Community Forums

Grandpavan · 08-11-2014, 07:23 AM

My 36D has a full wall slide on the driver's side. It operates on three slide rails. It also has clamps located on each end on the inside. When the slide is all the way in, the clamps activate and run out to come into contact with the wall of the coach. When the cycle is complete, the top of the slide is sucked in tight to the coach. There are lights on the control panel that indicate when they are in place. The operation has been intermittent over the last year. In the last few months, they don't want to operate at all. The only way we can get them to work is to make sure the coach high on the driver's side. This would imply some type of contact switch. But according to Fleetwood there is no contact switch. They are suppose to work on some kind of sensor that measures the revolutions of the slide motors. Not sure how many slides have this kind of clamp but am interested if anyone else has the clamps and if they have had any problems with them.

chuckftboy · 08-11-2014, 07:20 PM

I have the exact same slide system on my 36D. Haven't had any issues yet. If you find a resolution, please post.

Blaster · 08-12-2014, 05:42 PM

I have the same slide, the only problem I have had is the plastic foot breaking off the slide clamp. except I was messing with the controller and got the slide out of time, the dealer put it back in time. I think main controller works the clamps to.

EasyPace · 09-11-2014, 08:05 AM

I have a 2005 Pace Arrow 36D and I had a loose connection to the rear-most slide motor resulting in an intermittent connection which caused the motors to become out of sync. My RV service guy had to purchase a slide controller programming unit from PowerGear ($700) to re-program the slide controller so that the slide motors and the highway clamps worked properly again.

Each motor is run through a extend and retract sequence and the data is then stored to controller, and this includes the highway clamps open and close sequence.

I would recommend that you find a good dealer to reprogram the controller.

Good luck!

Blaster · 09-12-2014, 10:31 AM

Dealer charged me 100.00 to put mine back in sync. You can do it your self, but will take three people per instructions.

Grandpavan · 09-13-2014, 05:20 AM

Thanks Blaster and EasyPace. This info goes along with the information I got a while back from a fellow camper. I was told that this was a sync issue and needed to find a dealer to have them re-sync'd. Part of the problem is there are limited RV dealers here in northern New England. I will have to do some searching. It is not a critical issue because the slide is not going to move out on its own. And I actually cut a 2x4 and placed it on the roof of the slide to prevent it moving out. But it is on the coach and I like things to work.

EasyPace · 09-13-2014, 06:56 AM

Finding a good RV service centre is a difficult task these days. I was very fortunate that my service centre (Royal RV) near Cornwall Ontario was committed to fixing my problem and he invested in the programming unit from PowerGear. I don't think that there are many service centres willing to do that anymore, and there are no Fleetwood dealers anywhere around here that would have had such a device. I may well be the only customer who will need it.

I guess that he values me as a customer as much as I value him as my service centre.

Good luck finding a service guy for your problem. :bang head:

BTW If memory serves, the 2004 Pace Arrow 36D had a recall on those highway clamps as they did open and allow the slide to move. Please be very careful.

Cat · 09-13-2014, 08:41 AM

Just to add a little. I have the 2007 Bounder diesel version of the full wall slide. I had to replace the fan bearing on my engine so I had to disconnected the electric power 12V. I had it off for a couple days. After the engine repair when I brought in my slide-- the locks would not go out to the lock positions. They would retract and the slide worked properly just the locks wouldn't go in to the lock position.
Had a shop reset the in and out stops/resync for the slide and the locks started working again. So be careful about leaving the coach without 12VDC power for a couple days

Lobstah · 10-11-2014, 09:15 AM

Interesting discussion. I broke a gear on my 36D full wall slide (ask DW how she failed to notice the VACUUM CLEANER head sitting there at her feet when she said "All CLEAR")

I replaced the gear, but the rear of the slide is out by about 1/2-3/4" when fully closed.

It's on my punch list, and I was going to put the other two motor/gear assemlies in neutral, and then with the rear gear still engaged, hit the button once or twice to bring the rear in so that the distance matches the front, or just manually crank it in with the socket adapter for the gear...as if I was doing a manual retract.

Now I'm wondering if it's a programming issue.

Jim

EasyPace · 10-12-2014, 06:22 AM

Lobstah, When the service guys first encountered my intermittent slide motor connection, they tried to mechanically re-sync the motors manually by releasing a brake and manually turning the individual motor shafts to re-align the slide. This did not work and actually made things worse. My service guy quickly realized this and called Power Gear for advice. They said that manually turning the shaft to retract the slides is really for emergencies only and that a re-program of the slide controller is mandatory after any such an occurrence.

Therefore I would highly recommend that you find a service centre that will be willing to do this knowing that the full wall slide programming unit is $700, the centre may be hard to find. Maybe somebody like Camping World would be able to do it??? If not you may have to dig around and find a Fleetwood dealer who has been around a while.

It's very frustrating owning such a beautiful motorhome and have this kind of thing haunt you and not be able to find anyone to fix it!

Good luck to you.

Lobstah · 10-13-2014, 09:01 AM

I'll give Lazy Dayz a buzz later today. They're about 30miles away, and a very large dealer, so maybe they'll have the unit.

Thanks!

Jim

EasyPace · 10-14-2014, 05:27 AM

I'd be very interested to hear how you make out with the dealer. Firstly to confirm the steps that they took to cure the problem, and secondly how the dealer actually handled this challenge and what they charged for the fix.

This will prove useful if I ever get stuck on the road, I will have an idea of how other dealers behave when facing this problem and what I can expect to pay for the service.

Good luck!

Blaster · 10-14-2014, 09:00 PM

mine was out of sync, the back liked about 2 inch coming In after the front touched the wall. And I had to hold the set button in on the controller while the wife worked the inside controller to get the slide in or out. The dealer we purchased the MH from fixed it. It was 100.00 dollars labor no parts. At the same time they changed out the thermostat for the furnaces and heat pumps, which had quit working. Total bill was 325.00, that was with the slide sync. 100.00 plus for the thermostat, but it works now.