My living room slide topper has developed quite a "clunking" noise when it is extended or contracted.
When I inspected it, I found the center steel axle has worn its way off-center on both the plastic end caps. When the tube rotates, the axle jumps from the center of the end cap (where it should be) to about an inch off-center and clunks. Now it is just a noisy irritation, but I'm sure it will fail someday at the most inconvenient time.
It's an A&E topper, about 12 feet long and probably original (15 years old). Looks like the plastic end caps are the only bearing surfaces for the center axle. The caps appear to be pop-riveted to the large topper tube at a few points.
Has anyone rebuilt one of these? Are there parts available to do it? I'm pretty handy, but I've seen nothing in the forums or instructional videos that cover how to take these things apart and repair them.
Thanks for any help!
Karl