Overhead cabinet door hold-opens

[Bill]

I think all TMs have a pair of cabinets above the front window, one on each side of the clock. The doors on these cabinets open upward, so getting anything out of a cabinet requires two hands - one to hold the door open, the other to reach inside and retrieve your item. To make it more clumsy, you usually have to do it while kneeling on the couch or the dinette.

I got tired of having the doors slam down on my wrist, so I added what are called "lid supports". A lid support is a lightweight metal arm with a slot running down the middle. There is a notch at one end of the slot. The upper end is screwed to the underside of the cabinet door; the notched end slides over a screw in the edge of the door opening. As you raise the door, the arm slides along until the notch drops over the shank of the screw. At this point, it holds the door open. You release it by simply lifting the notch off the screw.

These small lid supports are NOT available at Home Depot, Lowe's, ACE Hardware, etc. You have to get them from a real woodworking shop. For example, go to http://www.rockler.com and type 27995 into the search box. Or go to http://www.woodworkerssupply.com, and type 935-800 into the search box.

For whatever reason, both of these suppliers carry only the left-hand version of the lid support. This turns out to mean that you must mount them at the right-hand end of each cabinet door. For the left door, this is fine - the latch is on the end next to the clock, and is easy to reach when it's time to release it. But for the right door, the support is on the end next to the wall, which is not as convenient. I wanted this one to be next to the clock, too, so I needed a right-hand version of the lid support. It is easy to convert a left-hand unit to right-hand by drilling out the existing rivet, flipping the arm over, and re-riveting with a 1/8" pop rivet. You may or may not think this change is worthwhile, but as shown in the picture, the change is easy.

At less than $3 each, the price is right, and installation takes only about 10 minutes. Overall, I thought it was a very worthwhile mod.

Bill

Thanks, Bill. I wondered if anyone else had gotten their wrists slammed in these doors.

Interesting, I never noticed that about the newer TM's. My cabinet doors are really thin, and slide sideways out of the way.

I was thinking about using a simple dowell...

Gregg

[Civil_War_Buff]

Along the same line I have a question regarding this cabinet. For those that don't have an SL or SD, what do you keep in these cabinets? Frankly, mine are empty, because they are not real easy to get to, and I would probably forget what I put in there before long anyhow. But, I would like to know for practicality purposes, just how others use the cabinets..once I figure that part out, I am going to put a set of "hold opens" to them though. :

Thanks,

Larry

Larry:
I put maps, the privacy curtains and other small, light items in em'.

A buddy of mine just suggested that I use toy box sliders on these cabinets to keep em open...

thanks,

Gregg

Hey guys

I purchased from Camping world, cabinet struts for theses cabinets. You find them on other RV's and have wondered why TM hasn't put them on their units.

I was sick of having to use 2 hands to get anything out of these cabinets. Now that I have these struts it makes it very easy. I have a 2003 2619 which has 3 cabinets instead of 2 and the clock. These are purchased in pairs for around 5-6 dollars. You only need one per door.

When we travel on long trips we usually place things in these upper cabinets that we arent going to use very often. Pasta, rice, privacy curtains etc......things that are not very heavy.....Good luck

George:
Welcome to our group and the TM family.

A question, how do you measure the length of the strut or size that you need?

What size did you buy, if you remember.

That would be helpful to know so I can go buy some for my 2619.

Thanks,

Gregg

Oh yea...I'm all over this one. I need to buy and install 3 struts. What an excellent idea! We also keep lightweight items up there in those small cabinets...mostly stuff we don't use real often. First aid kit, curtains, other odds and ends that don't yet have a home.

Wade

HI Gregg

I bought the smalles ones they had...think it was about5-6 inches, then put them up with absolutely no problem......I went to the Camping world directly here in Florida to see what they had, instead of ordering on line.

for jnust a few dollars it has help tremendously.....good luck

George