Community Forums

herbsells · 07-10-2016, 02:51 PM

I had originally posted this in the Class A forum and a viewer suggested I post this in the Monaco Owner's Forum because he thought he had seen a post about this problem here. Any ideas/suggestions are appreciated.

I have an '03 Airstream Land Yacht XC 365 (36') DP with a large couch/kitchen slide and a smaller bedroom slide. So when I opened the couch/kitchen slide this week, it went part way out, then "Bang" then the rest of the way out. (See pictures) After it was out, I found a white plastic strip (about 4" x 12") on the carpet sticking out under the couch drawer, this had never shown before. It's obviously a glide strip of some sort. I went outside and looked up under the slide and see three areas where this strip is glued or bonded to the underside of the slide (outside). The front one strip has come off and plywood is exposed.
What's in between the bottom of the slide and the top of the floor? I am afraid to think that the slide will have to be removed to repair this. Can I slide a larger piece of plastic or metal in between the floor and the bottom of the slide to allow it to glide? I am afraid to move it back in for fear something on the floor under the slide will scrape / gouge the plywood floor. Anybody with any ideas?

windsorbill · 07-10-2016, 05:43 PM

from your under the slide picture, pull the rubber gasket back where the bottom of the slide is damaged and see if the roller is there. If so, as long as the bearings and rollers are good, you can lift the slide up and put a piece of flat metal (stainless steel--12" wide and long enough to stay on top of roller when slide goes in and out) to support the slide on the roller. Those slides are heavy. I don't know if you have the jacks to handle it or not. When you do jack it up, don't go so high that you're hitting the top of slide on the under side of the cut out.

Captjake1 · 07-10-2016, 05:46 PM

Yours is a bit different than mine. Mine had actual tripped affixed to the under side of the slide out. The strips broke apart. I replaced the strips with a 1/4" piece of UHMW plastic. Yours almost looks like a chunk of the plastic sheathing of the bottom piece of plywood gave out.

Is this truly a glide strip or is there a roller that runs there?

herbsells · 07-10-2016, 06:06 PM

Bill & Jake, thanks for your replies. I did use a bottle jack and 2x4 (on end) today to try to lift the slide, I got it up about 3/16" maybe and managed to slide a thin piece of galvanized steel that I bought at Lowes. Had my wife inch the slide in a bit while I was pushing the steel piece from the outside. It did start to go in with the slide, but we didn't take it in all the way. We're using it right now (have company coming this week) and when they are gone we'll try pulling the slide in with the sheet metal. I'm worried that maybe there IS a roller and maybe the axle on the roller has broke and that the yoke holding the axle is scraping the bottom of the slide. But I can get it up high enough to see in there and I don't know how it was made. Do you suppose if I email Airstream and send them the pix they could tell me how it was made back in '03?
Jake ... you said "mine had actual tripped affixed.." (I'm assuming that was a typo and you meant "strips affixed"? and what is UHMW plastic?

windsorbill · 07-10-2016, 09:32 PM

Herb

If the roller axle is broken or bearings are shot, they you will need to replace the broken parts. I know on another site I belong to, several guys had issues with the roller wheel wearing down the underside of the slide out. They put the metal sheeting over the rollers to protect the slide, but the rollers themselves were fine. However, it almost looks like yours is cutting into the material.

Somehow you need to get a visual on the rollers. I'm not totally familiar with your rig, but try pulling the rubber gasket down and look in there with a flash light. Maybe inside you can access it through a cabinet or under the couch???

BTW, I didn't mention in my earlier post, if you go the metal sheeting method, you'll need to screw the metal to the underside of the slide so it doesn't move around.

Captjake1 · 07-10-2016, 09:40 PM

Sorry, broken wrist, hard to type. You are correct, strips affixed.
UHMW ultra high molecular weight is a super slick hd plastic.
Sounds like you have a roller problem. Look in the cabinets in the kitchen. It should be under a base of a cabinet.

herbsells · 07-18-2016, 05:38 AM

Gentlemen, after our guests left, I brought the jack back out and raised the slide just enough to be able to see that indeed there IS a roller in there. It appears that the roller had a black plastic or hard rubber coating over it that has peeled off. I was able to push the flat metal stock between the slide and the roller and screwed it into the plywood base of the slide. We were then able to move the slide in. By the way, none of this is visible from the inside, even removing the couch bottom drawer only allows me to see the carpeted bottom of the slide.
Just FYI - Thanks again for your input.