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meboyd3 · 12-26-2014, 12:52 PM

We have a 2013 Bay Star with about 6000 miles on it. In March, we took it to the dealer because the living room slide was making lots of weird noises when opening & closing. Dealer couldn't find a problem. In May, we noticed the locking bar behind the driver's side was bent. Newmar states this may have been caused by operator failure. We're wondering what that could mean. We've never used the lock bar(the dealer said we didn't need to) and we've always made sure the coach is level when we open/close the slide. We always check to make sure there are no obstructions. Any ideas what we could have done that would cause the lock bar to bend?

Jim_L · 12-26-2014, 02:06 PM

meboyd3 - I couldn't really tell you for sure on your coach but on a previous 2008 Newmar Kountry Star, I found that some of the lock bars would occasionally fully extend and in essence, lock when functioning normally. It typically happened when retracting the slides and the slide went farther in than normal (crushed the gaskets more than normal). In other words, I didn't stop it when it was retracted sufficiently and allowed it to go just a bit further than normal. Whereas I always locked the front bars on both front slides, I never locked the rear bars of the front slides or any of the rear slides. I had one of the rear front slide bars bend and a couple of the rear bars bend slightly. I was aware of this condition and watched as I extended the slides. On occasion, I found it necessary to pull the slide bar down before extending since it appeared locked and my attempt to put the slide out indicated a bind. Other than taking them off, my only suggestion is to watch then when extending each of the slides for any hesitation on one end or the other. I opted to leave them on in case I ever needed them in windy or extreme conditions, but I never really found the need to have the rear slides locked. I locked the front bars because of the rattle when unlocked. It was because of this condition, I was always responsible for extending and retracting the slides rather than the DW.

spsm · 12-26-2014, 02:19 PM

I just got plain tired of the noise, problems and hassle. So, I took them completely off, over 100,000 miles and 12 yrs. ago. Works for me.

spsm · 12-26-2014, 02:23 PM

Whoops...About the bent bar. you may have tried to close the slide without unlocking the bar. I've done it a few times, and been lucky I didn't tear things up.

edgray · 12-26-2014, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meboyd3

We have a 2013 Bay Star with about 6000 miles on it. In March, we took it to the dealer because the living room slide was making lots of weird noises when opening & closing. Dealer couldn't find a problem. In May, we noticed the locking bar behind the driver's side was bent. Newmar states this may have been caused by operator failure. We're wondering what that could mean. We've never used the lock bar(the dealer said we didn't need to) and we've always made sure the coach is level when we open/close the slide. We always check to make sure there are no obstructions. Any ideas what we could have done that would cause the lock bar to bend?

IMO, your dealer did you a dis-service advising you not to use the slide locking bars. Newmar put them there for a reason. Unless they have changed the design / operation of the manual locking bars, there should be one on each end of the slideout and you should have received a crooked-looking "handle" thingy to apply and release the locking bars. We always used ours, and never had a slide-out problem in 7 years and 98,600 miles of use with our 03 KSCA.

edgray · 12-26-2014, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spsm

Whoops...About the bent bar. you may have tried to close the slide without unlocking the bar. I've done it a few times, and been lucky I didn't tear things up.

Say What? The Newmar manual bars I'm familiar with can only be seen or used after the slide comes IN.

spsm · 12-26-2014, 02:43 PM

Let me try that again................use the word open in place of close.....Lets hope I got it right this time, if not just for get about that post.

"007" · 12-26-2014, 03:12 PM

Here is some information on lock bars from QT's 1 & 2.---- # 1 ---- # 2
The high torque motor can bend the bar if one forgets to unlock before deploying the slide if caught in time can save expense of damage but doesn't mean damage may have been done to bar.
Its your choice to use or not link #2 can explain differently.

meboyd3 · 12-26-2014, 08:47 PM

Thanks for all replies. To clarify, we've never used the lock bar, so it's not an issue with having forgotten to disengage before opening. The slide has only been opened/closed maybe 20 times since we purchased the coach. We've owned our coach since May 2013 and it's been at the dealer or other repair place for a total of 7 months. From the time we told the dealer that the slide was making a lot of noise in March until now, we've taken only one trip due to repair issues. We can't figure out how the bar bent.

"007" · 12-26-2014, 09:16 PM

Dealers do stupid things at times.

aeroquality · 12-27-2014, 11:44 AM

The mechanic that walked us through our coach told us not to use the lock bar. This after I asked him how to do it. He advised it should only be used "if we advise you to lock them such as when the slide isn't operating right". He said too many people forget to unlock and then damage their slides upon opening them. I read the manual and it clearly says to lock them after retracting. I figured out how to lock them myself as the dealer didn't demonstrate it (a simple mechanism). I asked Newmar customer service last week and they advised to use the lock. BTW I was also advised by the dealer to extend the slides before leveling. Again, this was inconsistent with the manual which is clear to level first. I also asked Newmar about this and they confirmed, level first and then extend the slides, (only a full wall slide is extended before leveling)

dennis45 · 12-27-2014, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meboyd3

We have a 2013 Bay Star with about 6000 miles on it. In March, we took it to the dealer because the living room slide was making lots of weird noises when opening & closing. Dealer couldn't find a problem. In May, we noticed the locking bar behind the driver's side was bent. Newmar states this may have been caused by operator failure. We're wondering what that could mean. We've never used the lock bar(the dealer said we didn't need to) and we've always made sure the coach is level when we open/close the slide. We always check to make sure there are no obstructions. Any ideas what we could have done that would cause the lock bar to bend?

First thing that comes to mind,
Why did Newmar go to the considerable expense of installing slide locks if they are not necessary? They could have lowered the price of the coach by a couple thousand bucks.
Did you tell Newmar what the dealer told you? I'm sure they would be interested. Maybe the dealer bent them? Sounds like you should be searching for another dealer.

"007" · 12-27-2014, 01:43 PM

I agree with Denise get a new Dealer if you can, if you have just standard slides the proper way to deploy them are also written up in this thread for you and why locks are beneficial for the slide wall support.

GaryKD · 12-27-2014, 02:27 PM

I've used the locking bar to lock the slides for 10 years. When the locking arms are used, they allow the slide to form a solid "bond" with the side of the coach. This could be important when traveling. Poor roads, sudden stops and just traveling can cause the slides to "walk" to the front or rear, just a bit. This may cause the slide to use the reveal tolerance and hit the side of the coach when closing. Having the locking bar engages does two things:
1. forms a solid wall with the side of the coach
2. helps keep the slide from moving to the front or rear

An easy way to remember to unlock or lock the slides is when the locking bar is inside the steering wheel, the slides are unlocked and can be moved. If the locking bar is not inside the steering wheel, the slides are not to be moved. Even my wife can understand this.