2015 38RSSA Fridge Fix

[dapperdan]

On our last camping trip we noticed our fridge was "leaning" outward a bit. On closer inspection I realized the supports that were holding up the fridge "shelf" were broken after opening up the space under our refrigerator. I reinforced the rails with small blocks (attached to the stiles), that's all that was supporting the base that our refrigerator! Then I cut down 2 pieces of 2" X 6"s and glued them into place under the base onto what appeared as the base of the slide out.

I decided to put a piece of hickory across the face of that "cabinet" for added support and re-install the decorative pieces originally attached to the face. NO more fridge "wiggling", squeezing or any movement whats so ever.

We had DRV "fix" this problem a year or so ago and it came back to haunt us. Now I feel as though it's done right.

If you look closely you can see the sagging.

My "cheater" blocks to get the shelf back to the right position.

The cut down 2 X 6s for extra support. BTW that bottom piece of plywood is a full one inch thick.


All done, no more worries.....

Dan

[Cummins12V98]

Dan that looks GREAT!

It's hard to tell from your pic is the Hickory a very thin pc? I can't see it protruding past your face frame.

Personally would have done just as you did but not added the Hickory, did not hurt tho!!!

YEP ya want it done right do it your self!!!

[dapperdan]

It's a piece of 3/4" stock. Originally I was going to just use the piece of hickory to "shore up" the frame work, after I bought and stained the hickory I decided to add the 2" X 6"s. Because it was already stained I figured I'd just use it anyway.

What doesn't make a lot of sense to me is that the "deck" the refrigerator is sitting on is only 3/8" (my guess) plywood because it flexed when I pushed on the front of the fridge. That's when I decided to use 2 X 6s and wedge them under the thin plywood, that bottom plywood is 1" and really stout but it was a little short and by that I mean it didn't extend forward out to the edge. There's a 4" gap front to back, I figured using the 2X material would give me better support front to back. The only thing holding the fridge from falling forward was the center stile and the 3/8" plywood deck! NOT a good design IMHO.

Dan

[wingnut60]

This is going to be a 'gotta check on it' soon as I get back to the trailer in Jan.
Thanks, Dan, very nice work.
Joe

[rynosback]

Nice work Dan. It looks great!

[Fulltimer50]

Nice work.

[dapperdan]

Thanks guys, I wanted to post this in case others especially others with the same model MS as ours could check out their fridge area. If your refrigerator isn't leaning you don't have anything to concern yourself with. We had our refrigerator come loose way back while we were still under warranty. DRV fixed it but ultimately it came loose again. I believe it wasn't totally on DRV as we all know how some roads traveled can be rather "bumpy".

I wish the tech at DRV would've reinforced that fridge a little better. I have to say it did last a while though but after looking at how they fixed it, that left me a little "miffed".

Dan

[Hunter11]

You did a great job on the fix. Can I ask what the procedure you used to get the bottom cabinet fronts off and back on? On ours it looks like maybe they use small nails. I would like to pull ours just to check it out but don't want to make a mess of it.

[dapperdan]

Removing those panels is a piece of cake Hunter. There's only 2 small brads holding each one to the face frame. I took a putty knife and carefully slid it behind the panel and pried them off, easy peasy.
To reattach them I used my brad nailer but you could use very small finishing nails and a hammer. Do yourself a favor and pull the original brads through the back so you don't damage the face of those panels.

Dan

[Hunter11]

Thanks Dan. I will give ours a look.

[dapperdan]

Originally Posted by Hunter11

Thanks Dan. I will give ours a look.

You're quite welcome Hunter, good luck. Hopefully you'll find nothing wrong with your unit!

Dan

[brucev]

Nice job!

[dcslatter]

I had the same problem and did the same fix but added a steel strip under each leg to spread out the weight