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Rear Kitchen Questions

Tony_B
Explorer
Explorer
We brought our new Denali 293RKS to our new home in Green Caye RV Park in Dickinson, Tx. yesterday. Today, while loading her up, it occurred to me that although a rear kitchen was to our liking, it might not have been the best place for a kitchen because of bouncing while being towed. After all, the kitchen is at the other end of the fulcrum.
Has anyone here with a rear kitchen, experienced any problems while on the road, in the way of pots, pans, dishes, etc. flying out of control?
Tony B
25 REPLIES 25

tnscoutr
Explorer
Explorer
We love our RK. Have never had a problem with a door or drawer opening.
06 Ford F250 Lariat Crewcab Powerstroke
2015 Keystone Hideout 30RKDS

rhagfo
Explorer III
Explorer III
Johndanielscpa wrote:
Ours is a rear kitchen model. It is equipped with shocks. We don't have any issues.


Best advice ever!!
We only had one bad incident with our rear kitchen, basically we hit a speed bump at about 40 to 45 mph! We hit a road buckle on 101 just south of Seaside after some local flooding.
No extra Rough Road sign than the one that is always there, but the buckle was new and big, I swore the tires on the 5er left the road. The TV had just been fitted with a full set of Bilstein 5100's, not lifted. Right after that shocks went on the 5er, Lippert kit, the shocks lasted about three years. Just put on a fresh set of Monroe's.
With the shocks the 5er just flows down the road.

Oh, the speed bump took out all the refer door shelf's, which were loaded with beer and soda.
To those that say trailers don't need shocks, Well for us it makes a big difference.
Russ & Paula the Beagle Belle.
2016 Ram Laramie 3500 Aisin DRW 4X4 Long bed.
2005 Copper Canyon 293 FWSLS, 32' GVWR 12,360#

"Visit and Enjoy Oregon State Parks"

FSJPat
Explorer
Explorer
Just towed my rear kitchen Bighorn cross country and the only problem was we lost a couple of glasses that were thin (wine glasses), but nothing else. Just make sure you are stowed for sea and you'll be fine.
2013 Bighorn 3370RK
2008 Ford F450
Full timin' and loving life.

JIMNLIN
Explorer
Explorer
We ran our 1st 27'RK with a super slide for 65k-70k miles and nothing broke.

The 32' RK with two slides in sig has around 125k-130k miles and nothing broke inside even after a very rough road trip in UT/CO on US-160/US-491 shook a AC vent/duct loose and cracked the black tank valve fitting and lost one hub cover.
Both units had shocks.

Now our 1st 5th wheel trailer was a '84 7600 gvwr 26' rear bath with no shocks and 4k axles/15" load D bias ply tires (before radial trailer tires). Things were a mess after a short trip in both rear cabinets even though the doors stayed closed.

The wife says if I sell her rear kitchen rv she is through camping.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers

'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 two slides

The_Texan
Explorer
Explorer
camperforlife wrote:
We had a 26' KZ with standard suspension rear kitchen and no problems. I now have a 35' Cougar rear kitchen with the MORryde suspension and no problems. Those who seem to think it is a big issue never owned one. Enjoy your new trailer.


You got that right 🙂

Bob & Betsy - USN Aviation Ret'd '78 & LEO Ret'd '03 & "Oath Keeper Forever"


2005 HR Endeavor 40PRQ, '11 Silverado LT, Ex Cab 6.2L NHT 4x4, w/2017 Rzr 4-900 riding in 16+' enclosed trailer in back.
Where the wheels are stopped today

camperforlife
Explorer
Explorer
We had a 26' KZ with standard suspension rear kitchen and no problems. I now have a 35' Cougar rear kitchen with the MORryde suspension and no problems. Those who seem to think it is a big issue never owned one. Enjoy your new trailer.

jffnkrn
Explorer
Explorer
We have had three TT with rear kitchens, really never had an issue other than a couple times on the road wit ha roller coaster asphalt, got whipped around a bit, but overall, no big deal to have it. Like the others said, pack, repack and pack again. You will figure it out and if you like the floor plan, go, enjoy and have fun! ! ! Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

NMDriver
Explorer
Explorer
If you have a slide that covers cabinet doors; check the doors before opening the slide. We have a long cabinet that is behind the slide in the rear kitchen and about half the time would be open after a bumpy ride. A short bungee fixes that problem but I still check the slide sides each time before opening the slide.
5er/2500Duramax/18ftBoat

Tony_B
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for all the replies. Too dark to see if I have shocks. If not, I'll just deal with it. This thread was not written in a panic, just wondered if it was a problem and what people did about it. i been on some pretty rough water in my boats and never had a problem. so I guess i wont here either.
Tony B

bikendan
Explorer
Explorer
We just took a 7 week trip in our new rear kitchen TT and had no issues or problema with anything "flying out of control".
Dan- Firefighter, Retired:C, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur:W, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever(RIP:(), 2014 Ford F150 3.5 EcoboostMax Tow pkg, 2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255 w/4pt Equalizer and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes

old_idaho_guy
Explorer
Explorer
We have a 30' rear kitchen for 3 years and have had no problems. We like the floor plan.

rickeoni
Explorer
Explorer
We have many trips on our real kitchen model. The only thing we take any caution with is the microwave turntable. I put shelf liners between the plates and we use acrylic cups, never any issues, even the stuff in the fridge stays where we put it. Our unit also has shocks and we use a BD3 air hitch.
2008 F450
2007 Adventurer 85WS
2012 Haulmark "The Garage"
2016 Outdoors RV Glacier Peak 26 RKS

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Our TT is a rear kitchen and it has been excellent and would get another in a heartbeat. (Only downside is not having a big window in the rear.) I would expect a FW doesn't bounce around like the tail of a TT.

The roller catches that they typically use on cabinet doors and drawers tend to be pretty weak and sometimes are not properly installed or even damaged during the install. I replaced all of ours in the kitchen with Southco "grabber" catches as in the photo. They come in several pull strength ratings. There are other manufacturers but Southco seems better quality. We used to have to use a baby latch on the upper cabinets and a bungy cord on the pantry door. One time I arrived at a CG to find that everything in the pantry had spilled onto the floor including a full container of coffee. No longer an issue with the new latches. I also used a Southco latch on the pantry door with an integral microswitch to turn on an LED strip inside that I put inside.

Also, we used to get the stove grate bounce out of it's locating holes (didn't land on the floor luckily), a few things jump out of the sink and the vertical rod on the mini blinds kept jumping out of it's hook. Shocks cured that.

One of the best mods I have done is to add shocks which I did to improve handling/sway as well as to reduce bounce. Not putting shocks on a FW or TT is just cheaping out by the manufacturers and all trailers should have them if you ask me.

Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Explorer
Two facts:

#1. The further you get away from the center of pivot the more things get thrown about.

#2. Food is heavy. (cans, liquid, Etc.) The more weight you put in the back of your trailer the more tongue weight you take off of the front.

Neither of the above are good things.
~ Too many freaks & not enough circuses ~


"Life is not tried ~ it is merely survived ~ if you're standing
outside the fire"

"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."- Abraham Lincoln