How to Keep Your Drawers and Cabinets Closed While Driving
By Erika Hammerly - April 17, 2024
RVs vibrate a lot, no matter how careful and cautious you are while driving. And those vibrations can lead to items shifting in your cabinets and drawers. The more those items shift, the greater the risk is that your drawers and cabinets will open when you’re driving. The last thing you want to deal with is arriving at your destination with a major mess to pick up. Here are a few things you can do after loading your RV up and taking it out of your
storage facility.
Make Sure the Drawers and Cabinets Latch
Before you load your drawers and cabinets up with all of the necessities, make sure the latches are in good working order. Close each drawer and cabinet in your rv and make sure they latch. You should be able to gently tug the handles without your drawers or cabinet doors opening up. If the latches are damaged, you should be able to open the drawer or cabinet with minimal to no pressure. Be sure to get those damaged latches fixed before you
hit the road.
Store Super-Heavy Items Outside the Drawers
Those latches are durable and strong, but they’re not invincible. If heavy items like crockpots, pots and pans, and canned goods shift and slam into the door as you’re driving, they may cause the latches to unlatch and send items spilling out into your RV. Rather than storing those heavy items in your cabinets during transit, find another place to keep them while you’re driving. Large pots and pans can often stay safe beneath the dinette and crockpots and canned goods can make the trip in exterior storage bays.
Keep Contents From Shifting or Moving Around
Since shifting contents can cause drawers and cabinets to open as you’re driving, try to secure the items inside before you hit the road. Use dishtowels to fill in any empty space in drawers so contents will stay put. Add dish holders to your cabinets to keep dishes from moving. Use grippy cabinet liners to keep mugs and other smaller items from moving around. These simple methods can help keep your items safe in transit and reduce the risk of your drawers and cabinets flying open.
Use Cupboard Bars as Needed
Cupboard bars are small tension rods that fit against the sides of your cabinet and form a barrier between your items and your cabinet doors. When properly installed, items shifting while you’re driving will hit the bar rather than the cabinet door, reducing the risk of it flying open unexpectedly. You can even use these tension bars in your fridge to keep items on the shelves while you’re on the road.
Let a Pro Inspect Your Latches
If you’re worried about your rig’s cabinets and drawers not having strong enough latches or you’ve noticed that the latches you do have are broken or damaged, get them fixed before your next road trip. At goHomePort, our RV service and repair team can help you get your rig road-ready in no time. Schedule an appointment at your nearest location today.
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