Drawer Runners

[Dave Stanley]

Hi guys...

Been on the road for the past 5 + months, with no major problems.
Still love our 05 Alpine. Getting set to become full-timers for a few years.

Have a question for you all. Has anyone found replacement runners and slides for the inside drawers ? Ours are white and are held inplace on the rear wall with flimsy plastic holders that like to break or give way at the joint of the plastic and the metal runner.

Thanks for any help

Dave

[Algoma]

They are standard on a lot of motorhomes. You can get replacements at Camping World.

[Jeff and Cheryl]

I've seen where several folks have gotten residential drawer-type tracks at Home Depot to replace the plastic and metal runners.

[hax]

Hi Dave:
I replaced mine with self-closing ones from a wood workers supply store. My originals were only about 16 inches and I replaced them with 26inch ones. I made new drawers and made them 5 and half inches deep. DW loves the extra depth and longer drawers. The wood worker supply place had the drawer side slats so it was a piece of cake. I think the slides and the wood was about $150.

[gfs1943]

Dave, I had the same issue with drawer slides, in my 5er and now in the MH. I should replace them all at once, but I'm lazy. As one breaks, I cut a 1" X 4" cedar board (actual size 3/4" > 3 1/2") to the length of the space the drawer runner goes in. I use a Kreg jig to drill two pocket screw holes on each end of the board, and screw it into the cabinet frame front (nearest the opening) and rear. Then I use the same drawer runner, screwed onto the front of the frame, and use a flathead screw through the runner near the inner (rear) end, into the board. It takes a little doing to get the board in just the right place so it will be against the side of the runner in its original position, but it's a one-time job -- no more broken plastic supports.

[Sealevel Ram]

Originally Posted by Jeff and Cheryl

I've seen where several folks have gotten residential drawer-type tracks at Home Depot to replace the plastic and metal runners.

This was the single most annoying aspect of owning my recent Four Winds Infinity.
As they failed, I did as suggested above.

[takepride]

Dave:

I upgraded mine to self closing, ball-bearing glides. They work GREAT!

Amazon.com: KV 8400 Series Full Extension Precision Ball Bearing Stay Close: Tools & Home Improvement

Just measure the various lengths and order. Very simple.

They also hold themselves shut during travel.

I tried a pair of the nearest competing brand and they did not pull shut well, and did not stay closed as well.

Home Depot carries the same brand, but not the exact style. Ours need to be a bit stronger when closed.

[SDPilot]

I think I am becoming a little dense in my old age. Would it be possible for you to take a picture of the repair that you did? I have the same problem, and I would like to do a more permanent fix, like yours, but I can't visualize exactly what you did.

[takepride]

SDPilot:

Instead of repairing the glides, I just took the old ones off and installed the new ones. They just screw onto the sides of the drawer boxes and the hardware at the back of the cabinet is replaced with a higher quality bracket.

Now my drawers, slide easier, close the last 1.5" by themselves and stay closed while in transit.

[Jim A]

Like Takepride I replaced almost all of my slides with the K&V 8400 series slides, but I used the stay closed version instead of the self close. Either version will serve the purpose, but next time I would probably use the self close version instead. The rear bracket is higher quality STEEL, not plastic like the original roller slides, and K&V slides will support more weight (100#), and have full extension. (Not that the drawer itself will support more!)

As he said, it is an easy change, and worth the effort. I have used many of them at home as well, and have never had any sort of problem with them. They are pretty much bullet proof.

[takepride]

Dave:

K&V makes an RV version that is both self-close and stay-closed. My order was a bit messed up and I can tell you on two drawers I installed the self-close only and they can open under the right condition, namely the Walmart-wobble. Fortunately they are the two under the bed and cannot go too far.

[Renipladlo]

FWIW - the drawer slides will last a lot longer, if peridically you take the drawers out, and tighten all the screws holding them in. Yes, they wear out, and when they do, Lowes seems to have a higher quality item than HD, either way, they can be gotten there, or you can go to any quality building supply place which sells wood/hardware for cabinets, and they can sell you more expensive ones which are self closing/bumpered. Regardless, I would use some type of catch to keep the drawers in place going down the road. Some bumps you don't see will cause a non-secured drawer to open, ID, MT, and now CA roads come to mind.

[Jim A]

I haven't had a drawer with the K&V stay-closed version come open yet while on the road. And a couple of those are pretty heavily loaded. But I never found them at Lowe's. They had only the standard 8400 version with a light hold which is insufficient to hold them closed. I had to order them online.

If near Santa Ana, CA, visit Austin's Hardwoods. Lots of cabinet hardware and other stuff to help you spend your money. They have a good variety of them in stock and can order the ones you need if they don't. And good prices.

[Dave Stanley]

Thank you one & all for your responses. I've located the KV 8400 RV Stay-Close full extension drawer slides which come in 10 inch to 28 inch lenghts from 18 to 23 bucks per set. Takepride you did it again. Thanks Dave