ATF: Big Country - Clothes Rod/upper shelf bedroom

[Bob Vaughn]

Is the shelf in the bedroom of the 3250TS hollow? Does the facing trim provide the structural integrity to support the clothes rod below it......Our shelf broke on a trip down I-95 in South Carolina. If so should the facing trim be a heavier piece of wood? The rod and brackets stayed intact just the facing broke, right in the middle It does not look like the top and bottom pieces broke...We only had shorts and shirts hanging on it at the time......

 

[caissiel]

We had to repair the same rod on our 1st trip south 2 years ago. I went to Lowes and bought an 8ft regular closet rod and placed it in the closet. Its strong enough to hold all our clothes.
And the shelf had to be reinforced also per the attached pics.
As I was looking at the pics I realized that the end clips or flanges are fasten to the wall aluminum beam of the trailer wall. I was able to locate the post and got it to hold the end of the rod.
Good luck.

The existing rod was a typical RV closet rod doing the job of a full timer purpose. I find many parts in the RV that needs to be upgraded for Full time use as we are using the RV for.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Bob, this has happened to many of us. Most have repaired it themselves, me included. For mine, I located the framework inside the shelf over the rod. Then I relocated the rod hangers so they were actually mounted at the frames cross members. You can either predrill and reattach the rod hangers with wood screws or drill all the way through the shelf and use 1/4" round headed machine screws all the way through for maximum support.

 

[HiyaandPappy]

I was just looking at the forum this evening and noticed the posting about the clothes rod/upper shelf in the bedroom closet of the 3250ts. Just this afternoon I was putting some clothes away and noticed that the facing on the front of the shelf was cracking at the point where the rod brackets are attached. I quickly informed my husband of the problem. He said he would have to fix it. How he does it will be determined tomorrow. I was afraid that we may have stressed it but after reading the other comments I think that it is a weakness in the design. We have been on the road for two weeks and have a couple months to go so we will have to get this taken care of before it gets worse. It seems the longer we use the trailer the more little​ things we are noticing that need attention. We are also having a problem with the day/night shade at the top of the steps. The cord is fraying and causing the shade to work hard and not hang evenly. I'm glad that we have the slat blinds in most of the unit despite the added care of keeping them clean. Having said all of this we still like the trailer and are enjoying our time out in it.

 

[jdfishing]

Like many, my closet rod came crashing down on a trip. I reinforced the side walls with some 1X4 and attached the end caps to it. Also, added some 1X4 to the underside of the shelf where the brackets attach. Then to be sure it wouldn't fall again, I supported the middle of the rod with a length of solid wood clothes rod cut to length between the floor and existing rod. It doesn't even sag now.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I think that it is a weakness in the design. We have been on the road for two weeks and have a couple months to go so we will have to get this taken care of before it gets worse. It seems the longer we use the trailer the more little​ things we are noticing that need attention. We are also having a problem with the day/night shade at the top of the steps. The cord is fraying and causing the shade to work hard and not hang evenly. I'm glad that we have the slat blinds in most of the unit despite the added care of keeping them clean. Having said all of this we still like the trailer and are enjoying our time out in it.

HiyaandPappy, The closet rod isn't really a design issue, it's more of an installer issue. The installers are using #8 screws going into soft pine. If the screw isn't perfectly centered or misses the framework completely, the rod hangers fail. It's sad but it's the cost of rushing during the assembly process. It certainly wouldn't take much extra time to do it right in the first place. There are probably many owners that never have a problem.
The day/night shades are another story. It's all in the adjustment of the tension on the cord. It needs to be tight enough to hold the shade in position but not too tight. If it's too tight, they will fray and break. The tension needs to be equal on both sides. They are pretty easy to replace the cords and I think there is a diagram in the Forum wiki.

 

[JohnDar]

They must have gotten our closet rod right because the wife insists on hanging her four hundred and twenty T-shirts on it. I get like three inches of the rod to hang my stuff. The supports are holding fast, but you can see a sag in the rod between them. OK, maybe I'm off a little on the count, but you get the picture?

If you have a good stud finder, use it to locate the shelf framing and reposition the supports if they're not properly positioned. Granted, it's not something we should have to do, but it beats drinking a quart of Maalox over it.

 

[HiyaandPappy]

Well, my husband has fixed our problem with minimal effort. He is using galvanize pipe and appropriate fixtures (Home Depot $20.00) to support the rod. Guaranteed to never sag again. Ladies, load up your clothes. Husbands just don't understand the need to shop and increase the wardrobe. Lots of floor space for shoes too. We need to stick together and our husbands need to see that things work well in the RVs. Maybe this should be on the ladies section of the forum. We do love our husbands, they are the best!!!

 

[caissiel]

Now that's the way to fix it, better mouse traps do catch the mouse.