Kwikee Digi-Sync Slide Problem 07 Voyage

[millsrv]

The living room slide on our 07 Winnebago Voyage consists of two screw driven rams powered by electric motors that are digitally linked together to allow the slide to go in and out evenly. This system was made by Kwikee (Kwikee Digi-Sync) and has preformed well thousands of times, until a couple of weeks ago
The forward drive simply stopped moving although the motor could be heard running.

I am a retired mechanic and do repairs and maintenance myself, so today I removed the forward drive ram to diagnose and order parts. This system is fairly easy to service and access although 4 rivets had to be removed to slide the ram out (it comes out on the slide side of the coach). I have been doing weird stuff like this all my life, LOL You proceed at your own risk

The problem is a plastic nut that the Acme Screw runs in. The nut is held inside the ram with two clevis pins (both badly bent). There is also a plastic guide to support the non driven end of the Acme Screw. The slide box seems to be properly centered in the side wall and all of the rollers and ram bushings are in excellent condition. When the slide ram broke I had to push the slide in by hand and it was easy to move. I also braced the slide in because it relies on the ram screw and nut to hold it in. There of course was an out of sync code when the nut broke because the forward Acme Screw was spinning freely while the rear ram screw was moving the slide.

I suspect that I simply have too much heavy stuff in the slides basement compartments (they come in and out with the slide). I saw nothing that would cause this plastic sacrificial nut to shatter. I do realize that plastic tends to become brittle with age.

I will order parts and reassemble when they arrive. The motor and gear box were disassembled, inspected, and bench tested, all looks good there.

The pictures may be helpful to others with this type of system. I will post updates as this repair progresses and will not quit until we have a fully functional slide once again. Although while traveling in the RV this did bring my wife and I about 30 inches closer together, but now we are back home so that is over

[millsrv]

More Pictures

[JPeterson]

Hello Jim,

I also had to rebuild the Kwikee digi-sync rams on my bedroom slide. Your pictures are excellent. It looks like your ram is in better shape than mine was. Between the two rams, I replaced some guide pads, gearbox bearings, dowel pins and the acme nuts. The rebuild wasn't too bad after finding all the parts. The hardest part has been slide alignment after reinstalling the rams.

Jack

[millsrv]

I just talked to Kurt at Lichtsinn RV parts in Forest City IA. In my opinion these guys are the best based on experience having dealt with them in the past.

The Nut, the part that is pictured in many pieces, they have in stock at about $15.00 each.
I ordered 4 as I want them in my stock. I will provide updated part numbers when I receive my order.
The Screw Carrier they have to order and will ship when they arrive. The carrier cost is $4.00 each, I also ordered 4.

Below is a picture of what the nut looks like new.

If you have this Kwikee Slide System it might make sense to have these plastic parts set aside just in case. They are plastic and eventually will fail and if you have them the repair facility will not have to order them and make you wait.

[JPeterson]

I bought some extra parts as well before I discovered my slideouts are different. The slide you have pictures of and the parts you are getting match my living room slide but not my bedroom slide. They are both Kwikee Digi Sync electric acme screws but my bedroom slide rams have a one piece screw that is captured in the gearbox by dowels. One of these dowels broke and tore up a needle bearing. Also, my bedroom slide does not use a plastic carrier. The "carrier" is a metal tube the length of the ram crimped to the plastic nut on one end and pinned to a bracket on the other end.

You might want to take a look at your other slide -

I'm happy to hear you were still able to get parts. Most of the places I talked to a few years ago would only sell me the entire actuator assembly.

[pyoots]

Hey Jim,

As a 07 Voyage owner, the slide performance has been excellent. Got scared last month when kitchen slide went a little cockeyed and stopped midway and was able to retract and bring it in successfully.

As the coach reaches the 10 year mile marker, it becomes costlier to fix stuff like basement air, front cap frame rust, etc. Can't justify buying another this late in the game unless the Prize Patrol shows up.

Thank you for the good information on slide repair.

Phil

[millsrv]

Just a quick update, the new plastic nuts (I ordered 4) arrived 3 days after being ordered. Lichtsinn RV in Forest City Iowa is amazing! Kurt and Adam in parts deserve the highest praise for excellent customer service. Lichtsinn is from now on, my go to for Winnebago Parts.

