Drawers won't stay closed driving

[ram22]

I have a North Trail 22FBS trailer and the four kitchen drawers won't stay closed driving. If they get overloaded and/or I drive too fast around curves, one or more will fly off the rails on to the floor. Rather than slow down or leave them empty, I'm thinking of sticking a broom handle through a hole bored into the counter top... or maybe someone's got a more better idea. I found the same spring loaded roller type latch at Camping World and replaced the ones already there. They come in different spring tensions so I tried the heavy duty one but still not 100%. One problem with those is that the drawer may look closed but they can be not quite completely closed and the latch is not fully engaged and, voila, you have silver ware all over the floor! Ideas? Ready, go.


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['Lil Guy']

I don't exactly remember the latches on our 21FBS but can you loosen the screws and adjust one or the other to get a better engagement. Before I would put a hole in the counter top I would go to an rv parts store and get different latches.

 

[Apropdoc]

Child proof latches or something like them work pretty good. My Grandad did that to his trailers, which in turn kept Grandma happy because she didn't have to pick everything up (talking 1960's and 70's era SOBs)

 

[ram22]

Child proof latches or something like them work pretty good. My Grandad did that to his trailers, which in turn kept Grandma happy because she didn't have to pick everything up (talking 1960's and 70's era SOBs)

I saw these at Home Depot last night. Couldn't quite figure out how they work. Might need my 4 year old grandson to show me. The old fashion kind let the drawer open an inch or two and I don't want a drawer that has to be 'unlocked' every single time it's opened.

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[Gary521]

Heartland manufacturing does a bad job on those latches ( probably all latches ) because they are in such a hurry. We have had some success by tying all the drawers together with a bungee. There are probably better ways but this seems to work for us. When we travel, we put small bungees on just about every cabinet door. Someone just posted that they damaged a slide fascia from an open door. We do it for just this reason and for the obvious. On some drawers and doors, I have added a second latch where we cannot bungee them.

 

[ksucats]

I seem to remember a post that Jim Beletti did - as I recall he used some small latches - bronze colored similar to http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-2-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Barrel-Bolt-15142/202033904.

I think this might solve your issue if the same as ours. We just have to remember to slide them shut before leaving .

 

[MCTalley]

I saw these at Home Depot last night. Couldn't quite figure out how they work. Might need my 4 year old grandson to show me. The old fashion kind let the drawer open an inch or two and I don't want a drawer that has to be 'unlocked' every single time it's opened.

Due to their size, they probably wouldn't be a good method of keeping drawers closed. However, we use these on our larger cabinet doors to keep them shut in transit. The green button with the lock symbol can be pushed in to keep them unlocked when stationary. Before we hit the road, we walk around and flip the buttons back to the normally locked position and close the doors/drawers. We have six or seven of those installed in our rig.

Since we have a residential fridge, we stick the unlocker on the freezer door so we know where it is (it's essentially a strong magnet in the plastic casing).

 

[ram22]

Oh, ok, very interesting and great feedback. Thanks. Yeah they would be awkward to mount inside the drawers. I was wondering how the green and red push buttons worked so that's good to know.


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[MCTalley]

Those would work on drawers if you don't load the drawers to the top. The big piece would mount on the backside of the drawer front. The catch would mount on the underside of the drawer opening in the cabinet (it would stick down about 1/4" into the drawer opening). I'm not at the trailer right now, or I could send a picture of one I have mounted in an admittedly much larger drawer.

 

[clark261]

Using child safety locks is one of the greatest ways to keep drawers locked when traveling. If you have children, you might already be accustomed to having these installed on your doors. They are ideal for keeping drawers closed because they are lightweight and simple to install.