Refrigerator tips forward during turns

[wlf00]

In our 2017 Winnebago Grand Tour, the residential refrigerator tips forward during turns, both on the highway and on city streets. It tips forward enough that the straps used to keep the doors and freezer drawer closed break loose and the doors open, freezer drawer comes out, and the drawers inside the refrigerator slide forward.

Is there supposed to be something that holds the refrigerator in place at the top to prevent tipping during travel?

The front of the refrigerator door and freezer are covered with wood panels. I had trouble with the left door scraping the molding that is on the left side of the refrigerator. The service department placed a small (1/4" or less) shim below the back of the refrigerator to tip the unit slightly forward to stop the scraping. The refrigerator still leans back a few degrees in its normal level state. We never had an issue with the refrigerator tipping prior to this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Bill

[cruizerEd]

Our 2013 26M Journey with a residential refrigerator has two metal brackets on both top corners that are screwed into the wall behind the refrigerator and extend nearly to the front of the refrigerator. There may be more points that secure the refrigerator but I haven't had the walls off to see.

The refrigerator doesn't move at all.

If you have the stacked washer dryer you should also check the dryer. It shouldn't move at all either. If it moved independent of the washer then it isn't stacked properly If they both move then there is a missing bracket on the side and the washer and the floor under the washer has come loose. Also if they move you may need to rework the dryer vent hose.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by wlf00

In our 2017 Winnebago Grand Tour, the residential refrigerator tips forward during turns, both on the highway and on city streets. It tips forward enough that the straps used to keep the doors and freezer drawer closed break loose and the doors open, freezer drawer comes out, and the drawers inside the refrigerator slide forward.

Is there supposed to be something that holds the refrigerator in place at the top to prevent tipping during travel?

The front of the refrigerator door and freezer are covered with wood panels. I had trouble with the left door scraping the molding that is on the left side of the refrigerator. The service department placed a small (1/4" or less) shim below the back of the refrigerator to tip the unit slightly forward to stop the scraping. The refrigerator still leans back a few degrees in its normal level state. We never had an issue with the refrigerator tipping prior to this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Bill

I'm kind-a assuming since it's a '17, that a residential fridge was installed when the coach was built, correct? If so, then WHY IS IT FALLING? The factory should have secured that fridge before it left the factory. Either you've lost some fastening attachments or, for some reason, the factory screwed up. And, may I ask, how long have you owned this coach? In other words, has this just started happening and you've owned it and used the coach for quite a while? Or, did you just buy the coach and just now found out the fridge falls out when you drive?

Each residential fridge has its own design characteristics so, for us to tell you how to secure yours, may, or may not work. I just how changed from an RV fridge to a residential one and, I created my own securing mechanism due to the fact that, 99.9999999% of residential fridges ARE NOT designed to be mounted in an RV and therefore, have any securing/traveling factors in them. How I did mine, I'd bet my house that it won't work for you so, I won't bother explaining it. You'll have to find out what can be used on your particular fridge to secure it to the side walls, back, front, or where ever possible to keep it in place.
Scott

[wlf00]

Originally Posted by cruizerEd

Our 2013 26M Journey with a residential refrigerator has two metal brackets on both top corners that are screwed into the wall behind the refrigerator and extend nearly to the front of the refrigerator. There may be more points that secure the refrigerator but I haven't had the walls off to see.

The refrigerator doesn't move at all.

If you have the stacked washer dryer you should also check the dryer. It shouldn't move at all either. If it moved independent of the washer then it isn't stacked properly If they both move then there is a missing bracket on the side and the washer and the floor under the washer has come loose. Also if they move you may need to rework the dryer vent hose.

I looked at the top of the refrigerator and do not see any brackets. I cannot see down the sides at all. I see a couple of holes on the back wall but nothing screwed into it.

BTW, the washer and dryer seem to be fastened together.

Thanks

[wlf00]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

I'm kind-a assuming since it's a '17, that a residential fridge was installed when the coach was built, correct? If so, then WHY IS IT FALLING? The factory should have secured that fridge before it left the factory. Either you've lost some fastening attachments or, for some reason, the factory screwed up. And, may I ask, how long have you owned this coach? In other words, has this just started happening and you've owned it and used the coach for quite a while? Or, did you just buy the coach and just now found out the fridge falls out when you drive?

Each residential fridge has its own design characteristics so, for us to tell you how to secure yours, may, or may not work. I just how changed from an RV fridge to a residential one and, I created my own securing mechanism due to the fact that, 99.9999999% of residential fridges ARE NOT designed to be mounted in an RV and therefore, have any securing/traveling factors in them. How I did mine, I'd bet my house that it won't work for you so, I won't bother explaining it. You'll have to find out what can be used on your particular fridge to secure it to the side walls, back, front, or where ever possible to keep it in place.
Scott

We purchased the coach in January and only took one trip with it. I assume that a residential refrigerator came with the coach. The sales brochure for that year shows the same refrigerator that I have. But I do not know if it was swapped out by the previous owner.

We drove the coach from Tampa to Fort Meyers in January and then took a trip from Fort Meyers to Macon, GA and then back to Tampa in August. An adjustment was done to stop the left door from rubbing on the trim. And then we just drove it back to Fort Meyers. This last trip to Fort Meyers is the only time we had the refrigerator tilt out while driving.

