Full wall slide not square on '22 Omni - anyone had to deal with this?

[ShoppingNinja]

The full-wall slide in our 2022 Thor Omni BT36 became inoperable a few days ago. Because we bought it used after the prior owner had it for a few months, it's not warranted.



We took it to a reputable local RV repair center, not a Thor deal, and they have diagnosed the problem as the hole where the full-wall slide is installed is not square. Therefore, the slide is not moving in and out smoothly and one of the motors has now burned out. Just replacing the motor doesn't fix the issue. The repair shop has recommended a shim kit for the Schwintek rails to try to get the wall more centered on the gears.



I haven't been able to find a lot of information online about problems with an out-of-square slide wall and how to fix the situation. Has anyone else had this same issue, with with a Thor Omni or Magnitude or another type of RV? If so, I'd appreciate your feedback on how the shim kit worked and whether it sufficiently addressed the problem. TIA.

[chunker21]

You bought the yugo of RVs from the bernie madoff of manufacturers. Sorry for your issues with this and the cap. Personally I won't have a full wall slide and what you are experiencing is one of the reasons. It's too easy for the "hole in the wall" to be built not square and too easy for that hole to get out of square. But it's yours so let me recommend that if you are going to keep it make sure you are absolutely level and stable before opening a slide. NEVER use auto level, ALWAYS manually level. Never level it with a tire off the ground. Get enough blocks/boards to put under tires so they stay firmly on the ground when leveling and only level enough to stabilize the body.

Assuming your BT36 is 4WD, the front suspension has very little travel and is easy, especially with a slope to the front, to have front tires come off the ground. That contributes to body flex and the FWS binding.

There's a reason your 2022 model was on the market used. Previous owner had "issues" and dumped it. I did that with my 2021. I was contacted by the new owner after he bought it with questions. Wish he'd called before he bought it.

I also suggest you read of the deficiencies that the omni and magnitudes have. I don't call them defects because a defect is an error in the building process and these are built just like thor wants them, deficient.

[ShoppingNinja]

Originally Posted by chunker21

You bought the yugo of RVs from the bernie madoff of manufacturers. Sorry for your issues with this and the cap. Personally I won't have a full wall slide and what you are experiencing is one of the reasons. It's too easy for the "hole in the wall" to be built not square and too easy for that hole to get out of square. But it's yours so let me recommend that if you are going to keep it make sure you are absolutely level and stable before opening a slide. NEVER use auto level, ALWAYS manually level. Never level it with a tire off the ground. Get enough blocks/boards to put under tires so they stay firmly on the ground when leveling and only level enough to stabilize the body.

Assuming your BT36 is 4WD, the front suspension has very little travel and is easy, especially with a slope to the front, to have front tires come off the ground. That contributes to body flex and the FWS binding.

There's a reason your 2022 model was on the market used. Previous owner had "issues" and dumped it. I did that with my 2021. I was contacted by the new owner after he bought it with questions. Wish he'd called before he bought it.

I also suggest you read of the deficiencies that the omni and magnitudes have. I don't call them defects because a defect is an error in the building process and these are built just like thor wants them, deficient.

Yes, we've already encountered a seemingly endless list of issues with our BT36. Many of them we've been able to address ourselves, but some of them are much more serious, as with the full wall slide. That said, we own this unit and need to come up with a plan. We're planning to take it to a Thor service center this week for them to evaluate it. While I'm not optimistic that Thor will agree to address the slide problem, I will at least ask them to do so.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by ShoppingNinja

Yes, we've already encountered a seemingly endless list of issues with our BT36. Many of them we've been able to address ourselves, but some of them are much more serious, as with the full wall slide. That said, we own this unit and need to come up with a plan. We're planning to take it to a Thor service center this week for them to evaluate it. While I'm not optimistic that Thor will agree to address the slide problem, I will at least ask them to do so.

Check with Judge and his issues and remedy. You've read about the cap and what kwplot did. good luck.

[labdaddy2001@yahoo.com]

I am having the same issue with my 2021 Thor Magnitude SVR. The coach only has 2 k miles and the slide is not centered properly. My belief is that it came from the factory this way but while I will contact Thor, I will be surprised if they take ownership of the problem as their one year warranty has expired. Not at all sure that a shim kit is the answer so I would love to hear if anyone has done that and how well it worked out.

[RACarvalho]

Follow the procedure in this LCI report and check if the slide is off beyond the tolerance

[RACarvalho]

Originally Posted by labdaddy2001@yahoo.com

I am having the same issue with my 2021 Thor Magnitude SVR. The coach only has 2 k miles and the slide is not centered properly. My belief is that it came from the factory this way but while I will contact Thor, I will be surprised if they take ownership of the problem as their one year warranty has expired. Not at all sure that a shim kit is the answer so I would love to hear if anyone has done that and how well it worked out.

Last year I had the entire schintek system, including motors, replaced under warranty.
It was replaced because the dealer was not able to put the slide under the stated tolerance.
Measure your slide per the procedure above, then take it to your dealer and ask for repair under warranty.

[ShoppingNinja]

Originally Posted by labdaddy2001@yahoo.com

I am having the same issue with my 2021 Thor Magnitude SVR. The coach only has 2 k miles and the slide is not centered properly. My belief is that it came from the factory this way but while I will contact Thor, I will be surprised if they take ownership of the problem as their one year warranty has expired. Not at all sure that a shim kit is the answer so I would love to hear if anyone has done that and how well it worked out.

We've had the worked completed to shim the gear track on our full-wall slide. I've attached a picture of one of the tracks after the work. You probably wouldn't notice the difference if you didn't know the work had been done. The full wall slide is now moving in and out smoothly. Will this be a durable repair? It's hard to say, but for now, it gets us back on the road.

[RACarvalho]

Originally Posted by ShoppingNinja

.... Has anyone else had this same issue, with with a Thor Omni or Magnitude or another type of RV? If so, I'd appreciate your feedback on how the shim kit worked and whether it sufficiently addressed the problem. TIA.

When the dealer went to change the entire schintek on my unit under warranty because they could not set it under LCIs tolerance guide, they discovered that one of the reasons was because the hole in the wall was not cut properly and there was excess material making the hole not square.
The dealer had to cut the excess fiberglass/luan in order to assemble the system under their +- 1/8in tolerance....

[Judge]

Originally Posted by ShoppingNinja

We've had the worked completed to shim the gear track on our full-wall slide. I've attached a picture of one of the tracks after the work. You probably wouldn't notice the difference if you didn't know the work had been done. The full wall slide is now moving in and out smoothly. Will this be a durable repair? It's hard to say, but for now, it gets us back on the road.

The picture of your tracks brings something to mind….. especially seeing the bolt head.

Many people have had issues with screws backing out of their tracks causing screws to hang up the slide or tracks to become loosr and misaligned.

Loose screws are a major problem throughout Thor coaches because metal is thin…. screws are too small, too short and low quality….. and the gorillas working the assembly line use too much torque on their screw guns.

When I had the Schwintek mechanism replaced with the Vroom slide sysyem, they use rivets everywhere… the tracks… the H-Column mount and the seals. While rivets are more of a hassle to remove if something needs repaired/ replaced, you never have to worry about them lossening with critical parts.