Highway Travel

[Pass42]

We just switched from a 37' DP to a Montana High Country 5er.... When rolling down the road, any special hints for securing/stowing interior items?? Do the kitchen cabinets stay closed??? Do the dishes bounce around??
It probably is no different than the MH, however, cheaper to ask!!!!

[Impulse24]

We use spring loaded curtain rods that will extend to 18 inches $ 2-89 at Walmart.

We also put them across the bottom screen on the door to stop Fido from pushing her nose through the netting. (just remember not to use them as a handle on entry or exit)

[hart-attack]

one_strange_texan wrote:

Pass42 wrote:
Hey Guys - Thanks for the responses... We figured on the velcro on the cabinet doors for extra safety. The other ideas were excellent... wrote them down, gave to my bride..
Had not thought about the triple slide shower door being an issue... it has a latch to lock it in the open position....
Again, thanks.......around 10/10 we are heading from upstate NY to Myrtle Beach.

I probably need to expand on my earlier shower door suggestion a little more. You are correct that the triple pane sliding door has a latch for securing it in the open position. However, this was not enough. We either ran over a curb or hit a very rough road and one of the panes contacted another and shattered. The glass is not very thick for weight reasons and therefore not very sturdy. The dealer that repaired it observed that they had done similar repairs in the past.

the latch for securing the door doesn't work for us and has actually come apart during our travels. also, the handle keeps falling off which actually is supposed to hold all 3 panes during transit. i have bolted 2 latches on the metal frame and put a bungee cord to hold the doors open during travels; seems to work pretty well. once of these days i'll get a new handle or fix the current one!

the velcro straps seem to be a good idea to keep the cabinet doors closed; i tend to use the bungee cords as this is what i had available. our doors in the back bedroom seem to pop open during transit so we bungee them together.

[one_strange_tex]

Pass42 wrote:
Hey Guys - Thanks for the responses... We figured on the velcro on the cabinet doors for extra safety. The other ideas were excellent... wrote them down, gave to my bride..
Had not thought about the triple slide shower door being an issue... it has a latch to lock it in the open position....
Again, thanks.......around 10/10 we are heading from upstate NY to Myrtle Beach.

I probably need to expand on my earlier shower door suggestion a little more. You are correct that the triple pane sliding door has a latch for securing it in the open position. However, this was not enough. We either ran over a curb or hit a very rough road and one of the panes contacted another and shattered. The glass is not very thick for weight reasons and therefore not very sturdy. The dealer that repaired it observed that they had done similar repairs in the past.

[md_procouple]

One thing D/W reminded me of... We don't use our stove (D/W) prefers to use an induction cook top), and we have secured that as well as a couple of other things with Museum Putty. It's great stuff and can be re-used. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

[Blazing_Zippers]

Pass 42, we have a rear kitchen fifth wheel and really don't have much movement in the rear at all. We have a 110 coffee pot in the rear counter that has never moved. We have had the dining chairs fall over, so now we just lay them down before we hit the road.
This includes our trip to Alaska this summer!!
I think each rig might handle differently, so it's a learning experience.

[TxGearhead]

Pass42 wrote:
Hey Guys - Thanks for the responses... We figured on the velcro on the cabinet doors for extra safety. The other ideas were excellent... wrote them down, gave to my bride..
Had not thought about the triple slide shower door being an issue... it has a latch to lock it in the open position....
Again, thanks.......around 10/10 we are heading from upstate NY to Myrtle Beach.

That shower door is fragile and expensive. Cost me $300+ one time, and next time the frame failed and warranty paid for it.
Don't trust that 29cent latch.

[laknox]

Pass42 wrote:
We just switched from a 37' DP to a Montana High Country 5er.... When rolling down the road, any special hints for securing/stowing interior items?? Do the kitchen cabinets stay closed??? Do the dishes bounce around??
It probably is no different than the MH, however, cheaper to ask!!!!

Personally, I've never lost anything going down any =road=. Now, I've broken some dishes getting =on= to a road. First time was dropping the inner wheels off a curb when I turned too short to get onto a road. Was on our very first trip out in '04. Second time was last year, when I was pulling out of our boondock site and the trailer rocked going through the shallow bar ditch on the side of the dirt road as we were leaving. Last time was =this= year in the same d@mn spot, doing the same d@mn thing! The MW door popped open and the glass platter fell out. I was being extra-careful, too, so I can only think that the door wasn't fully closed, because it normally takes a bit of a tug to get it open.

Lyle

[Pass42]

Hey Guys - Thanks for the responses... We figured on the velcro on the cabinet doors for extra safety. The other ideas were excellent... wrote them down, gave to my bride..
Had not thought about the triple slide shower door being an issue... it has a latch to lock it in the open position....
Again, thanks.......around 10/10 we are heading from upstate NY to Myrtle Beach.

[Charley67]

This has been interesting reading. You have to do what you need to do, but we pretty much make sure we haven't left any dishes on the countertop, and that's pretty much eat. We've been a lot of places, encountered some roads that were far from smooth, but really haven't had any problems. I do turn the two recliners back to back and strap them together so they can't rock around. I agree that a good hitch, good shocks, and good truck suspension is the ticket.

[TxGearhead]

Spring loaded curtain rods work well in the bottom tracks of the shower doors. I add a piece of 1"x1" corner trim in the one track I don't put a curtain rod.
I tie the dinette chair legs together with a bungee cord. Put a throw pillow in the microwave to save the glass rotating plate.
We have rear sofa and put laptops in the recliners with a blanket or pillow over them.
No other issues.
I added wet bolts and a custom heavy duty rear bumper with a receiver hitch for bicycles. Re-located the spare from underneath to the rear bumper.

[md_procouple]

Been there, done that... had a bottle of Olive Oil come out of a cabinet be knowing to us. Opened the slide and broke the bottle, good thing it wasn't a full bottle, cute thing, it brought a shine to the kitchen floor !! lol, Good luck and Happy Camping !!

[Carl_n_Susan]

Having towed over 50K miles on our magnificent highways I have learned to use Velcro strips to lash cabinet handles together to keep them from opening. I have had doors open all over the RV spilling their contents behind or under slides. Then of course, the open door always is the one hidden by a slide. You don't know it is open until you hear the crunch as it gets caught in the slide.

[one_strange_tex]

Foam rubber between shower doors if you have the multi-pane glass sliding type. Beware cabinet doors that can bump open and catch on the slides as you are bringing them out after you arrive.

This is the voice of bad experience!

[md_procouple]

We had the same problem with things coming out of the cabinets (rear kitchen) when we had the TT. but now have the 5'er no real problems, just every now and then something small forgotten to put away thing pops out. Just remember to check around the slide area, before extending them. Lost a bottle of Olive oil that way !! But hey it made the floor shine better than it ever did lol! Good Luck and Happy Camping !!