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Installed a closet system

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Nina Campfield:
I'm going the opposite way -- I want hanging space!  (I did put in a set of drawers under the electric panel, and it is great.)  The closet rod is so low that my husband's shirts drag on the floor,  I have to drape sundresses over a hangar, and can't take advantage of hangar systems.  In addition, the rod sags in the middle from the weight, which makes the space even less effective.   Does anyone have experience raising the closet rod, or putting in a wire shelf with rod?  

I'd appreciate any suggestions!

Nina Campfield
2003 Monterey Newport

Joel Ashley:
Nina-

The long rod in our rear cap wardrobe closet was bending under the load of a 6 month trip's worth of clothes.  I was concerned it might give in under the stress if I hit a shock absorber-traumatizing bump on the road.  While camped near Hamilton, MT, a town well endowed with stores a guy could get lost in, among other coach-maintenance/upgrade items I got a 2X2 and cut it long enough to reach from the closet floor to just beyond the rod.  With my handy dandy portable saw and pocket knife, I hewed a notch in one end that the rod seats into, so it comes up fairly level from one wall to the other.  The shear weight of clothes holds the 2X2 in place and the load is transferred to the floor.  The brace takes up less than 2 inches of hanger space on the rod, and clothing drapeing below simply falls in around it.

I'm not sure if any of that helps in your situation, and not being familiar with your layout it is hard to visualize what you are exactly up against.  The coaches I've seen all had at least a high rod from wall to wall in the main wardrobe.  I would assume you should be able to simply remount the existing rod holders higher on the walls.  Then add a central support pole as I did.  The center braces that extend from the middle of some closets' back walls and grab the rod are not trustworthy in my experience;  they still allow sag, although they don't use the space in the middle that a pole does.  To me the pole is a minor inconvenience when sorting through clothes, well worth it for the assurance it provides in solidly supporting the center section of rod.

As an aside, one of the other things I got at Hamilton's extensive hardware store was a wooden dowel, 1 inch diameter I think, long enough to extend diagonally across the top of our shower.  By notching it in the right places and at the right angles, it sits over the shower's top frame members and the notches (handy dandy saw and knife again) keep it pretty much in place, though I usually remove it when we are hitting the road.  It stores quite neatly standing on end in one of the crannies alongside the shower, but it could have a hole drilled in one end to hang it up somewhere too.  The point to this was to provide a place to hang wet clothes, coming from outside or from the washer.  It works well, and could be used for certain other regularly used garments when the closet is full;  but then has to be unloaded to take a shower.

Joel

Jim Nichols:
Put a smaller pipe than the inside diameter down the full length of the  chrome closet rod. Keeps the rod from bending.

Mary Collins:
Nina,

In our 2003 Patriot Thunder we had the same problem. We had Jim Sizemore, of RV Outfitters in Bend OR, raise the shelf with the accompanying rod and provide a middle support. We could then hang long things and still have shoes on the floor and hats above.
Hope this helps.

Mary

Nina Campfield:
Thanks all for the suggestions.  I think our closet may not be as tall as the Patriot Thunder (looking at Joel Weiss' picture).  I will look into having the shelf/rod modified.  I've been using the edge of the facing to hang clothes in the shower -- I love the dowell idea!

Nina

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