Slide issue fixed? Well 4 trips.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by calewjohnson

Well son of a gun...I thought it was like other forums...had to post them through an online service like PhotoBucket....I like the upload feature much better, as I would like to clean up and arrange my PhotoBucket account...which if I do, I assume will make dead links to pics I have already posted.

Thanks!!!

Cale

You can do it either way. I think there is a meg limit on uploads and storage. I use Flickr for most of my stuff and so far no problems. I try to upload to albums so they stay put. I used to use Webshots and they went south a while back, so I know I have bad links all over the web.

Aaron

[Camper2b]

Catdog, I think some of use, at least me are still not sure on what screws your removed to enable the slide to move up and down while jacking it up. There are a kazillion screws
Would you mind posting a picture of those screws. I'm going to start on mine within the next week or so and dont want to remove somthing that doesn't need to be removed.

Im also concidering aluminum plates rather than steel. 1/8" your thoughts?
Thanks for sharing.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Camper2b

Catdog, I think some of use, at least me are still not sure on what screws your removed to enable the slide to move up and down while jacking it up. There are a kazillion screws
Would you mind posting a picture of those screws. I'm going to start on mine within the next week or so and dont want to remove somthing that doesn't need to be removed.

Im also concidering aluminum plates rather than steel. 1/8" your thoughts?
Thanks for sharing.

Lance campers is starting to put metal plates on the underside of their Schwintek slides because of the binding rollers. Seems to be two issues, rollers are too tight and the slides are very close tolerance. Personally I would either use stainless steel or aluminum for the plates versus regular painted steel. The 1/8" is probably overkill .060 is plenty heavy enough, that is 1/16".

Aaron

[sundancer 87]

Dunno know Aaron about using 1/16" sheet goods under the big slide. I'd think any imperfection in the flooring would be transferred to the metal or aluminum and eventually cause as much of a problem as there may be now.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by sundancer 87

Dunno know Aaron about using 1/16" sheet goods under the big slide. I'd think any imperfection in the flooring would be transferred to the metal or aluminum and eventually cause as much of a problem as there may be now.

I think it would work fine. The main goal is to give the rollers a smooth finished surface to roll on versus the rough stuff that causes them to bind and dig. Some undulations in the bottom that do transfer through to the metal shouldn't cause a problem as long as the rollers can move/slide freely.

Aaron

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

I think it would work fine. The main goal is to give the rollers a smooth finished surface to roll on versus the rough stuff that causes them to bind and dig. Some undulations in the bottom that do transfer through to the metal shouldn't cause a problem as long as the rollers can move/slide freely.

Aaron

Ah yes, but we are assuming the basic floor is constructed soundly. Who knows, maybe the floor is pieced together and has gaps and all kinds of problems, sort of like your out of square square corner .

There is a better way to build these floors but bucks vs better and we know what wins.

[Camper2b]

Personally I'm for overkill... 1/8" sounds good. I think aluminum would be fine, certainly lighter than steel. What do you think? Any other suggestions?
Thanks

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by Camper2b

Personally I'm for overkill... 1/8" sounds good. I think aluminum would be fine, certainly lighter than steel. What do you think? Any other suggestions?
Thanks

I'm more of a wood butcher Slim but I'm inclined to go with a heavier material. We do have some metal heads, (is that right?), here so hopefully they will share their knowledge on this matter.

[catdog]

Um well I wouldn't get to carried away just yet. I just did my living room slide and now the slide won't do anything. I'm wondering if I pinched a wire somewhere. I will post results when I figured it out.

