Almost lost the microwave while driving.

[Bobbo]

I just towed my Airstream 2017 Flying Cloud 23FB 200 miles. I didn't hit particularly bad roads. I didn't hit any speed bumps.

When I set up, I found my microwave hanging halfway out of its enclosure.

After removing the faceplate and investigating, I found that Airstream put two, narrow, boards under the microwave legs for it to sit on, then screwed the faceplate to the microwave, and screwed the faceplate to the cabinet to hold it in.

This would have been fine, but they put the support boards too close together. There was less than 1/8 of an inch of the legs on one side of the microwave sitting on the support board. Over the last 4 years, it finally vibrated till the legs on one side fell off of the support board leaving only the faceplate supporting all the weight of the microwave on that side. The faceplate finally broke, releasing the microwave to shift around, and nearly fall out onto the floor.

I put the microwave on the bed to drive home, then put more support boards under it so it can't fall off of them. I have a new faceplate replacing the broken one. Nearly $65 with tax and shipping.

Ask me if I am happy with Airstream right now.

Following photos:
1. Left leg firmly on board, but right at left edge
2. Right leg barely touching right side of board. If I slide it left, the left leg will be off the board.
3. Supports I put outboard of the existing ones.

[Bobbo]

Z-Peller wrote:
Easy fix I have done to 3 different rigs over the years that should have been done on installation. I screwed a 1/4” thick board on top of support boards with holes drilled thru in appropriate position and size for rubber feet on bottom of m/w to fit into. Then screw down a front to back board at each end of support boards and attach a poly strap side to side overtop the m/w and screw down to these boards.

Nice. But first, you need to get the support boards UNDER the MW feet. That was my problem.

[Z-Peller]

Easy fix I have done to 3 different rigs over the years that should have been done on installation. I screwed a 1/4” thick board on top of support boards with holes drilled thru in appropriate position and size for rubber feet on bottom of m/w to fit into. Then screw down a front to back board at each end of support boards and attach a poly strap side to side overtop the m/w and screw down to these boards.

[Vinman02]

I make sure the trailer tires are balanced, it helps keep things in their proper place.

[profdant139]

I put plumber's pipe strap over my microwave to secure it within its cabinet. (The same stuff you'd use to protect a water heater from earthquake damage.)

It works. We tow over very rough forest roads, and the micro has never moved an inch.

[CavemanCharlie]

I wonder if they just don't get their microwaves from the lowers bidder for that year (or few months) and the support boards were probably designed for the last batch of microwaves that came from a different bidder.

[stevemorris]

we almost lost the fridge once, same situation
the propane line was holding the fridge in, nothing else

[Skibane]

jdc1 wrote:
Lost all my plates, bowls and saucers driving 89 from Page to Phoenix AZ. Nothing but potholes. This is why we need to get this infrastructure bill moving.

There ya go - If we had smoother roads, we wouldn't need RVs with decent build quality! :B

[bstar1952]

jdc1 - If you read the "Infrastructure" bill you'll see that very few roads will be repaired. I think "infrastructure" means different things to some folks.

[wanderingaimles]

jdc1 wrote:
Lost all my plates, bowls and saucers driving 89 from Page to Phoenix AZ. Nothing but potholes. This is why we need to get this infrastructure bill moving.

Dont know if it will help, last time all we saw was a chuckling Pres saying that shovelready wasn't quite shovel ready, and this time they are explaining that daycare, abortions and food stamp programs are infrastructure. So dont hold your breath.

[jdc1]

Lost all my plates, bowls and saucers driving 89 from Page to Phoenix AZ. Nothing but potholes. This is why we need to get this infrastructure bill moving.

[Lynnmor]

My KZ must of had the microwave placed in the cabinet while it was facing up. The feet were well off the cabinet bottom when the screws thru the face plate were installed, giving the same result as the OP experienced. My fix was to make longer feet so they reached the floor of the cabinet. I pop riveted the original face plate back together and purchased a new one that is not yet installed. On the plus side, the microwave company sent me not only a new face plate, but the entire microwave.

[bucky]

The barely trained workers at Airstream worked at Forest River last week.
Let's not kid ourselves. It's always about the money.

[Skibane]

As common as microwaves are in RVs nowadays, it's kind of sad that nobody has developed a foolproof attachment system for them.

Even on the $1M motorcoaches, behind that fancy front bezel, it's still used chewing gum and dental floss ...

[Pangaea_Ron]

I'm glad that you were able to solve your problem.

A bit of a different situation, but my wife and I talk about a front-end collision with the MH.
We say: Lift up your feet, and duck, because the microwave is coming forward. Timing is everything.