Own A Newmar With Electric Slide Outs... Read THIS!

[vettenuts]

Originally Posted by hstansel

Hello, Polyian. I am having the same problem with my dinette slide. I can't break the transtorque nut to adjust the slide. It is 2" out on one side. I have had a big cousin of mine get on the nut with a 1 1/2" crowsfoot on a 1/2" breaker bar and a 2' cheater pipe. If broke pretty easily and turned 1/2 turn but refused to move anymore. He put tremendous pressure on it and it would not break. I was afraid of breaking the nut. Do you have any suggestions on how to break the transtorque nut loose? After you got the nut loose, how many turns did you turn it?
Thanks for your feedback.

I had the same issue. I just put my feet against the frame rail for the basement door and pulled. The second point of loosening is much harder than the first. I ended up buying a 1-1/2 inch wrench at Tractor Supply and keep it in the basement now. Once its loose it doesn't take much more movement of the nut for the slide to move. I did mine with the slide out about 6 inches and then just measured distance to the coach to get it straight at both ends and re-tightened my nuts.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by Stealth01

Ours are safety wired also... I would have told that dealer to pound sand... If they couldn't make a decision, based on seeing your safety wire, they shouldn't be in business!! I'll take safety wire over blue Loctite any day!!

X 2 on the safety wire. There is a reason the FAA doesn't allow aircraft manufacturers/mechanics to rely on locktite!

[Polyian]

Originally Posted by vettenuts

I have mine on my spring checklist, some of which I do in winter storage since the coach is in a heated facility. Just did the front two slides last week since I can't open the bedroom slide until it's out of storage. All the bolts were tight and the torx screws in the motor halves just needed a snug. Also check the transfer switch screws at the same time.

I agree, checking the bolts once a year check is what I do. Fit's right in with checking other bolts on things that move. I don't disagree with using safety wire but I think it would be a lot of work to drill all the bolts. I like to check these things anyway and it only adds a couple of minutes to tighten anything while checking. These are the little jobs that keep me out of the kitchen.

[Buly]

You can buy predrilled bolts. I got them from FastenAll https://www.fastenal.com/products?te...led+head+bolts
Later I found a support bearing for the slide shaft the bolts were loose.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by Polyian

I agree, checking the bolts once a year check is what I do. Fit's right in with checking other bolts on things that move. I don't disagree with using safety wire but I think it would be a lot of work to drill all the bolts. I like to check these things anyway and it only adds a couple of minutes to tighten anything while checking. These are the little jobs that keep me out of the kitchen.

Checking the bolts once a year is certainly a good idea. However the reason I am a proponent of safety wire is because of that up to 365 days days since the bolts were LAST checked!

After all, these design slides using these identical bolts have a demonstrated (and sometimes very $$$$$) tendency to back off on their own. That's why I personally prefer safety wire AND inspection to ensure that I don't have the problem. I'd rather ELIMINATE the potential problem rather than just mitigate it to some extent. But that's just me.

My cynicism comes from a background in Aviation Maintenance, Aviation Safety and Accident Investigation, as well as flying helicopters for 20+ years. Especially the helicopters, which were constantly trying to kill me. The last major incident consisted of two bolts stripping out and departing the aircraft during start up prior to a 2 hour flight. We didn't realize it until we shut down, and the rotor blades hit the fuselage, meshed with each other, almost killed the Flight Engineer, and caused a little over 14 mil in damages. . . The two bolts in question had been installed by Boeing years prior, but unfortunately were the incorrect length, being about 1/4" too short . . . pulled the threads right out of the aluminum block they were fastened to. I figured I got my monies worth out of the Army on that one!

["007"]

I never had these problems with my older coach's with motor bolts, gear box's and other items mentioned in this long thread.
The pass few threads by Buly, Hit the road and others show times have changed and its just another add to your inspection list before camping season this spring.
Some of the tips can be followed also to reassure you the items will not fail when in use.

[OverDo]

One other thing I did was check all of the flange bearing bolts on the pinion shafts and also the setscrews in the pinion gears. I replaced the setscrews with longer ones that are above flush when tight. That way if they need service in the future and are stuck you can use a vise grip on them if the hex socket strips which always seems to happen at the worst possible time.

[101stveteran]

Originally Posted by hstansel

Hello 101 stveteran. I am contemplating how best to secure the bolts on my slide motors and have decided that wire tying the bolts is the best way. I wanted to drill the bolt heads myself but have found that a grade 8 bolt head is very hard metal to drill. I thought maybe cobalt drills would do the job. What grade were your bolts, what type of drill did you use and what size drill did you make the hole?
Thanks for your feedback.

Sorry for the late reply. Never got a notice of your post or a new post on this topic.

