Bowed Slide Out BT36

[rjt30114]

So we took delivery of our BT36 Omni last weekend and immediately took it on a road trip to Montana (from Georgia). I noticed what seemed like an excessive amount of wind noise. On the second fuel stop I noticed the slide above the front fuel door seemed to be sticking out more than it should. I felt under the slide and the gap is excessive and the weatherstripping isn’t even compressed. It is on both ends but not the middle. I am hoping I do not have one helluva bad issue. Any ideas or do I just need to reach out to dealer and Thor immediately?

[Judge]

I can't say I have a wind noise issues but I have a '20 Magnitude SV34 and my full wall slide bows a little on the bottom at the center. It is tight on both ends but it is not as tight in the middle.

Now as far as having a bad issue...... be prepared for your Schwintek Slide Mechanism to possibly fail at some point. You might be lucky and be in the 20% that don't have issues but 80% of the people with a heavy, full-wall slide do.

The Schwintek Mechanism is a bad design and the components are not robust enough for heavy slides.

I had the Schwintek Mechanism replaced with the Vroom Slide System last October. It is expensive but well worth not having to worry about a slide failures and having the slide stuck out. You can do a search and read all about Vroom.

Vroom went over the slide box with a fine tooth comb and adjusted the rollers as part of installing their slide system. I'm convinced it is just the bottom molding that is bowed out a bit. Probably because it is slightly too long and when they assemble it the molding bows at the center.

My slide works great now with the Vroom system and I don't worry about the slight gap at the bottom center any more.

[Jimbo56]

You may need to sync it. Extend it out. Hold button for 5 seconds after it stops. Then bring it in holding button again for 5 seconds.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Judge

I can't say I have a wind noise issues but I have a '20 Magnitude SV34 and my full wall slide bows a little on the bottom at the center. It is tight on both ends but it is not as tight in the middle.

Now as far as having a bad issue...... be prepared for your Schwintek Slide Mechanism to possibly fail at some point. You might be lucky and be in the 20% that don't have issues but 80% of the people with a heavy, full-wall slide do.

The Schwintek Mechanism is a bad design and the components are not robust enough for heavy slides.

I had the Schwintek Mechanism replaced with the Vroom Slide System last October. It is expensive but well worth not having to worry about a slide failures and having the slide stuck out. You can do a search and read all about Vroom.

Vroom went over the slide box with a fine tooth comb and adjusted the rollers as part of installing their slide system. I'm convinced it is just the bottom molding that is bowed out a bit. Probably because it is slightly too long and when they assemble it the molding bows at the center.

My slide works great now with the Vroom system and I don't worry about the slight gap at the bottom center any more.

Judge, why not just scare him to death and tell him his front cap will fall off as well. He may very well never have a slide issue.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

Judge, why not just scare him to death and tell him his front cap will fall off as well. He may very well never have a slide issue.

Haha I was thinking the same thing. You won’t worry about the slide when the can over bunk falls off.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

You may need to sync it. Extend it out. Hold button for 5 seconds after it stops. Then bring it in holding button again for 5 seconds.

He stated..... "It is compressed on both ends but not the middle."


This has nothing to do with resyncing the motors. The sides of the slide are tight against the box but the lower center trim has a gapped..... just like on my Magnitude.

If he could get a a 25' straight edge, he would see it is likely just the lower molding and not the slide box itself.

If his motors were out of sync, then one end would have a gap and not the middle.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

Judge, why not just scare him to death and tell him his front cap will fall off as well. He may very well never have a slide issue.

If you read my post carefully, I said he may be in the 20% that never has an issue. Gritz is a perfect example of a Super C owner who has been lucky enough to not have any full-wall slide issues and there are others.

Personally, I would have welcomed someone alerting me about the potential slide (and cap) issues before they happened so I could have been better prepared to deal with them in advance.

The slide and cap issues are a systemic issue with the Thor Super C's unlike the typical loose screws, leaking plumbing, etc, more common across the models.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Haha I was thinking the same thing. You won’t worry about the slide when the can over bunk falls off.

Now lets not exaggerate.... none of the front caps have fallen off.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by Judge

Now lets not exaggerate.... none of the front caps have fallen off.

Oh yes meant as an over exaggeration to kind of make light of it. Bad joke

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Oh yes meant as an over exaggeration to kind of make light of it. Bad joke

And I was being a little sarcastic as well... as we are fortunate none have fallen off yet!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Oh yes meant as an over exaggeration to kind of make light of it. Bad joke

Well….. you jinxed me!

Just got to the first stop of a 7-week trip and I have two screws pushing through the front cap molding now on the passenger side after driving on some rough roads out west.

Thor’s repair of my front cap lasted a little more than one season and about 12,000 miles.

I may just let the front cap fall off at this point and get ready for a law suit…. or at least an insurance claim.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by Judge

Well….. you jinxed me!

Just got to the first stop of a 7-week trip and I have two screws pushing through the front cap molding now on the passenger side after driving on some rough roads out west.

Thor’s repair of my front cap lasted a little more than one season and about 12,000 miles.

I may just let the front cap fall off at this point and get ready for a law suit…. or at least an insurance claim.

Oh F are you serious! I hope you are joking!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Oh F are you serious! I hope you are joking!

