Community Forums

gpshay · 03-22-2025, 02:56 PM

EMERGENCY DIY NEWMAR MOTORHOME SLIDE REPAIRS - EP87 .. I was watching this video from Our Journey in Myles .. and he found that on one of his slides that uses the Metal Cog Track is mounted to the bottom of the slide ..it was done with just self tapping screws .. he ended up drilling new holes since the plywood bottom was compromised from the previous screws .. I am just wondering would it be possible to drill through the existing holes and actually use bolts up through the entire floor to secure that track more permanently..thoughts please .. thank Glenn

Mr. T · 03-22-2025, 04:45 PM

Not sure about bolts but I check mine a couple times a year. First DEFCON level is to stick a toothpick in the hole followed by the screw and blue loctite, Next level is the next size screw.
So far, that's the farthest I've needed to go.

stang37 · 03-22-2025, 05:18 PM

This should work..... If you can get to the inside to add the flat washer and nut. I would counter sink the hole so the bolt head is flush with the track. This should work just fine.

NCC-1701A · 03-22-2025, 07:04 PM

Personally, I wouldn't drill a hole all the way through to inside the slide. You aren't just going through one sheet of plywood, you are going through plywood, an insulated space, plywood, and either carpet or under a cabinet. Remember that power wires may be in the floor. You don't know what you might hit.

Follow MrT's recommendation...or others have just filled the particular hole and put a new screw in another of the track holes. Sometimes the screw head just breaks off and leaves the shank in the wood.

gpshay · 03-22-2025, 08:48 PM

Thank you for your thoughts .. I sincerely appreciate them .. I am certainly Not a fan of drilling holes into places that I don't know what is in that area ... I will attempt to reach out to Newmar and see if they can confirm whether or not there is any electrical being run through those slides .. ie. insulated areas of the floor .. with the little understanding that I have about the slides .. I wonder how any electrical wires would be able to extend and retract while sandwiched between the plywood floors .. BUT I sure don't want to find out the hard way ... Hoping there is nothing there is NOT a good plan .. so I appreciate your words of caution NCC ... If bolting through the track is possible then I was leaning towards a "Button Head" bolt .. I have used them on my Goldwing some are chrome but they are smooth and don't set up high ... most use Allen wrenches. thanks again for all your thoughts ..Glenn

NCC-1701A · 03-22-2025, 09:13 PM

Aren't your cog track holes already countersunk for flat head screws? Instead of button head cap screws with a flat contact surface, which wouldn't sit well in a countersink, you could get flat head cap screws that would have the allen wrench capability, if that's what you want.

Old-Biscuit · 03-22-2025, 09:27 PM

Your going to rill all the way thru slide out floor and use bolts/nots.........and have the end of the bolts with nuts sticking up thru the inside of the slide out floor??????

Wonder why Newmar didn't do that at factory?
*or any of the other RV MFGs

gpshay · 03-23-2025, 09:27 AM

Well the Factory clearly does not have a satisfactory way of securing that track .. possibly their reason may be strictly ... time consuming / financial .. take for example the electrical jack components .. the manufacturer of those electrical parts said they should be located in a weather proof bay ... Newmar still has not corrected that issue .. since the late teens ..

MarkMaxPayne · 03-24-2025, 11:18 AM

I'd go with bigger screws in #, but not in length. Last thing you want to do is have the screw tip poke up through the floor.

On boats you'd fill the hole with some epoxy, let that cure, then pre-drill new holes (but watch your depth!), and then sink in the higher # screws. Why the epoxy if sinking a bigger screw in the existing hole? You don't know what damage has occured to the layers of the plywood or with the hole where the previous screw ripped out. The epoxy will bond all that up again firm for you for the next screw to bite into.

Best,
-Mark