Hi there, My wife and I sold our 1985 Coleman Chesapeake pop up and purchased a 2006 Jayco Jayflight 25' travel trailer with a 10' slide that goes 18". We are ecstatic about the upgrade. My question is this: She would like to install 2 towel hangers on the bathroom door of the camper. The door is hollow and an inch in thickness. I would like input before I 'jump to it'. I've looked on Youtube and haven't seen anything that explains this other than using rivets (which aren't necessary in this case) and the Heavy Duty 3M hooks. Just to clarify - she doesn't want the hooks! :p I thought about using the screws that come with the plastic anchors, but I figured I'd wait for professional feedback. Thanks!! Tom in Gloucester, VA

I hate making any permanent modification (like drilling holes) if I can help it. I got 4 clear plastic towel hanger-hook-things from walmart that just slip over the top edge of the door.

You could always use an over the door towel hanger. Modify the top to fit the thickness and even screw it into the top of the door if you want.

At the hardware store there are the plastic anchors but they have wings. You drill a hole, push in the anchor and then use a little red plastic pushpin that comes with the anchors to push out the wings and lock them in place. These work great on the hollow doors.Only caution, overtime...you may bend the door or separate the skin from the core frame if the towels are too close to the top and too heavy.

tjw0099 wrote:She would like to install 2 towel hangers on the bathroom door of the camper. The door is hollow and an inch in thickness............I thought about using the screws that come with the plastic anchors, but I figured I'd wait for professional feedback. Tom in Gloucester, VATom, I'm no professional, but I can tell you that when I drilled into the edge of the bathroom door of our trailer hoping for a solid place to hang a towel bar, I discovered the wood around the edges is not very thick (about 1/2"). I suspected an anchor wouldn't hold very well, so I drilled all the way through and used long screws and big washers on the back side. I must admit it looks tacky, but it is solid. I think the over the top towel racks others have suggested are the best way to go.

Hanging items on an RV Door | Good Sam Community

lbrjet
Explorer
Oct 02, 2014
Ours came with a metal 18'' towel bar on the door and we added a 2nd half way down. No drilling, just screwed into the door. We hang our wet towels while traveling and no problems after 16.5K miles.
LarryJM
Explorer II
Oct 02, 2014
Our previous trailer had a niffty towel rack on the door and DW liked it so much I made one like it for this trailer and mounted it to the door permanently using the afore mentioned "moly bolts". I made it out of some oak flooring I had laying around, but you can buy red oak planks at Lowes also. It's an easy DIY project that anyone can do fairly easily. We use it mainly to store clean towels for ready use and to hang dry towels that are currently being used. We also have a couple of the over the door hooks, but like the permanent rack better since it keeps the towels close to the door and they don't fall of when traveling.

PICTURES:

Larry
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Oct 02, 2014
The over the door towel hangers as suggested would be your best bet, although I don't see the adversion to the 3M hooks which come off without damaging the surface, nor do I see the weight of a towel pulling off the door skin. Hopefully your resolition won't leave a sticky residue. You might also try finding hooks with suction cups - Amazon is where I'd start. We use one on the front door to hang a wreath at Christmas. Hapy camping!
kend40
Explorer
Oct 02, 2014
smokedummy wrote:
I hate making any permanent modification (like drilling holes) if I can help it. I got 4 clear plastic towel hanger-hook-things from walmart that just slip over the top edge of the door.

X2
ReferDog
Explorer
Oct 02, 2014
Check out those 3M sticky back things that don't take off the paint/stain/paper
lots of combo of those.
doxiluvr
Explorer II
Oct 02, 2014
I found an over-the-door 2 towel hanger at Walmart and that is what we use. For wet washcloths I bought a couple of those suction hook things and put right on the tub opposite the shower head. Works well for us.
TNGW1500SE
Explorer
Oct 01, 2014
I use these to mount stuff to the walls. You can screw the bolt out later and not loose the nut down in the wall.
Dryfly01
Explorer
Oct 01, 2014
If you really want to drill holes in the door, then 5/32" x 3/4" Molly Bolts are what you want, but I agree with the others and would go for the over-the-door route. Also, no room on the wall anywhere? I'm sure you would have already done that if there was, but thought I'd mention it..
tjw0099
Explorer
Oct 01, 2014
Thanks again for the advice.

I will be sure to tell the wife not to let the towels hang while we are traveling.

My concern with the molly bolts or bolting in at all, is the thinness of the door skin. The weight of the towels could cause it to pull the door skin, whereas the velcro would just come apart.
ADK_Camper
Explorer
Oct 01, 2014
For a permanent installation, I recommend "molly" bolts. You should be able to find them at any hardware store. They come in different sizes based on the thickness of the material they will be fastened to. You want to get "molly" bolts designed for thin material. I used them to mount a paper towel holder under the kitchen cabinet. As you might expect there is a lot of tugging on the towels, but the bolts have held just fine. A final caution: Molly bolts are permanent. Once installed they cannot be removed. You can remove and reinstall the towelbar as many times as you want, but the bolts will remain attached to the door.