Help !!! Stuff Flies Everywhere

[jkxtreme]

We have a 2023 Montana 3901RK... The RK means 'Rear Kitchen' and we love the rear kitchen for the storage and kitchen cabinetry.
HOWEVER... when we are traveling on our wonderful roads, the items in the fridg and the rear most cabinets, get thrown everywhere. And I mean everywhere.
I guess we should expect the stuff at the rear of the trailer will receive the most 'whip' when the trailer bounces over the pot holes and bumps on our roadways.
I'd like to hear from others who have found ways to stop the mess. How do you tie down everything in the fridge and rear cabs to keep from having a mess at the end of the trip?

[AZ Traveler]

Historically, rear kitchen models have a lot of breakage.

From the damage prospective, best to put the kitchen over the axles.

[RKassl]

Rear kitchens are noted for this, you are behind the wheels and everything bounces, you will learn how to manage your cargo.

[Daryles]

Put everything in bins. Whether it's in cabinets, pantry or fridge.

[BB_TX]

Not a rear kitchen, but things in my rear cabinets still bounced around. I just used Velcro straps to hold the doors closed so the doors couldn’t open up and dump the contents.

[RMcNeal]

Sam's sells a clear bin set for refrigerator that will help with keeping things together. You can also get tension rods in a size to fit your cabinets to keep the contents from falling out if you need them.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rv+refrig...s_ts-doa-p_2_6

[mlh]

I had an RK. The only way I found to keep from unloading the cabinets was to get rid of it and let someone else worry about it.
Lynwood

[NCFischers]

Use toilet paper and paper towels to fill the voids in the cabinets and keep everything in place. It’s light and they’re items that you need anyway.

[DutchmenSport]

We have a front living room model and the bed room is in the far rear. Our bedroom closet is across the far rear of the camper. When we first got the camper on it's maiden voyage, the entire closet shelf collapsed and all the clothes were on the floor. After several attempts to fix the closet shelf, I finally did by putting 1x12 boards supported from the floor to the shelf and then a middle support for the middle of the cloths bar. Never had an issues since, except the clothes still jump off the bar. I've got a fix for that too.

Now, on the shelf itself, we put everything in boxes and when I rebuilt the shelf, I made an alteration that included making a lip for the front so boxes don't slide off any more either.

About the only thing you can do with a rear kitchen is to make sure everything is up in some kind of a container and then secure the container.

About your refrigerator. Our refrigerator is in the middle of the camper, almost over the axles. Yet, stuff still falls out when we open then doors.

Solution: Shower tension rods, the shorter ones. Size them (they are adjustable) and make them nice and tight, then push them tight against all the food items in the refrigerator. Things would NOT be able to fall around this way. It works. We've been doing it this way for several years now, never an issue any more:

[twindman]

I also use the tension rods in the fridge. My fridge is usually so crowded that I don't have to move them around for travel - they are always at the front edge and I only put them barely above the shelf. Just enough to stop the stuff from sliding out.

[jkxtreme]

After some research of suspension components, I believe I need to somehow dampen the porpoising that happens when we go over bumps and dips in the road. Our truck tends to get bounced round when going across those bumps and dips, and I now realize that when the truck moves up or down, the trailer acts like a big lever, which throws the rear end of the trailer up and down. If I can control or dampen the truck suspension, that should reduce the movement of the rear end of the trailer. I am also considering a Gen Y pin box conversion.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how to dampen the truck movement... ie: shocks, air bags, etc. Also does anyone have first hand knowledge of how well the Gen Y pin box controls movement.

[Cbrez]

We added childproof latches to doors that wouldn’t stay shut during travel. They are adhesive backed and have worked flawlessly.

https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Locks-Child-Safety-Childproof-Drawer-Cupboards-Closet-Protecting-Kids/dp/B0BWJK6WCP/ref=asc_df_B0BWJK6WCP/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693413257872&hvpos=&hvnetw= g&hvrand=1711146273221082944&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt =&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010941&hvt argid=pla-2189475453551&psc=1&mcid=b1fdc283d9cb3b7480858d3f3 2b5d6f1&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_vOp6pKBhgM VRO-UCR0LMwSqEAQYByABEgL10_D_BwE

We also added heavy duty latches to two draws that hold pots and pans. They would constantly spring open from the extra weight getting thrown around I guess.

