Replaced rails
When we travel, we secure the couch drawer with a strap. Since we just strap the recliners back-to-back and around the backs with one strap, I removed the floor "eyes" and we secure the couch drawer with a strap. I secured an eye to the front of the drawer, just underneath and out of sight. The other eye is on the floor behind the couch. The long strap comes over the top of the couch and a short one comes from the eye in the front. It keeps the drawer in place very well while traveling.
Well, on one bouncy trip a while back, we each assumed the other strapped the couch drawer. The drawer came out and endured several RV earthquakes and the drawer slides bent and broke. I finally got the drawer back in, but it was useless.
Yesterday, I went by Home Depot and found some replacement 14" 100# drawer slides. When I pulled the drawer out to begin repairs, it just fell out of the slide tracks. That was a blessing because it was then easy to disassemble all the parts from the couch frame and the sides of the drawer.
When I tried to install the new drawer slides, you guessed it, the holes didn't match up. On the drawer pieces, I used the center of the three holes and drilled new ones on each end. That was simple. I wanted the slide rails to be in approximately the same position as the ones I removed, so I used the hole nearest the front of the couch and had to drill two new holes in the frame to complete the slide installation. Now the acid test. The drawer rails slipped into the frame rails and worked perfectly.
It is much easier with a helper. My grandson helped me move, lift, and and hold when needed. By-the-way, total cost was $12.75 including tax plus diesel to travel 6 miles round trip to Home Depot........and lunch at a Mexican restaurant for my bottomless pit teenaged grandson.
|