Damage to kitchen slide

[TravelTiger]

Due to bad roads, we found this once we stopped. Cracked board over the fridge and fridge slightly misaligned. (Corner is about the center of the slide.) No other damage. Fridge runs fine, slide operates correctly.

2016 Big Country, 2118 Norcold fridge.

We’ve never had to deal with fridge issues, ever.

Any advice on how to fix this?

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[cookie]

It seems odd to me that only the rail appears pushed out and broken. It looks like the stile is in place.
Is it possible that something is behind that rail and pushed it out what the slide was opened?
Can you bring the slide in a bit and pork over the top?
Repair will probably mean refrigerator removal then glue, clamp and pin.
But first determine why.

Peace
Dave

 

[TravelTiger]

It seems odd to me that only the rail appears pushed out and broken. It looks like the stile is in place.
Is it possible that something is behind that rail and pushed it out what the slide was opened?
Can you bring the slide in a bit and pork over the top?
Repair will probably mean refrigerator removal then glue, clamp and pin.
But first determine why.

Peace
Dave

No Dave, it was like this before the slide was opened. We were in a construction zone with lanes moved over. We encountered what looked like a a heaved section of road, felt like a speed bump. We hit it about 20mph and couldn’t slow down before the trailer hit it, too. It caused the cabinet over the stove to open and plates to spill out and break.


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[Dahillbilly]

just a guess here, with that kinda bump is it possible the refrig bounced UP & the wood piece just split along the grain!!!!! I'd make sure the frig is fastened down. my 2 cents

 

[carl.swoyer]

I believe that you have pocket screws behind there. To make a repair slide the norcold out enough to access and remove the pocket screws on both ends.
Wood clamps gorilla glue and maybe a bit of stain to blend the crack. A #2 tork bit. If you cant get a drill in there use a socket and ratchet. Go and look at the outside access panel. The top one may provide a view.
You can also put a claim into the construction company.

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[TravelTiger]

I believe that you have pocket screws behind there. To make a repair slide the norcold out enough to access and remove the pocket screws on both ends.
Wood clamps gorilla glue and maybe a bit of stain to blend the crack. A #2 tork bit. If you cant get a drill in there use a socket and ratchet. Go and look at the outside access panel. The top one may provide a view.
You can also put a claim into the construction company.

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Thanks for the info. If we can fix ourselves, it won’t be worth the effort to track them down and file a claim. New cooktop is $200. Wood repair seems east enough if we can get to it.


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[JohnDar]

If the board is just attached with pocket screws and not glued, removing it completely to make the repair would be the way to go. Otherwise, you will not be able to effectively clamp it together to let the glue set in the split. Titebond III is my woodworking glue of choice. Stay away from anything urethane that requires wetting the surface with water to make it work.

 

[david-steph2018]

Good luck with the repairs. What road were you on when it happened? I know I-10 around Van Horn was under some serious rework for the new space center there.

 

[TravelTiger]

Good luck with the repairs. What road were you on when it happened? I know I-10 around Van Horn was under some serious rework for the new space center there.

State Hwy 84 in Farwell, TX. They have construction going on in town.


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[NYSUPstater]

For farts and giggles, do you have IS on your coach or MorRydes CRE's?

 

[TravelTiger]

For farts and giggles, do you have IS on your coach or MorRydes CRE's?

Originally unit came with Dexter suspension. In 2017 we changed to MorRyde SRE 4000, which failed and were replaced by MorRyde in 2019 due to defective rubber. Our second set started to do the same thing. The summer of 2021 we changed to MorRyde CRE3000, which is what Heartland had been putting on our model as standard the last few years. The ride has been worse, in my opinion.

To be honest this rig has never towed well. It bounces quite a bit, no matter how it’s loaded.

I would love IS but out of our price range.


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[travelin2]

Curiosity had the best of me. Had to look. Here’s a picture of the backside from in the fridge compartment in our bighorn. Same 2118 norcold. Kreg screws and staples
IMO it’s a remove the fridge fix. Barely enough room to snap this picture

 

[sengli]

On our landmark, I installed this board on top of the fridge opening...as our unit didnt have anything there on top to stop the fridge from moving. The floor of the slide under that heavy fridge was flexing a lot as it was bouncing down the road. In turn the fridge was rocking back and forth. I used a custom made board under the kitchen slide, to disperse the bouncing forces into the main coach floor only when the slide was "in" in order to stop the rocking.

 

[TravelTiger]

Curiosity had the best of me. Had to look. Here’s a picture of the backside from in the fridge compartment in our bighorn. Same 2118 norcold. Kreg screws and staples
IMO it’s a remove the fridge fix. Barely enough room to snap this picture

Thanks, this is very helpful!!


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[TravelTiger]

On our landmark, I installed this board on top of the fridge opening...as our unit didnt have anything there on top to stop the fridge from moving. The floor of the slide under that heavy fridge was flexing a lot as it was bouncing down the road. In turn the fridge was rocking back and forth. I used a custom made board under the kitchen slide, to disperse the bouncing forces into the main coach floor only when the slide was "in" in order to stop the rocking.

I have heard that’s an issue with residential fridges. In our case it’s the gas absorption type, that’s securely fastened (or should be) to a the opening on all sides.


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[carl.swoyer]

If the board is just attached with pocket screws and not glued, removing it completely to make the repair would be the way to go. Otherwise, you will not be able to effectively clamp it together to let the glue set in the split. Titebond III is my woodworking glue of choice. Stay away from anything urethane that requires wetting the surface with water to make it work.

Exactly what I was suggesting.

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[carl.swoyer]

How did the repair go

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[TravelTiger]

I just realized I never followed up with the fix. We removed the fridge and found some the screws that held it in place were stripped, probably because the opening was about 1/2” too large for the fridge, so some of the screws were at an angle or didn’t get much bite into the wood top and bottom. The bottom ones failed, so the fridge was able to shift when we went over the rough road. The shift caused stress which cracked the wood above.

With the fridge removed we glued the top piece back together and added a backer board, glued and screwed to the side pieces as well. We added a board to the fridge floor to boost it slightly and make sure the screws had something to bite into. Due to the timing we had to complete this in a weekend, as we both work and can’t be without the fridge all week. So we didn’t invest in anything else like extra insulation, just no time this time.

New floor and wood putty in the holes. We only screwed this down with countersunk stainless screws, just in case we ever need to remove it in the future.

“Factory insulation” (top) and view of the factory vent baffle from inside the slide.

Our added support at the top header.

“Factory Insulation”

Repaired top board and wood putty in the holes

“Factory Insulation”

Fridge back in place top

Fridge back in place bottom


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