[catdog]

Well I would check the clearance between the top of the motor and the header. For some reason all mine had about an 1" to 1 1/2". Except for one side in the living slide it only had about 1/2 " at the max(And I didn't check the clearance). SO when I jacked it up it pinched something. I let it back down and moved the wires for the motor out of the way, they were kind a bunched up above the motor. Then put it back up and it worked. But I still wonder what I did because I never found anything that was broken. Which makes me wonder if I pinched a wire and its broken inside the cover.
I did get the other 2 slides done and they seem to work good. I took some pictures of the screws I took out and will post them.
I'm still a bit puzzled by the weight transfer or maybe rail misalignment.
I re secured the slides as follows: I put my plates in and let the slide down so there was just a little bit of weight on the floor rollers and more on the slide mechanism rollers. Then when I get the slide in all the weight has transferred to the floor rollers and there is no weight on the slide rail rollers. The only thing I can come up with is the rails are installed at the wrong angle. But it works right now and it was getting hot so I saved that for maybe another time but that looks like a big project.

[switz01]

Originally Posted by catdog

Well I would check the clearance between the top of the motor and the header. For some reason all mine had about an 1" to 1 1/2". Except for one side in the living slide it only had about 1/2 " at the max(And I didn't check the clearance). SO when I jacked it up it pinched something. I let it back down and moved the wires for the motor out of the way, they were kind a bunched up above the motor. Then put it back up and it worked. But I still wonder what I did because I never found anything that was broken. Which makes me wonder if I pinched a wire and its broken inside the cover.
I did get the other 2 slides done and they seem to work good. I took some pictures of the screws I took out and will post them.
I'm still a bit puzzled by the weight transfer or maybe rail misalignment.
I re secured the slides as follows: I put my plates in and let the slide down so there was just a little bit of weight on the floor rollers and more on the slide mechanism rollers. Then when I get the slide in all the weight has transferred to the floor rollers and there is no weight on the slide rail rollers. The only thing I can come up with is the rails are installed at the wrong angle. But it works right now and it was getting hot so I saved that for maybe another time but that looks like a big project.

Funny you posted this the timing couldn't be better. I just had my trailer in to have front cap gel coat repaired due to hail damage cracking the front cap and causing the entire roof to be replaced for $10,000.00. I took this chance to have 300watt solar and a 2300watt inverter added and all the A/C ducts to be fixed and properly sealed as mentioned in other posts. As we were looking around the trailer I noticed under the bedroom wardrobe slide a bunch of the black fiberglass looking material was missing and the OSB board was exposed with chunks missing. It appears as though the rollers are digging into the bottom of my slide as well. I just has the fiberglass tech do a quick fix with some fiberglass patching material to keep the moisture out for now but I will look at your repairs as well. Fantastic post and great idea for a fix.

Troy

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by catdog

Well I would check the clearance between the top of the motor and the header. For some reason all mine had about an 1" to 1 1/2". Except for one side in the living slide it only had about 1/2 " at the max(And I didn't check the clearance). SO when I jacked it up it pinched something. I let it back down and moved the wires for the motor out of the way, they were kind a bunched up above the motor. Then put it back up and it worked. But I still wonder what I did because I never found anything that was broken. Which makes me wonder if I pinched a wire and its broken inside the cover.
I did get the other 2 slides done and they seem to work good. I took some pictures of the screws I took out and will post them.
I'm still a bit puzzled by the weight transfer or maybe rail misalignment.
I re secured the slides as follows: I put my plates in and let the slide down so there was just a little bit of weight on the floor rollers and more on the slide mechanism rollers. Then when I get the slide in all the weight has transferred to the floor rollers and there is no weight on the slide rail rollers. The only thing I can come up with is the rails are installed at the wrong angle. But it works right now and it was getting hot so I saved that for maybe another time but that looks like a big project.

The control wires to the motor aren't very large, 16/18 gauge maybe with a four pin Molex connecter. Something definitely happened but I wouldn't think a wire was broken. At any rate you'll know where to look if and when the time comes to troubleshoot the problem.

[Camper2b]

Originally Posted by catdog

I noticed that the rollers were sinking into the decking from the weight of the slide. I went to my local fab shop and looked for wider rollers to put in............he had a whole book of rollers and the size I needed only went up to 80# each and there is 4. Now everybody knows that slide weighs more then 320. The interesting thing is the same rollers that come on the slides are rated at.......I think it was 35# each.