Thanks

[DancinCampers]

My guess is the top brackets were not reinstalled properly or the screws came out. As stated above, more than likely you have an angle bracket along each top edge. It is attached under the top door hinges, attached to the edges with double sided tape. The top end of the bracket is bent at 90 deg, and screwed into the wall, mine uses 3 screws.
My fridge has a piece of wood attached above it. I removed it in order to remove the screws to remove the unit, along with removing the 2 brackets in the front bolted to the floor of the slide.

[cruizerEd]

Originally Posted by wlf00

I looked at the top of the refrigerator and do not see any brackets. ...

Call winnebago support. Have your VIN and Serial Number.

Tell them what is happening and what you have observed.

They probably can tell you how it should be secured and might advise you what it will take to secure it properly.

I can send a picture of mine if it will help.

Ed

[AFChap]

The service department placed a small (1/4" or less) shim below the back of the refrigerator to tip the unit slightly forward

Here's your clue. There is no way your service guys could have tipped the refrigerator in ANY direction without removing more than one tie down. Obviously, they failed to re-secure it as part of their "fix". Get the rig back to these clowns ASAP and tell them to fix the problem they created!

[2cyber71]

Those are bolted in. Maybe a bolt got loose.
I would have Winnie look at it. They should have a schematic on how it was bolted in they can send you.
I had them send the schematic for my 2007 bedroom steps so I can remove them to access the engine.

Also, here is a good way to keep the doors closed for $9
https://youtu.be/OQjEJaFypRQ

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by wlf00

In our 2017 Winnebago Grand Tour, the residential refrigerator tips forward during turns, both on the highway and on city streets. It tips forward enough that the straps used to keep the doors and freezer drawer closed break loose and the doors open, freezer drawer comes out, and the drawers inside the refrigerator slide forward.

Is there supposed to be something that holds the refrigerator in place at the top to prevent tipping during travel?

The front of the refrigerator door and freezer are covered with wood panels. I had trouble with the left door scraping the molding that is on the left side of the refrigerator. The service department placed a small (1/4" or less) shim below the back of the refrigerator to tip the unit slightly forward to stop the scraping. The refrigerator still leans back a few degrees in its normal level state. We never had an issue with the refrigerator tipping prior to this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Bill

I swapped out the Nevercold refrigerator with a Samsung residential french door refrigerator on our 2014 Adventurer. I anchored the front feet to the slide out floor. In the back I anchored it to the slide out floor using 2-SS carriage bolts thru the slide floor thru the rear bottom of the fridge. Be sure the bolts are not going to interfere with the slide out rollers. After a year of jarring around the rear wheels were digging into the plywood floor. I installed 2 small steel plates under the wheels to spread out the weight. Works great.

[SCVJeff]

Since likely none of us know the proper place to drill anywhere on a fridge, personally I would attach a 1” piece of aluminum angle across the top of the fridge with a 1” wide piece of VHB all the way across and secure it off of that. There is no possible way that angle, properly tied off, will allot the top of the fridge to move in any direction.

[Americanrascal]

Our first run from the house to the dealers for repair when this rig was new we rounded a corner on an exit ramp about a mile from the shop where we were headed for more punch list repairs under warranty after a shake down run. As we rounded the corner the entire French door fridge fell out across the rig and slammed into the kitchen counter and microwave on the opposite side. Kitchen counter damaged, microwave door destroyed, trim around fridge broken, fridge destroyed were the results. All within a mile of the dealer.

There is a strap that runs from the top hinge plates on the French door fridge to the rear wall where it was to be secured to frame members in the wall. They missed and never hit the frame members, simply drilling through some thin wall luan that held nothing. There are also some toe brackets near the bottom to keep it only from sliding at the foot. They held but bent and did nothing to stop the fridge from tipping over completely.

Its not a hard set up to work on. I actually had to understand the set up and move the fridge out for repairs on one occasion.

I hope the OP gets their fridge secured as it is terribly dangerous if it falls over. We were lucky no one was in the kitchen area when it occurred. It was a very terrifying experience when it fell out

[NeilV]

Originally Posted by wlf00

In our 2017 Winnebago Grand Tour, the residential refrigerator tips forward during turns, both on the highway and on city streets. It tips forward enough that the straps used to keep the doors and freezer drawer closed break loose and the doors open, freezer drawer comes out, and the drawers inside the refrigerator slide forward.

Is there supposed to be something that holds the refrigerator in place at the top to prevent tipping during travel?

The front of the refrigerator door and freezer are covered with wood panels. I had trouble with the left door scraping the molding that is on the left side of the refrigerator. The service department placed a small (1/4" or less) shim below the back of the refrigerator to tip the unit slightly forward to stop the scraping. The refrigerator still leans back a few degrees in its normal level state. We never had an issue with the refrigerator tipping prior to this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Bill

Sounds like the tech who shimmed the refrigerator did not put the brackets back correctly and therefore caused the problem. They should at no charge correct their mistake and properly secure the refrigerator before it causes any more damage or injures someone.