Cabinet doors - up or down

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by john warren

or the hole is smaller to keep things inside from bumping open the doors and ending up on the floor.(my favorite theory)

good theory! The bigger the bottom lip the more it also helps to keep everything from coming crashing out of the cabinet when you first open the door after traveling. I know a number of people who have added shelves to their closets only to go back and add a lip to the front of each shelve in order to keep doors from opening and stuff falling out.

[Gilda]

I've been thinking, there are lots of latches made intended for child-proofing cabinets and/or for earthquake protection. Perhaps a safety latch like this Amazon.com: Safety 1st 4 Pack ProGrade Pivot Position Cabinet and Drawer Latches: Baby would be useful in our trailers. The long prong part could be attached to the wood door so it latches on the fiberglass lip. (don't use the receiver part that comes in the package) We installed this kind of latch when our child was small and just kept them in the cabinets so they stay closed in case of earthquake (a high possibility in California).

[Steve L.]

Originally Posted by Carol H

.... I know a number of people who have added shelves to their closets only to go back and add a lip to the front of each shelve in order to keep doors from opening and stuff falling out.

I brought a bit of that wire shelving material to add a shelf under the sink and on top of the wheel well. I installed it upside down to get the stiffening lip upwards. Works well to keep the odds and ends I keep there on the shelf.

[ThomasE]

I found this interesting looking latch, how exactly does it work? I'm assuming it's for surface mount cabinet doors. What part mounts to what?

[Robert Johans]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

I found this interesting looking latch, how exactly does it work? I'm assuming it's for surface mount cabinet doors. What part mounts to what?

What you have there are very nice quality rooster latches... These mount to the backside (inside) of the cabinet (or drawer) and to the cabinet frame. The trick is in that the door or drawer front needs to have a finger hole through which to access and release the catch. I use them all the time.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by Gilda

I'm so glad you asked this question because I want to improve my latches as well. I think many of us cope by using bungee cords in transit to keep cabinets and fridge closed, however some cabinets cannot be anchored in this manner.

I installed Phlip-It RV Cabinet Latches to all my cabinets, as we tend to travel mostly on very rough 4x4 trails/roads. These little gems are hidden when unlatched, and are very easy to use.
Happy Trails
Dave & Paula

[rabbit]

Hi Tom: I have the spring loaded keepers as shown at Camping World and mentioned by several. There are two lengths of these things, at least at Eastern Marine. I remember that there's about a dollar difference in price. Get the longer of the two to afford the longest throw such that the lower door edge is as high as you can get it. If there's no nailer at side of opening you'll have to add one (or two if you do both sides). As you know, the Pullman style Burro roof means that, for most people of average height, the hinge point is at about eye level making the door open up and protrude at about forehead level. Add the sharp corners and this is a recipe for contusions. If you mount the keepers such that the door opens slightly above horizontal, there's less chance of damage to your dome.

Alternatively, you could use the magnet or catch to ceiling method mentioned above. You could also radius the corners of the doors to get rid of the corner but the best idea is to open upward and get the opened position as high as possible. With an applied hardwood face frame, sliding doors are also a possibility over the galley cabinet. The look" wouldn't match other locker or cabinet openings. The best latches imo are the old spear strike or C-clip with double roller, which are maybe a dollar apiece at Big Box hdware aisles. Solves the problem of bungees but you can whack your noggin on these also. Reducing the overlap of door over opening would also be advantageous but not necessary on the upper hinge side as, again, they need to be as high as possible and rehinging lower would create another cosmetic hole filling job at about eight locations on the inner shell.

jack

[Rick G]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Also, instead of cabinet door knobs, I would like to use thumb latches to hold the door close during travel, kind of like a cam lock but no key required. Right now there's a kind of spring roller thing that isn't very good at keeping the door closed on rough roads. My goal is to never have any door pop open during travel.

In our Trillium, we have positive latch handles and strikers that are spring loaded to keep the doors closed while travelling. They work perfectly and none of our doors have ever opened while travelling. They come with several different sized strike plates so that you can attach them to different thicknesses of doors. Even though my trailer is a 1980, I was able to get an exact match (except the brass colour was not as worn) from my local rv parts place for about 10 bucks. I found this attached picture on the web; they have a few slightly different styles of the same thing.

Hope that helps,

Rick G.

[ThomasE]

I like those positive latch handles, they look like a sure-fire way to keep the doors closed. Originally my cabinet doors had the double roller, spring C-clip, which would invariably pop open on rough roads. I've put on some barrel bolts for now until I get around to upgrading the doors.