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Old 10-04-2022, 12:07 AM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Arizona
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THOR #27217
Full wall slide not square - anyone had to deal with this?

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 in the box.


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.

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Old 10-04-2022, 02:16 AM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
State: Florida
Posts: 4,139
THOR #12751
Full wall slide not square - anyone had to deal with this?

The Schwintek Mechanism requires the tolerances be within 1/8”. How far out of square is the opening vs the slide box?

What is your slide doing / not doing besides eating motors?

The coach not being leveled properly can also twist things enough to make it appear out of square when it’s really not. I recommend only manually leveling with a quality level and not using AutoLevel.

While being out of square may be your issue, it may also be what I experienced with my Magnitude SV34 and what many others experienced…. the Schwintek Mechanism is not equipped to reliably operate a heavy, full-wall slide.

About 70 - 80% of owners with heavy, full-wall slides using the Schwintek mechanism experience slide issues. More often than not it is because the Scwintek Mechanism is a poor design for a heavy full-wall slide that will likely fail at some point… and often fail more than once.

I had multiple issues with the slide in my SV34. I also went through a couple motors as well as other issues. I finally had the Schwintek mechanism replaced with the Vroom Slide System last October. The performance and reliability is night and day. I have not had a single issue in 12 months. The slide is quieter and moves faster and the motors don’t sound like they are struggling to move the slide.

There several threads about the Vroom Slide System. You will find several posts from me about the failure points with the Schwintek mechanism. You will also find posts from people with similar issues and they ultimately had the Vroom system installed.

You may want to read those thread and think about contacting Vroom. Every owner who replaced their Schwintek mechanism with the Vroom Slide System had been very happy. The design of the Vroom system is light years ahead of the LCI / Schwintek design.

Another issue is that the floor rollers Thor uses have been failing / collapsing in the full wall slides causing the slide to drag. Vroom has been seeing these roller failures when replacing the Schwintek mechanism in Thor’s with full-wall slides.

Before you spend money on repairs, find out how far out of square your wall and slide box is and find out what the issue is based on your failure / issues. If you are out of square, there should be signs of rubbing / abnormal wear and not just motor failure.

I would not be surprised if you are just having the same issues that myself and some other Omni / Magnitude owners have had as well as owners of othet models with a heavy, full-wall slide.

It will cost you ~$3500 for the Vroom system but it will be the best upgrade you could do for your coach if you plan to keep it several years and want the slide to be reliable.

One last thing… all Vroom does is slides for RV’s. Nothing else. So I would consider them experts even over an experienced general RV shop when it comes to slides. You are two hours from Vroom if you are in Scottsdale so you owe it to yourself to explore them as an option.

Vroom is booking into June 2023 already because of the demand. However, if you call Vroom Engineering and ask for Brian, he may be willing to squeeze you in last minute if he has a cancellation since you are two hours away. Or at the very least he may be able to get you in just to verify your slide issue is because it is out of square or whether you are just having the same issues as the rest of us were before we Vroom’ed.
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Old 10-04-2022, 03:54 AM   #3
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State: Arizona
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THOR #27217
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judge View Post
The Schwintek Mechanism requires the tolerances be within 1/8”. How far out of square is the opening vs the slide box?

What is your slide doing / not doing besides eating motors?

The coach not being leveled properly can also twist things enough to make it appear out of square when it’s really not. I recommend only manually leveling with a quality level and not using AutoLevel.

While being out of square may be your issue, it may also be what I experienced with my Magnitude SV34 and what many others experienced…. the Schwintek Mechanism is not equipped to reliably operate a heavy, full-wall slide.

About 70 - 80% of owners with heavy, full-wall slides using the Schwintek mechanism experience slide issues. More often than not it is because the Scwintek Mechanism is a poor design for a heavy full-wall slide that will likely fail at some point… and often fail more than once.

I had multiple issues with the slide in my SV34. I also went through a couple motors as well as other issues. I finally had the Schwintek mechanism replaced with the Vroom Slide System last October. The performance and reliability is night and day. I have not had a single issue in 12 months. The slide is quieter and moves faster and the motors don’t sound like they are struggling to move the slide.

