With our new Samsung refrigerator installed, the final step was to anchor it so it would not move while we are on the road. An RV is subjected to earthquake forces every time you drive it, and the last thing you want is something as big as a refrigerator moving around, or the doors opening and everything falling out.
We started out by pulling the refrigerator out of its cubbyhole a few inches, and then Terry went through the old access panel on the outside to screw three eye bolts in the platform and wall. Then she looped six long heavy duty (175 pound capacity) industrial zip ties around the L angle steel frame members in the back of the refrigerator, avoiding the rather flimsy aluminum grillwork back there. These were interlaced through the eye bolts and a metal frame member on each side that we left when we pulled out the old Norcold. When the refrigerator was pushed back in place and the zip ties tightened up, that thing wasn’t going anyplace!
But Terry wasn’t done yet. She put 1×1 inch boards down to trap the front wheels to eliminate any movement there.
Just to be sure, Terry built a wooden box that she wedged between the top of the refrigerator and the motorhome’s ceiling. With all of that done, I tried to wiggle the refrigerator and it wouldn’t budge an inch. I’m confident that, short of a rollover accident, it will stay in place no matter what kind of roads we travel down. And it might not even move in a rollover!
But wait, there’s more! Like I said, we don’t just want the refrigerator to be secure, we also don’t want the French doors or the bottom freezer coming open. There are several ways to keep them closed, and we considered all of them. In the end, we mounted two brass handles, one on the wall on either side of the Samsung, and we’ll run heavy-duty Velcro straps through them and the refrigerator door handles.
Some may call this overkill, but we took basically the same approach to the Maytag refrigerator we had in our bus conversion, and in over eight years of fulltiming, in which we averaged over 15,000 miles per year following the RV rally circuit and crisscrossing the country teaching at Life on Wheels, we never had a problem.
All we have left to do is to add some cosmetic trim to make everything look neat and tidy, but we’ll wait until we get to the Orlando Thousand Trails to finish that. Overall, our refrigerator swap has been easier than expected, and we are delighted with the results.
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Mountain Angel
Thought For The Day – If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
Check Out Nick’s E-Books In Our E-Book Store
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Nick….All I can say is, Your such a lucky man…..Terry not only can cook she also does carpentery work also?….She does it all….She is Awesome….lol
Nick now that you have ice cream again….What have you come up with to solve the Mac problem ? You mentioned your were shopping for a replacement.
Hey It’s only more money. Best you have a book Sale to afford this month !!
Keystone uses the Samsung and there is a screw whole right at the center of the freezer door and bottom of the top doors. This knob which looks like an orange size round black cabinet knob keeps all three doors closed at once.
I sure hope you took Terry out for a nice meal, yes she is a fantastic cook and enjoys cooking, but after all the work she did she need to be treated. You are a lucky man to have a wife that is a jack of all trades
Dave K – Since I turned off the built in Blueray and replaced the Mac wireless keyboard and track pad with wireless Logitech replacements, I have not had a problem. In fact, not only are the track pad and keyboard problems gone, the computer is working much faster and has not locked up since.
Jan – Ours does not have a hole like you describe. Maybe Keystone has them special ordered that way.
Looks great Nik your bride did a great job! If I have to do this I will call your wife lol
Nick, we just took delivery of an Itasca Solie DP. It has a Whirlpool with top door for freezer and bottom door for the refrigerator. Looks like the drilled a small hole in the space between the doors, threaded it and then provided a 3 inch long metal rod with a one inch plastic button on the end. The other end of the rod is threaded. We just screw in the device about a half inch and it snugs up against the doors to keep them closed. Looks nice and easy to use. The second time we drove the rig, forgot to screw it in. Doors flew open on first sharp turn. That helped to remind us to add that step to or pre drive checklist.
Thanks for the pictures and directions. I agree with you and your other readers. Nick is a lucky guy.
Nick, We had the same Frig installed and they raised it about 9″ above the floor in our Winnie Ultimate Freedom. I noticed that Your Frig is installed identically against the partition with the pocket door. I have a question. I will be lowering mine to the floor and right now, cannot open the right door fully, so I will be bringing it out a couple of inches to solve that problem and I was wondering if you could open the right doof of yours fully and if you can, how did you accomplish this.
Dick, ours sits about 4 inches above the floor. Our right door opens about 85% of the way. The refer door handles stick out about even with the front edge of the pocket door.