I only wish I was joking! [emoji30]

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by Judge

I only wish I was joking! [emoji30]

That’s terrible I am sorry! Hopefully it can be an easy fix and doesn’t detail your trip too much!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

That’s terrible I am sorry! Hopefully it can be an easy fix and doesn’t detail your trip too much!

Thanks.... It won't effect our trip but I am hoping it doesn't get worse.

We have an Alaska trip planned for next year. We leave in late May and won't get back until late August. If I decide to try and fix the front cap the way kwplot with bolts instead of screws, I don't have a lot of time before then.

If it doesn't get worse during this trip, I may wait till we get back from Alaska. I doubt I will take it back to Thor again. There remedy was just bigger screws and more of them and that did not work.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by Judge

Thanks.... It won't effect our trip but I am hoping it doesn't get worse.

We have an Alaska trip planned for next year. We leave in late May and won't get back until late August. If I decide to try and fix the front cap the way kwplot with bolts instead of screws, I don't have a lot of time before then.

If it doesn't get worse during this trip, I may wait till we get back from Alaska. I doubt I will take it back to Thor again. There remedy was just bigger screws and more of them and that did not work.

We have some friends from Alaska and they said the roads aren’t for the faint of heart. So hopefully you can get it dialed in before the trip.

[taylojc]

Back to the OP’s question…I have a similar “center bowing out” issue with my 2021 RC25. The center extends about 1.5 inches from the body when both ends are tightly sealed. Like the OP, the lower 1” bulb seal does not compress when closed. I have had some water incursion on the floor when the slide is closed. Right now I am assuming it is from the non-compressed lower bulb seal.

Is there an adjustment that can be made, or some other fix to have the entire length of the slide close flush with the body?

I realize the Schwintech drive motors are on each end, and that leaves a long run of slide between them.

Any suggestions are welcome!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by taylojc

Back to the OP’s question…I have a similar “center bowing out” issue with my 2021 RC25. The center extends about 1.5 inches from the body when both ends are tightly sealed. Like the OP, the lower 1” bulb seal does not compress when closed. I have had some water incursion on the floor when the slide is closed. Right now I am assuming it is from the non-compressed lower bulb seal.

Is there an adjustment that can be made, or some other fix to have the entire length of the slide close flush with the body?

I realize the Schwintech drive motors are on each end, and that leaves a long run of slide between them.

Any suggestions are welcome!

I personally think this is just classic Thor workmanship.... or lack thereof.....


There are four pieces of trim around the slide box that have mitered corners. If the trim was not measured and cut properly, there can be bowing of the trim when it is assembled and attached to the slide.

This is no different than installing baseboards in your house. If you are installing one the length of a wall and between two other walls and the baseboard is not measured properly and it is cut too long, the baseboard is going to bow-out away from the wall in the middle.

I think the only way to fix it is to install another seal on top of the original one or purchase a much larger bulb seal and install it.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by Judge

I personally think this is just classic Thor workmanship.... or lack thereof.....


There are four pieces of trim around the slide box that have mitered corners. If the trim was not measured and cut properly, there can be bowing of the trim when it is assembled and attached to the slide.

This is no different than installing baseboards in your house. If you are installing one the length of a wall and between two other walls and the baseboard is not measured properly and it is cut too long, the baseboard is going to bow-out away from the wall in the middle.

I think the only way to fix it is to install another seal on top of the original one or purchase a much larger bulb seal and install it.

Part of the issue and much of the issue. I personally will not have a Full Wall Slide, FWS, in anything that move down the road. Yes a FWS really opens up the living space and when someone is looking at an RV that's what you see. "Oh look Edna see how much room there is". NOTE my apologies to real Ednas. The down side to FWS are many and poor construction starts the problems. RVs that move down the road shake, rattle, roll, twist, bend, etc. All the framing is doing that.

There are 2 major issues as I see it. Feel free to dispute that. The body FWS slide opening framing, and the slide box itself framing. There are many reports of the body frame not being square, not just thor but others too. Thor being low quality entry level just has more. The the slide box, which may or may not be very square too is put into the "non-square" opening and it only seals up with the use of bulbous slide seals. If you don't get the RV perfectly level and stable before putting a slide out the it may bind and the gaps open even wider. Use a weak slide moving mechanism and it has a big potential to fail.

With a poorly constructed RV and no real QA or QC to ensure the slide opening is square during construction, that condition is permanent. Same with the slide box. Together they create a noisy, leaky, drafty mess that really can't be fixed, only lived with. Thus the bulbous slide seals to hide and compensate for poor construction and design. The bigger the slide the greater the potential for the issue and it gets worse the longer it's on the road. Park it and don't move it, block it perfectly level and stable and you will have fewer problems. But that not exactly what RVs tends to do at least in their first few years of useful life.

Bottom line, live with it because that's the inevitability of the situation. Some will have no problems, some will constantly have many problems. Poor RV construction makes that situation.

[CajunGirl]

Commenting he final post from 2022. I just purchased a 2023 Thor Magnitude BT36 and the long slide has a bow in the middle same as described in this thread. Can anyone give me an update on how your issue was addressed? I would like to know if anyone has a solution?

Thanks