5th Wheel Slide

[msphelan]

I have a 2009 Sunny Brook Titan 32 RLFS 5th wheel. The Living Room slide mechanism is made by Baker Industries. The slide is 154" in width. Here is my problem. When the slide is retracted for travel the exterior seal is fine where the slide hits the exterior of the trailer. In addition, when the slide is pushed out for camping the interior adjustment is fine. By that I mean the slide goes out and at the very end of full extension goes down about 1-2" and creates an even surface inside the RV where the slide's carpet meets the permanent carpet inside the trailer. However, when the slide is brought in for travel, at the very end of the movement one side of the slide does not lower the 1-2" and stays lifted from the interior carpet. The other side is fine. It appears the gap is about 1" when the slide is completely closed. Again, the outside seal is fine when the slide is brought in for travel. But the slide stays about 1" high above the carpet inside (only on one end). The normal operation of the slide is to drop down about 1" when the retraction is completed. Is this a big deal?

[Paul R. Haller]

Sometime the linkage under the slide wears or gets loose and do not slide out evenly causing one side not to drop. Measure each side from the body of the trailer to the slide lip when out and the floor isn’t even. Are they the same measurement? If not, the slide needs adjustment. Sometimes they are strictly mechanical like a rack and pinion while others employ a hydraulic ram to move the slide. Either way there are adjustments under the slide that get loosened and readjusted. In worst case scenarios a shear pin in the rack gets broken or a motor frys and one of two racks stops working but that usually completely stops retraction and you are left with a slide that can not be moved. Crawl under the slide after your measurement on the side that’s not out far enough and look at how it’s adjusted... all manufacturers use different configurations. Some mechanical racks have a connecting shaft that couples the two racks depending on its size and weight that can get out of time so one rack doesn’t travel as far as the other. Good luck.