Thor Forums - View Single Post - New Bigger, More Complex Slide Problem???

Bduck100 · 11-24-2017, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ournextstop

Recently our front driver side slide started "misbehaving"! It is not a wall slide. When I extended the slide the front vertical edge of the slide stopped against the front wall of the RV as it should. However, the rear vertical edge of the slide at the top was about 5 inches from the wall and at the base it was 2-3 inches from the wall of the RV. As it approached full extension it started making large metallic "bangs".
I discussed it with Lippert/Schwintek and, while not real interested in my problem, they did refer to it as a vertical misalignment. They said it could be corrected using the procedures in their info pamphlet http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...heets/0272.pdf

Today I took it into a local RV shop that i have used i n the past and I have confidence in their ability and integrity.
This afternoon when I stopped by they had some discouraging info that indicated this is a problem that will take several months to fix. The rollers on the slide roll along a metal plate as the slide moves. According to them the plates end before the slide is out, so the last 6-8 inches the rollers are forced over the rough surface of the floor! The motors are stressed and the banging is when the pinon gears are jumping the slots in the rack. They said it was a manufacturing defect and the rollers and roller plates and the in-wall slide motors and the racks on the slide all need to be replaced. 20 to 25 hours once they got the parts which could be a month plus (longer since we are approaching the holidays)!
So I left and went to a doc appointment I had and spent most of the time thinking about what they said. I have not heard of any similar problem on any of these Schwintek slides. It appears this is not so much a Schwintek issue as much as a manufacturing problem. The metal plates the rollers roll on are either too short or placed too far back from the edge. Maybe the rollers are supposed to be sliding in a slot as the slide extends so the roller plates don't need to be long as the RV shop feels they should be!!
I returned after my appointment and we discussed it more. They had not yet contacted Thor as I asked (Ok because I was not gone that long). I am the second owner so I don't expect Thor to cover any of this but I would like their input and I will call them also but figured the RV shop might be able to answer their question better then I!
So my goal with this posting is to find out if others have experience this alleged "manufactures defect" or similar. The Service Writer told me that had seen this problem in one other RV several months ago and she is going to look up the work order and show it to me tomorrow (with appropriate redactions). We both might gain from that experience.
Also, I have seen posted on this forum, I believe, the names of two individuals at Thor that are "slide professionals". I will search for that thread while I curse myself for not copying the info earlier!
Thanx in advance for your help!

I just discovered the same problem with my Thor 2014 33sw full wall slide. The rear upper gear was slipping in the rail. No rail damage yet. Started checking for cause and found that the roller plate under the rear most roller was about 2inches too short so the roller was off the plate when fully extended. Furthermore the additional 6 roller plates were also too short when the slide was fully retracted, again rollers off the plates. All of this creates tremendous resistance that the motors and gears must overcome to get the rollers onto the plates thus causing the slipping gears. This is clearly a manufacturing issue. I was able to extend the rear most plate and also shimmed the upper rail one eight of an inch which appears to cause the gears get a better engagement in the rail. Hopefully this will work.