OK, here's my concern.  We're getting ready to move for the first time since we moved into our 5th Wheel full time on July 22.  We have never moved the trailer since I put everything in it's place.  I know I need to protect breakable items on counters and such but my concern is will the doors on the cabinets stay shut?  Will the items on the wall with the 3M picture hanging strips stay put?  Will my flat screen stay on the desk or should I lay it down somewhere?  If the cabinets doors don't stay shut, what do I do?  Please share with me how you get ready to move. Thanks in advance!

Depending on the ride, the cabinets often try to open. We use bungy cords around the knobs to keep them secure. We also put spring loaded tension rods in some of the larger cabinets.

Probably a good idea to put the TV and any other breakables on the bed. The pictures are probably OK, but it might be a good idea to remove any with glass inserts until you see how they do.

After you've moved a few times you just know what has to be protected.

Good luck,
Fred

-- Edited by Luvglass at 17:56, 2008-09-15

No matter how hard you try and no matter how much you prepare you will find that somethings will be missed and this is what you learn from doing it many times over and over again. Soooo just do the best you can and try as you may to catch all the things that might move but you will ultimately learn by trial and error on what to latch down... When traveling through Oklahoma all bets are off on what will stay in place. The Indians found a way to get back at the white man....they made their roads so the wagon trains will be destroyed before you reach the boarder. Good luck to you Speedy

Like the others have said, it really depends on the condition of the road you take. Unfortunately in these economic times the roads are getting worse and worse. Recently we travelled a section of an interstate that we have probably travelled 200 times in the past without any problem. This time, however, the road was so bad that our refrigerator door must have opened up. It was then bounced around hard enough that the lower hinge broke and the door was laying in the middle of the floor when I opened up the 5th wheel at our destination. We've had the door come open before, but never broken the metal hinge. So any loose items should be placed on the bed or floor. We use velcro strips or earthquake/museum wax to secure hanging decorator items like pictures, clocks and floral arrangements. We've only had one cabinet open up but we had tension bars on the inside so nothing came out. This is a cabinet on the wall at the very back of the 5th wheel that we use for can goods, cereal and other dry goods. After a few rough roads you'll know what items will need to be secured better. Camping World has a whole section in their stores devoted to products that help secure stuff.

I'd just like to add to be careful when opening cabinets and frig when you make that first stop after traveling for the day. On one of our travels, I opened an overhead cabinet and a glass pie plate came crashing down. A few more inches to my right and it would have easily slashed my wrist. Fortunately, I only received a few small cuts. Needless to say, we did some re-arranging that day! I also now use the rubber matting and that works great. Debbie

We use the devices designed as child-proof cabinet locks to ensure that cabinets stay closed.  For the cabinets with two doors meeting in the middle, there is a "C" clamp type adjustable plastic bracket the keeps the two door handles together.  For the cabinets with only one door, DH installed the child-proof locks inside the door.  I got packages of the child-proof locks in the baby department at Walmart. On really rough roads (aka Alaska), I place paperplates between the plates.  I put a plastic colander upside down over the stack of bowls to keep the bowls from banging against the glass cabinet door.

We always joke to each other that just like on airplaces, "contents may have shifted during travel."    Also, check behind each slide before extending the slide.  If anything has fallen behind the slide, not only will the items likely be broken but the slide mechanism may be broken as well.

I think after loosing my pantry on the floor a couple times going around the corner and having to clean it up in the middle of our traveling i finally decided to buy every thing that i could in plastic bottles. Also I pack my pantry as full as i can so they can't move that much and then stuff throw pillows in to take up the space if any. Any thing to keep them from moving around.

Balloons! Plan old fashion Balloons work well. Blow them up and stuff them in and around breakable items. They are light weight and come in many shapes and sizes. When done, pull out let the cats or kids have them to play with. Inexpensive too.

While we no longer pull a fiver we have fond memories of rough roads and the little tricks we did to keep things secure. One that my wife did that I have not seen mentioned is to insert one of the wooden yard sticks down through the drawer pulls. It ties all the drawers together and thus greatly reduces the possibility of them coming open during travel. Most rv refrigerators have a positive locking scheme to hold the doors closed during travel, however we found them to be insufficient for the magnitude of the rough roads. Camping World sells a little plastic devise you can use on your refrigerator doors to keep the shut. I suggest you invest in them.