Forum Discussion

Memphisdoug's avatar
Memphisdoug
Explorer
Jan 31, 2016

Pendant Lights

I have noticed that a lot of new 5th wheels use pendant lights in areas such as above a kitchen island. These lights are often on long slender rods up to 3 feet long. When you touch the lights they will wiggle around even with the trailer sitting still. I would imagine that they are vibrating all over the place as the trailer goes down the road. The sheet metal base of the lights is usually very thin and flexes like crazy as the light moves. It looks like something that would quickly fatigue, crack and fall off. Has anyone had any experience with these lights and their durability?

14 Replies

  • Well, we have about 12,000 miles on our 5er.The hanging light over our kitchen cabinet has been flawless other than me putting the wrong led bulb in and blowing the fuse.Nothing broken or no readjusting on my part.FWIW.
  • I guess I've not stepped inside a new camper at the dealership or an RV show in about 3 years now. I've never seen these hanging lights before (in a camper of any kind). This is a first for me. From my observation of the photo above, this just looks like a failure to happen. I have a hanging light like this in my bedroom closet at home. It's a solid rod, and if you touch it, it still wiggles. I can't imagine the motion these must go through when on the road. Considering this is a 5er, has anyone ever actually rode in the camper when on the raod to see how much they actually move? If they move, in time, the metal will break. This just don't look practical in a moving trailer! Sorry, I'm a downer here. My brain is going .... "yuck!" on this one.
  • No issue with ours. The rod is actually about 20" long. Sure you can push them around but I never notice them moving.

  • Your observations are accurate. Two of our pendant lights broke near the pivot point at the ceiling so we have replaced the three of them with lights that are closer to the ceiling.