Removing Nightstand Drawers

[kennersonf]

Does anyone know how to remove the nightstand drawers which are located near the floor. All of the other pull-out drawers in the motorhome can be removed by gently pulling the drawer straight out. The nightstand drawers do not pull out the same way. I've used a flashlight and mirrors to look at the glides and they appear to be the same as the rest of the drawers. We travel with two cats, and if the dresser drawers are not closed tightly, they will pull the drawers open enough to climb into and then climb into the cabinetry space behind them. Without being able to remove the drawer to retrieve the cats, I have to wait for them to come out on their own.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred K Without being able to remove the drawer to retrieve the cats, I have to wait for them to come out on their own.

Fred, Now that's just about the funniest thing I read today! Thanks for that. I can't figure it! If the glides are the same they should come out the same way. I don't expect that NRV used anything special than the other drawers. I know some slide mechanisms use a thin metal blade to disengage a slide lock but I don't expect that's the case with the cabinet drawers.

[Richard S.]

Fred,
My night stand drawers come out the same as all the other drawers in the coach except they pull out harder.

[GENECOP]

The tolerances for drawer slides are very tight, they should just require a little more muscle, but not to much. Why not just add a piece of velcro so the kitty's can not open the drawer, Gene.

[Vegasdan]

Just keep the kitty litter in the drawer and throw in some food now and then.

[M&EM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer Fred, Now that's just about the funniest thing I read today! Thanks for that. I can't figure it! If the glides are the same they should come out the same way. I don't expect that NRV used anything special than the other drawers. I know some slide mechanisms use a thin metal blade to disengage a slide lock but I don't expect that's the case with the cabinet drawers.

Driver,

NRV used an additional nylon ramp type catche on the side of some of our drawers. The tight clearance at the sides of the drawer openings in the cabinet face make these difficult to overcome. I have used a very thin long spatula type blade to help the edge of the ramp piece slide past the cabinet facia.

Marty

[kennersonf]

Marty wins the prize. After his post I took a closer look. The are stops preventing the drawers from being pulled out. The stops are actually the twin nylon rollers that are also used in conjunction with the little c-clamp type latches that are located under the drawers to "lock" them shut. The c-clamp is attacted to the bottom of the drawer and the rollers are secured to the bottom portion of the facia. I used a long narrow screw driver instead of a spatula to help the rollers to slide past the cabinet facia. I took off this stop and put the drawer back in. It worked great except it pull out too far and there is a great likelihood that with any down force, while fully extended, the glide might break. Therefore, I put the stop back on and pushed the drawer back in. I'm going to look for child safe type mechanisms to come up with a better system. And Gene, I might resort to Velcro. Heck, I have it on the screens so the cats can't open them. I have had to do all kinds of stuff to cat proof the motorhome.

[two2go]

Cats in nightstand drawers. A year ago, our new 3-yr old cat of one month ownership disappeared as we were trying to leave a campground to drive home. We searched in and under everything and around the camp although we didn't see any way she escaped. After a couple of hours of searching, we just had to leave, and we were feeling pretty crummy all day, especially since we had just put our old cat down a month earlier and this new one had already "adopted" us. We stopped for the night, and about 2 am I woke up thinking I heard a faint mew. Heard it again and we began ripping the coach apart. Finally, we felt behind the nightstand drawer and there she was, and in no particular hurry or concern to come out.
You know how little space is behind that drawer, and the guide bar splits that space. The little bugger had crawled in there when I had the drawer open for just a minute while I changed watches. Nevertheless, she was no worse for wear and we were greatly relived.
We fully appreciate your desire to keep the drawers closed. Now if "Meggie" has not been seen for a while, we call a "Meggie check" and start searching.
BTW, our drawers are pretty stiff and yeah, a strong pull gets them out.

[Jeepster47]

Got another cat hiding space. While pulled over at a rest stop three weeks ago, our newly adopted 8 mounth old kitten found his way between the bottom of the foot of the bed and the platform. That is the area where the bedroom slide motor and mechinism is. Yes, we looked high and low for 20 minutes until I heared the bell on his collar. Had to remove a drawer under the bed and probe him out. The moral of the story is to keep the doors of the bedroom closed while traveling and making sure cat is in sight while slide is in motion.

Ed

[kennersonf]

Ed, I knew about that cat hiding place from a long time ago. The problem is that when the slide is in, the cats would crawl under the open space between the foot of the bed and the floor and as you said, get into the area where the slide mechanism is located. For a long time I would stuff pillows under the opening when the slide was in, but they sometimes got grease on them. The cure was to attach 4" self sticking vinyl wall molding around the bottom of the bed to cover the open space only. You could say it was a skirt around the bottom of the bed frame. Only two inches of the wall molding attaches to the bed frame and the other two inches hangs down past the bed frame and around the island the bed sits on. I had to remove the sticky stuff on the lower half of the molding because when the slide is open, the vinyl wall molding skirt slides past and across the island that the bed sits on. I also used self taping panhead black screws to assist in holding the wall molding on. I had to make and attach a 1 1/2" X 2" board along one side of the bottom bed frame because the bed is not centered on the raised island. I attached the wall molding to the piece of wood on that side so it would clear the island when the slide is closed. I don't know if my explanation is clear and I would post a picture, but I never figured out how to post photos on this forum.

Ed, I sent you a private message.