Travato 59K Wardrobe Drawer Problem

[Tim Williams]

We've settled on a Travato 59K, but while examining the wardrobe in the bathroom, I noticed the drawers looked big, but when you opened them, the drawer itself was short and the opening was short so you cannot put much in the drawer. When I reach my hand inside the cabinet there are no obstructions. Why did they waste so much space and is there a fix to make the drawers more useful?

[GeorgeRa]

I used Barker Drawer boxes and Accuride full extensions sliders. Pending on how drawers' fronts are attached, but you should be able to change the drawers boxes to larger ones, change the sliders to full extension and reattach the fronts. Reasonably simple to modify existing drawers, certainly easier to start with larger drawers.

https://www.barkerdoor.com/Alder-Dov...CABEgIXUvD_BwE

https://www.accuride.com/products/shop

[Roadtoad]

Originally Posted by Tim Williams

We've settled on a Travato 59K, but while examining the wardrobe in the bathroom, I noticed the drawers looked big, but when you opened them, the drawer itself was short and the opening was short so you cannot put much in the drawer. When I reach my hand inside the cabinet there are no obstructions. Why did they waste so much space and is there a fix to make the drawers more useful?

What year is your 59K?

Roadtoads

[kmessinger]

All of mine are slightly over 21" deep.

[Tim Williams]

Originally Posted by kmessinger

All of mine are slightly over 21" deep.

It is not depth or width, it is height. It is like 2" or less opening. So what looks like a 4" high drawer, when you open it, it is only 2" high. Nice and wide and nice and deep but not very high. You can't fit much in the drawer. This is the 3 drawers under the wardrobe in the bathroom not the kitchen.

Am I missing something. I could barely get anything in at least 2 of the drawers.

[mloganusda]

Just thinking out of the box, can you not cut up above the drawer if there is space? This would make the a larger opening?

[Tim Williams]

Originally Posted by mloganusda

Just thinking out of the box, can you not cut up above the drawer if there is space? This would make the a larger opening?

That is exactly what I was thinking. It is an unusual waste of space. I was't sure if it was structural or not? In the Tellaro K knock-off they have 2 drawers and both are large.

BTW, I don't have one yet, but I am doing my research in detail until I can buy.

Due to the current situation I am going to wait9 months to a year and then prices will hopefully be better. Things are crazy now.

[mloganusda]

I agree that there is a lot of space wasted but you can find spaces that can be converted to useful storage. My Winnebago Trend came with two large deep kitchen drawers but no silver ware drawer. Thought about having a cabinet shop convert the top drawer into 2 smaller drawers but did this instead. I made a stand for a plastic silver ware tray to fit in the top part and still have storage below.

[Storysrvwego]

Hi Tim,
Hmmm. My wife and I have a 2018 Travato 59K. I just went out and checked all three drawers. the top lip of the drawer boxes measure 1.25 inches below the cabinet opening for each of the three drawers. While I did not release the drawer slide to remove one of these drawers, I think the typical cabinet maker will always leave some room vertically, to lift the drawer at a slight angle to remove from conventional/lower cost slides. In this case, I think the quality, ball bearing extending slides won't require that extra drawer-side vertical clearance. But I also observed that I don't think we ourselves require the sides to be higher to contain what we put in them.

The top drawer is where we keep the shower curtain and a few other soft items. The shower curtain itself sits comfortably in the provided drawer, but it also "fluffs" (for lack of a better illustrative term) to a height above the sides. This does mean it can slightly drag the material during opening and closing but we've done that a zillion times and have not had any issue with the curtain material or other hang ups.

Maybe the 2019 or later models have shortened the height of the drawer sides? And maybe changed the slide type that might require angling the drawer to remove or install the drawers? I shouldn't think they have altered these things. If so, then you likely can have a cabinet shop make some custom drawers to accomplish what your asking for. I should not think three drawers would be more than roughly $300 for all three which would still use the same drawer facings that WINNEBAGO put in your 59K if you do get one.

As a less expensive alternative, some thin plastic sheeting cut to the length of the sides but 1 inch taller from top to bottom could be adhered to the inside of the drawer side walls that raise the height for you. Just a few very small drops from a Hot glue gun would attach them easily and yet removable in the future. I would first try the less aggressive 3M command strips which I bet will do the same job of adhering just fine. This is not an elegant solution but its inside a closed drawer and would anybody even notice, or care when the drawer is open? If you try this approach as a test before having a cabinet maker fabricate all new drawers, or use this as a permanent solution, you will surely want to sand the upper edges of the thin plastic and round the corners so as not to cut your arms should you reach across the plastic.

[Tim Williams]

Thanks for the detailed response. The next time I'm in a Travato K I will look closely and measure to see what is reality and what is my perception. Going to be months until I buy, but I'm analyzing every square inch until then!