Cabinet squeak

Ron wrote in another thread about leaking in the front cap:

I had a squeak in our front cabinets.  Kermit's inspection process concluded "All Was Well" with my B+ cap mounting screws.  He then provided another bit of advise which resolved my front cabinet squeaks.

I have the squeak but no leak and started this thread so as not to change the subject on the water leaks which is much more important than a squeak noise.  I have a sometimes squeak that seems to come from the front cabinets above the passengers seat.   Ron, can you share with us what Kermit's advise was?   I have looked and looked and pushed and pushed and can't seem to find it.   I checked the antenna on the roof which is just above this area and it was down tight and not causing the problem.  

Ideas??

Paul

  Beat me to it. After reading that thread last night I performed the 'Cap Screw Test' Ron mentioned. All well. 

Exercised the camper this morning with a run down to the DMV to 'renew my rolling life'.   I was reminded..

I also have a squeaky passenger side upper cabinet. 

The driver's side will 'speak' once in a while when the coach is going over unequal surfaces. I accept that as 'nature of the beast'. 

The squeak from the upper passenger area will speak out when driving quite often. The rest of the coach is so quiet, it stands out.

Will be watching this thread .

Hi Guys,

I will write something in Tips & Tricks and include pictures.  When finished, I will post the link to it here on this thread.  I am short on time this morning or I would have dome it right away.  Stay tuned.

To prepare you, the solution was fairly simple and effective.

Ron

Hi Guys,

I will write something in Tips & Tricks and include pictures.  When finished, I will post the link to it here on this thread.  I am short on time this morning or I would have dome it right away.  Stay tuned.

To prepare you, the solution was fairly simple and effective.

Ron

We will wait. 

I just wrote the Tips and Tricks Solution to the sqeaky over-head cabinet.  http://forum.phoenixusarv.com/index.php/topic,3024.0.html

Ron thanks!   SO, you just screwed into the thin original sheet metal of the Ford top as I understand you.   I always get a little skeeeerred drilling into a wall that there is some wiring up there I am going to hit but I guess that is not likely in the location you indicated.  Also, assuming that is the source of the squeak (and it makes great sense that it is the source) I would suppose it would not  be prejudicial of which side the sound could be coming from.   The setup would be the same in both driver and passenger side, just reversed.  

I think I will give it a try and see what happens.  Sounds like about an eight screw operation for both sides.  I will do both sides as a possible solution above the passenger where the squeak is located and a preemptive strengthening above the driver's side.

If my right ear hearing loss gets much worse, I may just skip it and let my wife fuss.    

Thanks so much for the tip.

Paul

Hi Paul,

I think you can determine if that resolution will work for you, if you do what I had done.  That is to drive the rig with a passenger and with the cabinet doors open on each side of the TV.  Get it squeaking, and then each person take a turn applying downward force by hanging on the edge of the cabinet opening with one hand.  Of coarse the driver needs to take appropriate precaution doing so while driving.  It takes only seconds to know if downward pressure silences the squeaking.  The added screws applies permanent downward pressure.

You mentioned the possibility of hidden wires.  To be honest, I don't recall considering that.  Kermit "might" have mentioned not to worry about wiring, but I can't recall for sure.  Wiring in close proximity in our PC is our back-up camera, but they are on the inside of the cab hidden by the headliner and run along the top edge of the windshield.  Drilling into the steel roof is aft of that.

Ron

Just going to throw this out to bounce around. On our 2016 2351,we developed a squeak that sounded like it was just above the driver. For months I had my wife drive while I put my head in the cabinet and made her put her head in the cabinet while I drove. Added screws all to no avail. One day while driving in the rain, I noticed that we didn't have the squeak. Driving on a warm sunny day with the squeak sounding off, I took a catsup bottle full of soapy water and squirted it on the joint of the Ford cab and PC fiberglass cap. Still squeaked until it ran down to the windshield and stopped the squeak. It turned out to be the rubber windshield gasket rubbing on the seal of the front cap. I trimmed a slice off both so they didn't touch and no squeak. I will admit that I was about to fix the squeak with a gallon of gasoline and a match.

Ron-Toni.... man I know those thoughts.  There are a couple of squeaks I’d like to stop on mine that really annoy but I have yet to find the source. All in all mine has plenty of squeaks and rattles. When I get on really smooth roads and it stops my tinnitus is so damn load I am ready to jump off a cliff.  Sometimes I guess I need to do a better job of counting my blessings.

I have been fighting with a squeek above the driver side in my 2008. It is very frustrating! I added the screws like Ron did and they later stripped out. The squeek will come and go, and I enjoy when it's not present.  One day it did not make a sound after driving all day, the following day it squeaked. The only difference was that on the second day it was raining. I thought it may be the humidity that caused something (wood) to expand.  The third day, another rainy day, and no squeek.

Prior to this evaluation, I believed the squeek was coming from the Romex that feeds the outlet above the passenger side. As bad as it sounds, I shoved a foam pool noodle between the cab (that Ron's screws tap into) and the what net bottom. I think that helped, but it still drives me bonkers when it squeeks!

I am going to see if I can use a thermal Camera to find anything. I drove an inspection camera around and that's where I saw the Romex.

Romex should not squeak.  If it is I would be concerned.  If it is rubbing it will eventually wear through.  If it is stretching or flexing it will eventually fail.  But I doubt that the Romex is the cause of the issue.

Our tv is a bit too snug against the cabinets over the driver and squeaks at times. I've shoved felt pads and thin foam in there but haven't hit on a permanent fix. Not sure if that could be your squeak butt worth checking.

I have been fighting with a squeak above the driver side in my 2008. It is very frustrating! I added the screws like Ron did and they later stripped out.

Hi rdalton,

Did all screws strip out from the sheet metal, or did the heads of the screws push through the cabinet floor?
Did you add 4 screws per side as I pictured HERE?
During the time the screws were holding, was the squeak gone?

Hi Ron!

Yes, precisely, Ron.  They held tight for about 9 months.  Now, with a twist of the van you can hear them pop between the threads of the screw (or one screw).  I chose against machine screws and went with sheet metal screws.  Unfortunately, it made no difference in the squeak.  We swung by PC last summer when I was DETERMINED to solve this issue, and I took about a half dozen pictures related to the front cabinets as notes for the project. Let me see if I am able to successfully downsize the images to here...

Romex should not squeak.  If it is I would be concerned.  If it is rubbing it will eventually wear through.  If it is stretching or flexing it will eventually fail.  But I doubt that the Romex is the cause of the issue.

Hi have to agree jatrax... what threw me was when I removed the back of the cabinet panels and felt around with my hand... moved the romex and  All I can say is that it did seem to help, but I am not done yet (although, I'm thinking about having some wind chimes nearby so when it does raise its squeaky head, the chimes drown out the noise!