[brycesteiner]

All good suggestions. A little bit different take:
1. slow down.
2. don't take any food with you. That's one thing i have learned. We used to pack all of this food. It took up a lot of space, added a lot of unnecessary weight. I realized later that people eat where we are going and they also have stores there. If we can find that Walmart lets us park, then we can probably also find the grocery section. Though, I prefer Aldi.

[GILAELKHUNTER]

This is the very reason we got rid of our last fifth wheel and bought the one we have now. Kitchen is in the middle. Will never have a rear kitchen again.

[AZ Traveler]

Originally Posted by jkxtreme

After some research of suspension components, I believe I need to somehow dampen the porpoising that happens when we go over bumps and dips in the road. Our truck tends to get bounced round when going across those bumps and dips, and I now realize that when the truck moves up or down, the trailer acts like a big lever, which throws the rear end of the trailer up and down. If I can control or dampen the truck suspension, that should reduce the movement of the rear end of the trailer. I am also considering a Gen Y pin box conversion.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how to dampen the truck movement... ie: shocks, air bags, etc. Also does anyone have first hand knowledge of how well the Gen Y pin box controls movement.

MorRyde integrated suspension would help some but the back of the trailer will still get a lot of movement. Most bike racks are not certified to use on 5th wheels for this reason.

[DutchmenSport]

Your camper is 42.33 feet long. It does not matter what you do to the truck, the end of your camper is going to bounce and throw things everywhere. Again, your best solution is to "button down the hatches." In other words, secure items in containers that won't spill, put extra catches on the cabinet drawers and doors, and use tension rods inside the refrigerator. You have a loooong trailer and you are absolutely correct in your assessment of the fulcrum analogy. There is a lot of swing on the end... not just side ways, but up and down also. Really, there is nothing you can do to help that. So packing tighter is your answer.

Well, I suppose, as others have indicated, there is another alternative, but you sound like you really don't want to part with your current camper either.

Good luck! Just remember, it does take trail and error to learn the "in's" and "out's" of our campers. Be grateful nothing has broken off the walls yet!

[bigred715]

We have a 3000RK which is 35 1/2' long, so we are quite a bit shoter than some of yours. We use the tension bars in refrig and velco for the cabinet doors. In 14 years their hasn't been a problem. Once in a while the utensil drawer will slide out, but spilling of vcontents. I can see with the longer trailers you will more bounce.

[lajitasgal]

We had a rear kitchen that presented the same problems in a previous 5th wheel (not a Montana). For the fridge, we used a combo of tension bars plus bins, and we got a device to lock the doors shut. (Did that after a platic half gallon containing pinto beans flew out and spilled all over the floor.) In that other 5th wheel the fridge eventually started 'walking' out of the wall and we had to screw it back in with braces. I loved the space in the rear kitchen, but I wouldn't buy another RK model because of these issues.

[ayerforce]

3901RK trial and error:
Pulled into a site, opened the rig door, pulled the steps down and heard an alarm going off. Hmmmm.
Ran the slides out. Alarm seemed to be coming from the rear of the trailer.
Turns out it was the refrigerator door alarm.
Not our first trip with this rig, but this time the interior contents of the refrigerator bounced around so much that they became wedged between the stationary glass shelves and the door shelves. This not only forced the doors slightly past that "knob" thing that you screw into the doors for travel, but also detonated the plastic door shelves (all but two of them).
We quickly ordered 6 replacement door shelves before they become obsolete
We will be reinforcing the refrigerator retaining attachment (posted on another thread, except theirs was in a slide). Additionally, the floor framing members under the kitchen have a remarkable modulus of elasticity, so we'll probably do something to the floor. And then do the shower rod trick. Or not travel with the refrigerator loaded. Ahh, the learning continues!

[jkxtreme]

So here's what we've come up with to hold everything in place in thee fridge...
I'll attach a few pics so you understand...
We installed closet rod holders on the sides of the refrigerator walls just in front of the shelves. (purchased from Lowes) We then cut 1" pvc pipe to use as removable rods that are placed into the rod holders. The rod holders on the left are like a tube into which we slide the pvc pipe. The holders on the right side are cradles. The pvc pipe lays in that cradle and a capture screw prevents the pipe from coming out of the cradle. The bottom shelf has two of these closet rods and those rods have pipe insulation over them. The upper two shelves have one rod each. To further ensure things don't move around we put pillows between the rod and shelf. It's tight but we believe the pillows will help keep things from sliding around. Once the rod holders are mounted, it takes less than 5 minutes to drop in the closet rods and place the pillows behind them so we haven't added a lot of time to the pre-trip prep. Check out the pics to understand my description.