New 3295 questions

[Dee]

We have had our rig for a few weeks now, and I have learned much
from this forum, doors falling off, bad screws, power cord loose.
I keep waiting to see if anyone has had problems with the spare tire?
I am not finding fault, and I am pretty happy with our unit however that said, why in the world would anyone put the spare back at the end of the lowest part of the trailer esp on a micky mouse little crank arangement like that? On our previous rig it was at the rear
but the brackets were tucked up nice and tight to the bottom of the rig. On this new 3295 the spare actually hangs lower than the rear axle and on the end of the trailer if the tow vehicle goes up a driveway that puts that spare very close to the ground. I will be changing mine. That is absurd.
We are taking the trailer tommorow to a dealer for a kitchen slide adjustment, and to see if I can get the cabinet doors and drawer catches adjusted so they do not open going down the road?

Again I am happy, just wonder how these things are designed?
Dee

[Dustytuu]

Since we had our spare tire stolen. Our new spare is going in the basement storage, under the bedroom. Unless we can come up with a really secure way to lock it in and secure it tighty..
We kept our spare tire in the basement storage in our previous 5th wheels.

[jrgwdenner]

Dee, we're glad that you're getting the bugs worked out of your new rig and enjoying the 3295. As for the cabinets opening during travel, this is a problem that almost everyone has. The rear kitchen model may be more prone to having cabinet doors open during travel because of the movement of the trailer in the rear. We did change out a couple of closing mechanisms but found that the best solution is the double-sided velcro that we bought at Camping World. We wrap it around the two cabinet door handles when we're closing up. Once parked, I put it on the piece of velcro that I added inside the cabinet for storing it. It makes everything nice and secure. If your drawers come open you can run a stick or something through all of them to keep them closed. Hope you have many miles of safe travel in your new rig.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by Dustytuu

Since we had our spare tire stolen. Our new spare is going in the basement storage, under the bedroom. Unless we can come up with a really secure way to lock it in and secure it tighty..
We kept our spare tire in the basement storage in our previous 5th wheels.

I strapped my spare up with a nylon strap through the rim and over the bracket. Then I used a bicycle cable and locked the entire wheel to the brackets also.

I did this because the wheel fell off back in October and I didn't know it; couldn't find it so I bought another wheel and tire and made sure that I won't lose it this time.

Orv

[Cat320]

We carry the spare in the bed of the truck. We don't store the rig at home, but bring it here to load. Can't get in/out of the driveway with the spare on.

[Dee]

Hey thanks for all the replies, what a great resource this is.
Just got home from a 300 mile round trip to Stiles RV in Bakersfield
They specified we had to be there by 8:30 in the am to get the rv back that day, anything brought in after that time will not be ready until the next day, according to the lady that made our appt.
The big thing was the kitchen slide was dragging and leaving black marks on the carpet, they raised it some but said they could not raise it any more or it would not fit properly? They ran it in and out a couple times and it does look better, we will see if it is high enough! I have documtation now that they can not do any more with it? They also changed a bunch of latches that kept coming open when driving. I know I could have done that, but I was very concerned about that slide and made the trip for that!
Long day we left at 5:00 this morning to be there by 8:00 and just got home an hour or so ago.
Thank everyone for your ideas on the spare I think I am going to move it to the front of the rig and use a rack like was on my Alpha.That will give me a project and keep me busy for a while.
Thanks again.
Dee

[garyka]

has anyone tried electrical ties in the cabinet doors

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

garyka,

If you mean electric ties to hold the doors shut, sure they would work, but you would have to cut them off each time, right??? Or at least the kind that Al used in his prior life as an electrican. Seems ya could go through a lot of those depending on how often you broke camp and ran down the road. But, sure would use one, if that was all I had available and the doors were popping open.

Adjustment on the doors should be looked at, those opposing parts must be lined up pretty good and straight for best functionality.

