RT210 Drawer Construction

[Ron J. Moore]

I am wondering if there any '15 or newer year model that would tell me how the bottom of the kitchen drawers were made. This is hilarious, due to health, we use ours for almost a daily driver, so we haven't bothered loading it out, except for necessities. The wife put a coupler kitchen towels in one drawer, a tray with 2 sets of silverware and a can opener. A few days later, she goes and finds the bottoms of each drawer collapsed! Wow, the bottom is a step removed from cardboard. The bottoms were installed using what appear to be brads, no wonder they collapsed. So if anyone out there with a late model would let me know if theirs is slotted or are they the "new way" and brads. I had an '05 190P, and never had a problem. Ron

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Ron J. Moore

I am wondering if there any '15 or newer year model that would tell me how the bottom of the kitchen drawers were made. This is hilarious, due to health, we use ours for almost a daily driver, so we haven't bothered loading it out, except for necessities. The wife put a coupler kitchen towels in one drawer, a tray with 2 sets of silverware and a can opener. A few days later, she goes and finds the bottoms of each drawer collapsed! Wow, the bottom is a step removed from cardboard. The bottoms were installed using what appear to be brads, no wonder they collapsed. So if anyone out there with a late model would let me know if theirs is slotted or are they the "new way" and brads. I had an '05 190P, and never had a problem. Ron

Sorry, you're the architect of your own problem! If we've told you once, we've told you a thousand times to never store your gold ingots in a Roadtrek drawer.

Our 2017 210 has the same ill-crafted construction as yours. The thin bottom shelf is fastened underneath the drawer sides just with mini staples and judging by your experience, it isn't even pre-glued in place.. The production cost for providing a dado slot in which to slide the bottom piece in and stabilize it would be negligible and this sloppy construction is inexcusable but apparently consistent with a quality race to the bottom they seem to be winning hands down. At least the drawer is removable and you can apply some stiffeners to increase the load capacity.

At the opposite pole in build quality, the drawers supplied Galleria B are actually constructed with dovetails.

[Ron J. Moore]

Your so right about about the QA. I really would like to know where they got the upgraded cardboard they used - grand kids would be able to have better posters, ha! I will pull them and put the slots in and get quality wood and install. Maybe they are experimenting with ways to have us participate in their builds! My '15 was a "cost saver" - no glue! Thanks for letting me know they didn't discriminate just the '15 models, they are going to be exposed, and it will cost them customers. Ron

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Ron J. Moore

Your so right about about the QA. I really would like to know where they got the upgraded cardboard they used - grand kids would be able to have better posters, ha! I will pull them and put the slots in and get quality wood and install. Maybe they are experimenting with ways to have us participate in their builds! My '15 was a "cost saver" - no glue! Thanks for letting me know they didn't discriminate just the '15 models, they are going to be exposed, and it will cost them customers. Ron

Your description of upgraded cardboard makes me wonder if yours is particle board. Ours is three ply plywood for a total thickness of about 3/16 -1/4 inch.

Rather than tearing apart the draw to make bottom slots, I would pull the drawer, tilt it up 45 degrees and run a bead of tightbond glue at the joint along each side. I'd let each side set up before moving to the next side. Using some masking tape to control the glue joint would make it look fairly decent. BTW, if you ever use tape to control a caulk or glue joint, be sure to strip it off before the joint sets up. Don't ask me how I know.

[Ron J. Moore]

Thanks for the recommendation. When I get them all out, I will check my temper...and blood pressure, ha! Particle board would have been nice - this has too much give. Oh well, I guess I got mine before any more cost savings comes along at RT. Ron