I know our units are different, but, I have 5 rollers on my living room slide! Btw dont forget when you get a chance to take a picture of those screws you removed. Im not starting on mine until im sure what I have to do. I will also post pictures step by step once I'm somewhat confident.

Thanks for all the info. Hope this fixes the problem and doesn't put more stress on the system somewhere else. Guess time will tell.

[catdog]

Here are a few pictures. I got all mine done. In a couple weeks I will be using it 3 weekends in a row going to kart races and we will see how it does.

[catdog]

When I put the jack under it and pulled the screws out I had to put a little pressure up on it and then wait. They have some kind of sticky tape between the rail and the body. Once I put some pressure on it and it broke loose then it went pretty easy.
The other thing is I talked about the weight transfer and how I was not putting much weight on the floor rollers when the slide was out and then as it came in the rollers got more and more weight on them. Well.....I can tell when the weight transfers to the floor rollers because it seems to move a lot easier. This may be something that I have to go back and change. I just worry that if I put all the weight on the floor rollers when the slide is out then by the time it is in they are going to have a lot of weight on them.
The only way I can see to fix this is to move the slide rails. To me it seems that they have the rails to high on the out side of the slide. Mine starts out with all the weight on the slide rail rollers (with slide out) then (with slide in) there is approx. 1/8 inch gap between the roller and the rail.
I forgot to check mine before I did the plates. I would be curious to know if it is the same without the plates. My guess is..and its just a guess.. that the reason the floor rollers are digging in so bad at the outside of the slide is because of this and now with the plates they cant sink in so it is showing up now.

[Camper2b]

Thanks for the pictures. My company just took on a big job so its gonna put my slide project on the back burner a little while longer. I will check my measurements before and aft. I hope your upgrade works, keep us up to date. Thanks for the info.

[Camper2b]

I am curious about the 1/8" thick plates and the holes lining back up when you lower slide. Seems as if they would be an 1/8" off center...?

[catdog]

Yes they are off some. Mine were more because I tried to take some of the weight off the floor rollers. With the slide out. As the slide came in th err re was a lot more weight put on the floor rollers. I'm not sure what to try and change now. I really think the slide rails need moved. I will try it the w as y I have it and see what happens. Sorry I hope you can understand.....These phones are supposed to be smart???? I'm about ready to g back to my flip.

[Camper2b]

Originally Posted by catdog

Yes they are off some. Mine were more because I tried to take some of the weight off the floor rollers. With the slide out. As the slide came in th err re was a lot more weight put on the floor rollers. I'm not sure what to try and change now. I really think the slide rails need moved. I will try it the w as y I have it and see what happens. Sorry I hope you can understand.....These phones are supposed to be smart???? I'm about ready to g back to my flip.

Okay so did you re drill or ? An 1/8" has got to change tolerance somewhere I would think! Since I have time before I do this let us know how it works after a few trips. Much appreciated.

[catdog]

I didn't drill them just ran the screws back in. They have been working good but I have learned a couple things. So hopefully I can save some other people the issues. First the motor not working came back. This is what I found......kind of hard to explain but I will try. At the very top of the rail that bolt/screws to the side of the fifth wheel and holds all the motor and everything there is a half moon hole cut in the top.....I'm assuming this is were the wires for the motor were supposed to go......not stretched over the top of the of the vertical rail that holds the motor. Once I put them in there and took the pressure of them it has worked fine. I tried to take some pictures to post just need to find them.
The other thing and the biggest is the screws I used to secure the steel runners I put in.......well I failed to check the clearance between them and the floor with the living room slide in. Yep you guessed it tear in the flooring. Good thing I know a little about repairing that now I'm the only one that notices it. All the other slides are ok but the living room slide is so deep that when it comes in it tends to tilt from the weight (which I believe is another problem and why with the slides in the seal is tight at the top and not at the bottom) but that will be a winter project to try and come up with a solution. So I put screws in with smaller heads and will keep an eye on it. But if I did the whole thing over again I wouldn't put the screws so close to the edge. I was maybe 4-5" away from the edge and should of been more like 10" probably. But I still need to check and make sure the plates aren't going to rub.