC is bad. Besides, this is not a QC problem, it is a design/cost/weight decision at Heartland and most other RV manufacturers. It is common in the industry.

When looking over a number of manf's trailers, I noticed that the drawer bottoms on all of them were thin, cheap particle board. By pressing even gently I could flex them. It apparently does not take much flexing for at least one side to pop out of the shallow stabilizing groove. It is this flexing more than the attachment to the side grooves that causes problems. The bottoms are too thin and weak. Cost and weight.

The fixes mentioned above address the lack of attachment of the flexible bottom into the grooves, but they do not address the core issue, the flexing.

At at a little more expense, time and trouble, just glueing another drawer bottom of 3/16" plywood fitted properly to all sides either inside or even better underneath the drawer would eliminate the flex and any resultant problems. That would only be necessary on the deeper drawers that carry a load. This fix would be more permanent I think.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
The same drawer on mine collapsed on our first trip. Obviously it wasn't the same drawer they showed in the brochure holding the cement block. Pretty disheartening to say the least, especially on my first trip out. I ended up replacing everything but the front of the drawer. There isn't a year that goes by that some of the cheap drawer slides don't fall apart if not the whole drawer. Pretty soon I will have rebuilt all of them...Don
 

Westwind

Well-known member
We haven't had any problems with the drawers - just the finish on the cabinets and drawers - they are showing wear and I will have to begin refinishing them with a clear finish that stands up to wet hands. I don't know who fabricated them or what they finished them in but the finish leaves a lot to be desired. They first season we were in it the finish was coming off the sink and bath cabinet doors.
 

whp4262

Well-known member
I don't think any manufacturer sells finished RVs. They just sell RV kits that are tacked together so you know what it's suppose to look like when you are finished rebuilding it. Gives you something to do when your not camping.


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