Velcro is reusable, that is why many of us that feel the need to hold certain doors shut use it. In our 3295 we velcro the two cabinets across the back of the unit, the one over the desk and the one in the kitchen. The only other doors we velcro are the ones under the telie, where we have yorkie central (aka storage area for crates and towels and other dog supplies). It gets knocked open by the crates, and we just have not bothered to fuss with the latch.

The trash can drawer was fine for a very long time, then it started letting go if there was any trash in it while we were running, and sometimes there is, so, extra latches were added. It does not come open now!

[Cat320]

Mrs. Country Guy..."If you mean electric ties to hold the doors shut, sure they would work, but you would have to cut them off each time, right???"

Not any more. Last month I got a huge cylinder of reuseable ties at Harbor Freight. When they are tight, there is a small piece of plastic that, when pushed, releases the tension and allows you to slide it apart. Haven't seen them any where except at HF.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Cat320

COOL BEANS, as our Ozz would say! Harbor Freight?? hmmmm, none around here that I know of. so, how many for how much?? various sizes or just one size, what size??

I love inventions!

[Cat320]

Carol...don't recall the price, I think they were a bit higher than the regular ties, but are worth it. They come in the same cylindrical container the regular ones come in, and with just as much variety in sizes.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Thanks Bert,

Al when you read this, take note, might be something we could use in our tool box! Sounds like they could be very useful, and seems to me there was some discussion around here bout being low on supplies!

[HamRad]

We use little bungee cords on the doors that tend to open. Some folks have put latches on the doors. Others have used the plastic "wire" ties. Unless you have a positive lock of some type on the questionable doors at some point they are going to come open.

Once you get used to doing this type of thing it is no big deal.

Good luck.

HamRad

[jimc]

I only have one cabinet in the 3295 I worry about coming open - that is the one in the corner over the HW heater - I keep cans in there, and the other rear wall cabinets only have paper plates and other light stuff. The light-weight stuff won't shift and pop a door open.
I went to Home Depot or Lowes and got one of those orange plastic electrical cable ratchet clamps. I just slip that through the 2 door handles when we are traveling, and of course it's reusable.

[sreigle]

Dee, although that spare is lower than the axle it's not all the way to the rear of the rig. I think you'd scrape the rear of the rig before you'd catch the spare. Ours has held in place for many miles, including over 50k miles on the prior Montana. On our new one, the mount seems to be plenty sturdy, too.

[ronnilu]

Dee, my eyes perked up when I read about your kitchen slider dragging problem. Our '06 3295 is even now at P. Evert's in Fresno (the selling dealer) for the 3rd time to have the kitchen slider dragging problem fixed. The 1st time in January they said the factory had failed to put in a nylon glide bar so they, the dealer, installed one, but they still couldn't adjust it much better. It was still dragging. The second time, in August, the dealer tried adjusting again but couldn't improve it any. Now, December, the dealer has ordered what they call a "thicker" glide bar from the factory, that they say will take care of the problem and allow the slider to function properly. Keep your eye on the situation and if you still seem to have clearance concerns, ask your dealer about installing the thicker glide bar. If you want any more particulars you can contact me with a pm e-mail. Mike

[sreigle]

Dee, on the cupboard latches - it helps a lot if you adjust the latches so the male side meets the female side exactly in the center. The two pieces on the female side are springloaded so if the male hits it offcenter then you do not get the full strength of both springs.

However, if you have anything heavy that can bang against the door from the inside the door probably will open. We use velcro straps around the handles on those doors although the ball bungees would work well, too. Also, certain doors are in a position that if they opened while on the road they would be caught by the slide and that would do some serious damage. Plus contents could fall behind the slide and be damaged or damage the slide. Those doors automatically get velcro'd. Better safe than sorry.

On our 3295RK desk drawers, the handles were too far apart to be easily strapped closed. We found a dowel rod through those handles, touching the floor, kept them from opening.