I pulled the stock bolts one at a time, center punched and drilled a hole with a standard drill bit. I don't recall the bolt grade. It was the stock one. I used .032 stainless wire. Hole was a .040.

Hope this helps.

[SLS]

Hi Folks,

I am on a 3 month road trip in my 2017 DSDP 4326.

My dealer loctite all my bolts (8) in August 2017.
When I read this thread I check my bolts. ALL very loose. I retorqued them and called my son who has a 2016 DSDP 4313 and his were ready to fall out.

My next stop after I put out electric kitchen slide I checked the bolts. They were not tight. This has happened every stop. They loosen everytime I use the slide.

With the above said:
I am installing studs with HD grip washers and nylocks. Will keep you folks informed when I get it done and tested.

The problems with bolts is when they come loose they are coming out and that's when you bust the aluminum ears off housing. Studs will stay bottomed out.

[Buly]

Originally Posted by SLS

Hi Folks,



I am on a 3 month road trip in my 2017 DSDP 4326.



My dealer loctite all my bolts (8) in August 2017.

When I read this thread I check my bolts. ALL very loose. I retorqued them and called my son who has a 2016 DSDP 4313 and his were ready to fall out.



My next stop after I put out electric kitchen slide I checked the bolts. They were not tight. This has happened every stop. They loosen everytime I use the slide.



With the above said:

I am installing studs with HD grip washers and nylocks. Will keep you folks informed when I get it done and tested.



The problems with bolts is when they come loose they are coming out and that's when you bust the aluminum ears off housing. Studs will stay bottomed out.

[VP Chianese]

Originally Posted by Buly

Attachment 190116

!00% correct. You can chase this cow all around the pasture but the real fix is just this simple. Do it once and forget it. BTW studs now gives you two things that can come loose and in some cases there is no way to remove the motors without removing the studs also.

You don't need to drill your bolts (way to hard and time consuming) just go on line buy new predrilled aircraft bolts that match the ones you will take out and replace them one at a time, use Loctite if you must, pull them down good and tight (you won't break them unless you use a 2' bar), wire them as in the diagram and sleep at night.

Works on aircraft for 20 years + will work on your motor home. No need to reinvent the wheel here.

Did my 2015 DS with no problems and will do the two motors on the 2018 soon.

[CoachC]

Originally Posted by Hit_the_Rhod

Checking the bolts once a year is certainly a good idea. However the reason I am a proponent of safety wire is because of that up to 365 days days since the bolts were LAST checked!

After all, these design slides using these identical bolts have a demonstrated (and sometimes very $$$$$) tendency to back off on their own. That's why I personally prefer safety wire AND inspection to ensure that I don't have the problem. I'd rather ELIMINATE the potential problem rather than just mitigate it to some extent. But that's just me.

My cynicism comes from a background in Aviation Maintenance, Aviation Safety and Accident Investigation, as well as flying helicopters for 20+ years. Especially the helicopters, which were constantly trying to kill me. The last major incident consisted of two bolts stripping out and departing the aircraft during start up prior to a 2 hour flight. We didn't realize it until we shut down, and the rotor blades hit the fuselage, meshed with each other, almost killed the Flight Engineer, and caused a little over 14 mil in damages. . . The two bolts in question had been installed by Boeing years prior, but unfortunately were the incorrect length, being about 1/4" too short . . . pulled the threads right out of the aluminum block they were fastened to. I figured I got my monies worth out of the Army on that one!

Thousands of moving parts flying in loose formation!

I did Loctite mine last Spring and will check again this Spring. I'm curious how often slides are moved in and out for the bolts to become loose. Maybe the bolts coming loose is more a result of bumps and flexing during travel. Safety wire probably the best solution regardless.

Cheers

[SLS]

I raced for 30 years and wire-tied most bolts on everything. I agree with wire-tie the bolts to keep the bolt from turning but it will still come loose because I already proved to myself the the torque on the slide is pulling the bolts out of the aluminum housing.
The other post above that I now have two places to come loose. You can wire tie a bolt that is partial installed in the treads of the housing or you can BOTTOM OUT and Loctite the stud in and have FULL threads holding the torque of this slide motor.
Good Luck to all of you and whatever you decide to do. I will be installing my studs next week while staying in Padre Island.

[13charlie]

I took my Newmar in for a few things that went bad ( door awning wouldn't come in, steps would not operate and a few other things). I asked that the slide motor bolts be tightened with loctite. I decided to check to ensure it was done.

When I took off the plastic cover to gain access to the kitchen slide, I found the cover to have a lot of debris from the build. I checked the bolts and they were LOOSE! If i had not checked this could have resulted in damage. I will call the dealer on Monday as I just tightened them and did not apply loctite.

I guess the lesson is double check the work!