Living Room Slide Sunk

[3x5]

Living Room Slide Sunk


We have a 2005 Alpine 36FFDS, front door dual slide. The living room slide (which is on driver's side) has sunk an inch or two. So now, when we fully retract the slide, the bottom of it, on the outside, is too low to fit all the way into its retracted position. Instead it hits the body of the rig, so it doesn't seat flush and is bent out. (It is even worse than the picture now.)


I'm guessing there are some kind of rollers under the kitchen counter that have sunk?


It looks like it is probably too big a job for me, and we will take it in somewhere. We are in Arizona.


Any ideas on the fix? How hard is it to get at this stuff under the kitchen counter. What I am in for?

[Jeep401]

I have the same coach with the same issue, though not as bad.
Mine appears to be about 3/8" low at the rear of the slide only. An inch is a lot! There is some, very little adjustment at the outside end of the rams.
I maxed that adjustment out (easy to do)and it helped a bit, the forward top corner of the slide quit catching on slide deployment.
I'm curious about the roller idea, I hadn't given that that much thought, thinking it wasn't really where my problem is at. Maybe I'm wrong....
I have a couple of ideas on how I was going to fix it but I would like to know what changed to make it sit low now first. My awesome Washington roads?
I only have 22k miles on my coach I find it hard to believe that something has worn that much and I don't see any wear.

[Old Scout]

Lots of discussion on this topic on this forum--do a search using "f104" delimiter....so no rollers, just nylon skid pads...adjustment at end of arms is limited....As mentioned in other posts, I cut and rewelded the frame assembly at the end of the arm to gain more adjustment--not for the faint of heart.....No real explanation as to why the drop occurs but it does....nylon guides on outside of arm are intact--heard there are similar guides on inside end off arms--there could be a problem there??????
PS--side to side alignment of slide in the side wall opening can also be an issues--this can be adjusted too.

[3x5]

So this may be a common problem in Alpines?

Thanks for the “delimiter” word. I didn't even know what to search for.

I just imaged rollers. Skids make sense too. I think I found the nylon guides, and they look ok.

But it's gotten worse over the last couple of months. And since you mention side to side, there is quite a gap at the drivers end when I put in or out that I didn't notice before. I think the slide has shifted toward the back of the rig too.

Obviously, I'm hoping for an easy fix. Are we going to be able to get to this stuff without tearing into the kitchen counter?

[Old Scout]

….yes, fairly common on Alpines and all of the adjustment methods I mentioned are readily accessible from the outside....Again the root cause is a mystery--I move [cut/re-welded] the adjustment plate on the arm and raised the slide 4-5 years ago--slide has not dropped since...kind of a one off and less common but I have hear of the subfloor under the kitchen area and beside the drivers seat getting wet and rotting from water leaks along the belt-line. The soft substructure then allows the nylon glides to sink and causes the slide to drop???? If this the cause--then you have a real challenge to repair it.....

[3x5]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

….yes, fairly common on Alpines and all of the adjustment methods I mentioned are readily accessible from the outside....Again the root cause is a mystery--I move [cut/re-welded] the adjustment plate on the arm and raised the slide 4-5 years ago--slide has not dropped since...kind of a one off and less common but I have hear of the subfloor under the kitchen area and beside the drivers seat getting wet and rotting from water leaks along the belt-line. The soft substructure then allows the nylon glides to sink and causes the slide to drop???? If this the cause--then you have a real challenge to repair it.....

It is the kitchen end that sunk. I am afraid the floor giving in makes sense.


Would the whole slide have to be pulled? I have heard of doing this with a fork lift??

[Old Scout]

...kind of "chicken or egg"....I would consider doing the adjustment mod at the end of the support arm first....though a rotting subfloor has other issues besides the slide....with the slide closed, the adjustment plate on the end of the slide support arm has the most impact on proper slide alignment.....
PS--suspect the slide would have to be pulled to repair subfloor....seems some owner have built a temp support structure on the outside for the slide to rest on--or a fork lift.....

[Jeep401]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

...kind of "chicken or egg"....I would consider doing the adjustment mod at the end of the support arm first....though a rotting subfloor has other issues besides the slide....with the slide closed, the adjustment plate on the end of the slide support arm has the most impact on proper slide alignment.....
PS--suspect the slide would have to be pulled to repair subfloor....seems some owner have built a temp support structure on the outside for the slide to rest on--or a fork lift.....

I agree, the outside end of the ram is going control the slide alignment when closed.
I believe the rams are mounted to the frame so the subfloor would be down the list of causes.
Do you happen to remember if you were able to remove the bracket to cut and reweld or did you have to do it on the coach.
I really don't like the idea of welding on the coach.
I have been kicking around the idea of putting a spacer plate between the bracket and the bottom of the slide to move it up into a adjustable range.

[Old Scout]

….it was actually easier than I thought....extend slide, block up slide to support weight, disconnect adjustor plate from slide support frame [4-bolts], remove adjustor assembly from end of support arm, cut adjustor block from middle of plate, re-weld toward bottom of plate to add more adjustment height, reassemble.....you might have to block both ends of slide and remove bolts on both arm ends so you can retract rams slightly to remove adjustor assembly from end of support arm?????
PS--on my 2003, the rear slide support frame is right below the hot water heater so access to thru-bolts is impossible....

[Jeep401]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

….it was actually easier than I thought....extend slide, block up slide to support weight, disconnect adjustor plate from slide support frame [4-bolts], remove adjustor assembly from end of support arm, cut adjustor block from middle of plate, re-weld toward bottom of plate to add more adjustment height, reassemble.....you might have to block both ends of slide and remove bolts on both arm ends so you can retract rams slightly to remove adjustor assembly from end of support arm?????
PS--on my 2003, the rear slide support frame is right below the hot water heater so access to thru-bolts is impossible....

I like this idea. I think it's the cleanest way to go about it, assuming I don't find another cause for the drop. Knowing I can remove the bracket to do the work pretty much seals it for me.
Well withing my capabilities and sounds like a good day project, ok maybe two day project, sometime in the next couple of months.
Thanks for the idea.

[Old Scout]

….Agree, I don't like "fixing" something when I really don't understand the root cause but using this method I was able to correct the slide drop and it hasn't returned over the last 4-5 years....??????
PS--to preserve material on the adjustor block, I was able to use a cut-off wheel to remove the block from the plate....

[Brianna]

I agree with jeep. At the point where the slide is almost closed, the weight and alignment is mainly dependent on the rams which are mounted to the frame rails. Problems caused by the floor would be more noticeable when the slide is going out.
I adjusted my slide height (as others have outlined above) because the sheet metal skirt was catching on the body---as your photo shows.
My comment is that only a small adjustment is required. More than a half turn and the cabinets will be hitting the ceiling when the slide comes in.
Did you mean to say 1 inch or did you mean 1/8"?

[Jeep401]

Mine is still off by this much after maxing out the adjustment. About 3 tenths.

[Old Scout]

...interesting-- how would an adjustment on the outside edge of the slide cause the inside edge to "hit the ceiling"--not on my 2003 anyway?????? Don't recall exactly but think I gained perhaps 5/8s to 3/4s of an inch in adjustment with the cut and re-weld solution--plenty to solve most of the alignment issues I have seen....