The Acme Screw plastic guide support is ordered (I also ordered 4) and should be here in another week or so. The original is still ok and I will likely reuse it. I simply want the parts for my stock.

Pictured below is the replacement nut next to the original broken one. The part number on the bag is the latest one.

It is my intent in posting this information to make it easier for anyone else with this slide system to be able to find parts and better understand their slide mechanism.

[millsrv]

The slide is back together, adjusted, and working better than ever, total cost $15.15 for the plastic nut. My labor was about 6 hours total for a job that should in my opinion take about 2 hours for a technician that knows what the proper procedure is.
On disassembly I had to remove rivets for the ram's side thrust rollers so I decided to modify them for ease of reassembly and any future work. I welded 10-32 nuts to the plates so screws could be used instead of rivets. This and making clevis pins on my lathe was part of my excessive six hours of labor.

All in all a well designed system with straight forward adjustments.

Time will be the acid test, but all is working properly now. If anyone with this slide system has any questions I will be happy to share what I have learned by doing this repair. The repair was actually fun and I wanted to know more about this system anyway.

[aniebla]

MillsRv:

Quick question. Do the Clevis Pins hold the Acme nut to the actual inside ram or are they only to attach it to the screw?

If they are held to the ram bar, how do I access them?

[millsrv]

Originally Posted by aniebla

MillsRv:

Quick question. Do the Clevis Pins hold the Acme nut to the actual inside ram or are they only to attach it to the screw?

If they are held to the ram bar, how do I access them?

The pins attach the nut to the ram tube that pushes out the slide. The acme screw moves nut with its threads.

To access the pins the plastic covers need to be removed behind where the motor mounts on the frame. There are plastic push pins holding the covers on and they can be reused. I used a curved tip pair of needle nose pliers to remove them.

Look at it this way, the motor / gear box attach to the frame mounted to the chassis. The long acme screw attaches to the motor and turns inside the nut (just like a nut and bolt). The nut attaches to the tube inside the frame that moves in and out. The "ram" and frame are rectangular tubes one sliding inside the other, one fixed to the chassis and the other moving the slide.

I hope this information helps, I could find nothing on this system for the repair required. I originally posted this information based on what I learned by diving in and doing this repair myself. If I can be of further assistance I will do my best.
Jim

[aniebla]

Thanks

[dgonedge]

I have a similar problem with my Digi-Sync slide out. Lippert tech seems to believe it is a broken plastic nut. I have the replacement part, and now I am trying to gather as much information as I can prior to undertaking this project.

It appears that I can gain access to the motor from the passenger side storage. Since the plastic nut is on this side of the motorhome, can't I gain enough access to change it?

If the answer is "no," then where do I need to brace the slideout in order to service the track?

Thank you in advance for your reply.

P.S. I truly appreciate your detailed pictures and posts. Thank you!

[millsrv]

The tube and screw need to come out and it does so on the slide side and yes the slide box must be supported. I supported mine with wood and a bottle jack under the storage box. The motor side also needs to be accessed to disconnect the motor from the acme screw. The screw and tube are removed with the slide all the way in. This worked for my repair and I make no claims that it will work for you. I strongly suggest that if you have any doubt about your ability to deal with this that you do not. Taking the time to look closely at how this system works is the key to repairing it and why I posted my original repair procedure.
If you look at my pictures of all of the pieces laid out, those are the parts that must be removed (based on my experience). If there is another way to do this repair I am not aware of it.
Best of luck to you, I hope it all goes smoothly.

[onebrit]

Jim
I'm an Old Machine Tool Technician and do all my own RV repairs and upgrades. I have a 2007 Voyage as well but have not had this particular problem as of yet but just want to say what a wonderful job you have done in giving us others like me a heads up on this sort of repair. I have had to re engineer my slide support bracket as the manufacturer did a lousy job and it failed allowing one side of my slide to drop out of line, after my repairs I had to reset the height adjustment so all outside trim aligned correctly and slide moved freely. I'm sure having read your post the plastic nuts on my unit will be the next thing to go I may do as you suggested order spares to have on hand.
Thanks again for being so considerate and informative.