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Chevyguy1973 · 07-11-2016, 05:23 PM

I never think to take pictures before hand for some reason, but aligning the rear slide on our coach has been on the to-do list for a little while now. It was about 3/16 of an inch low in the front and made a high pitched squeal when going in or out the for the first bit of movement. Been squealing more and more with each trip...

So, I was reading old threads on here about slide alignment and maintenance, and waxed the bottom of the slide with a good quality carnuba wax and oiled the gear tracks with a dry lube. That helped a little with the squeal, but of course did nothing for the sag. Then I used some dry spray lube on the nylon guides and that helped a little more with the squeal, but not completely.

Well this project jumped to the top of the to-do list after our last trip when the slide was off about 3/8" of an inch and rubbing paint off the trim on the side as you can see in the picture.

After building a wood brace on the outside, and with the slide about 3/4 the way out, I lifted the slide with a floor jack about an inch so I could take the weight off the front half.

The front nylon glide had made a pretty decent dent in the fiberglass on the underside of the slide, which I expected. What I didn't expect was that the board the glide was mounted to was starting to pull away from the side of the coach and was sagging slightly to the inside. The only thing I can figure is the additional resistance of the dent in the fiberglass was causing too much resistance and the glide was being pulled inward when the slide was retracted.

After removing the board the glide was attached to and replacing a few of the mounting screws with better screws and more of them, the glide was back into the proper position against the outboard wall of the coach.

Next I took a 12"x23" piece of stainless steel 1/8" plate and attached it to the underside of the slide along the path of the glide. This plate is attached along the outside edge by three stainless steel screws, but otherwise is held in place by the weight of the slide.

I'm going to watch everything pretty closely for the next few trips and look for movement or settling, but for now the slide is back where its supposed to be. If only I had gotten to the task faster, maybe I wouldn't have that wear mark on the outside trim. Oh well, live and learn one project at a time, and Yes I do deserve it.

Happy camping!
Dave

okcnewbie · 07-14-2016, 12:45 PM

Well done. Sounds like slides won't worry you now that you have a real good idea about the design (and flaws).

bigdog · 07-19-2016, 12:46 AM

The bedroom slide on my '01 Tradewinds LTC is doing the same thing and I thought that I would check and see if that is the same cause as mine. My other thought is that the nylon glide may be wearing out also and am wondering where they might be found?

Chevyguy1973 · 07-20-2016, 05:46 AM

I was worried about wear on the nylon glide as well, but once I got everything apart, was amazed at how little wear the glide appeared to show. Hopefully yours are in good shape as well.

The really important preventive maintenance seems to be keeping the underside of these slides waxed with a good carnuba wax and watching for the inevitable impression in the fiberglass from the slide moving back and forth on the glide.

I'm still not sure what engineer thought the nylon glide was a reasonable part to use for the application over a small roller glide, but I'm sure it all came down to saving a buck or two.

MikeandRuth · 07-20-2016, 10:17 AM

In my opinion, the main problem is the support structure they used for the nylon glides. 1x1 wood pieces held together by staples is not going to do the job beyond a very short period. When my slide sagged on one end I discovered the whole structure had started to collapse. The upper horizontal was in between, not on top of the verticals, so the staples were actually bearing the load! I rebuilt mine with baltic birch plywood and transferred the load to the floor which seems to have solved the sag issue.
Another source of noise can be the bed deck itself. They sag over time and rub on the slide mechanism when coming in and out.