There several threads about the Vroom Slide System. You will find several posts from me about the failure points with the Schwintek mechanism. You will also find posts from people with similar issues and they ultimately had the Vroom system installed.

You may want to read those thread and think about contacting Vroom. Every owner who replaced their Schwintek mechanism with the Vroom Slide System had been very happy. The design of the Vroom system is light years ahead of the LCI / Schwintek design.

Another issue is that the floor rollers Thor uses have been failing / collapsing in the full wall slides causing the slide to drag. Vroom has been seeing these roller failures when replacing the Schwintek mechanism in Thor’s with full-wall slides.

Before you spend money on repairs, find out how far out of square your wall and slide box is and find out what the issue is based on your failure / issues. If you are out of square, there should be signs of rubbing / abnormal wear and not just motor failure.

I would not be surprised if you are just having the same issues that myself and some other Omni / Magnitude owners have had as well as owners of othet models with a heavy, full-wall slide.

It will cost you ~$3500 for the Vroom system but it will be the best upgrade you could do for your coach if you plan to keep it several years and want the slide to be reliable.

One last thing… all Vroom does is slides for RV’s. Nothing else. So I would consider them experts even over an experienced general RV shop when it comes to slides. You are two hours from Vroom if you are in Scottsdale so you owe it to yourself to explore them as an option.

Vroom is booking into June 2023 already because of the demand. However, if you call Vroom Engineering and ask for Brian, he may be willing to squeeze you in last minute if he has a cancellation since you are two hours away. Or at the very least he may be able to get you in just to verify your slide issue is because it is out of square or whether you are just having the same issues as the rest of us were before we Vroom’ed.

Thank you for your very detailed and thoughtful response. I've done quite a bit of research on the Vroom slides and we'd love to get those done. I've contacted Vroom multiple times and at this point, they aren't doing slides over 20 feet. As you point out, we're two hours from Tucson and I made that same point to the contact at Vroom. We could be there within hours if they have a cancellation. However, until they resume doing larger slides, that doesn't appear to be a short-term option for us, since the slide in our BT36 is 22 feet.


However, I think your suggestion of trying to talk directly to Brian Vroom and explain the situation is worth following up on. If nothing else, they may be willing to review the situation with the slide and provide another opinion.


Thanks for your feedback!
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Old 10-04-2022, 04:07 AM   #4
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
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THOR #12751
Full wall slide not square - anyone had to deal with this?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShoppingNinja View Post
Thank you for your very detailed and thoughtful response. I've done quite a bit of research on the Vroom slides and we'd love to get those done. I've contacted Vroom multiple times and at this point, they aren't doing slides over 20 feet. As you point out, we're two hours from Tucson and I made that same point to the contact at Vroom. We could be there within hours if they have a cancellation. However, until they resume doing larger slides, that doesn't appear to be a short-term option for us, since the slide in our BT36 is 22 feet.


However, I think your suggestion of trying to talk directly to Brian Vroom and explain the situation is worth following up on. If nothing else, they may be willing to review the situation with the slide and provide another opinion.


Thanks for your feedback!

My slide is just under 23’ feet and they did it. I was therre last week for a check-up and they found a collapsed roller so they replaced my rollers.

I also know of several other Omni / Magnitude owners as well who have had it done in Tucson.

It is my understanding thelat Vroom is not doing the slides over 24’ like the slide on the Aria. Vroom has signed up Patriot RV Repair in Dallas to do the larger slides and install the new Quad Roller system.

Vroom is not a full blown RV repair shop. They are really and engineering and manufacturing shop. They are seeing lots of issues with very big slides and they are not equipped to deal with them in terms of parts, etc. so that is why Patriot RV is doing the slides 24’ and up and also installing the Quad Roller (which I don’t need being under 24’).

Now maybe that has sinced changed and Vroom is now limiting to 20’ in their Tucson shop and using new partners like Patriot RV to handle the bigger slides with the Vroom System.

I would call the number for Vroom Engineering, ask to speak to Brian and explain your situation. When I was there last week they were doing a slide that looked as large as mine on a Tiffin Class A.

Also… I know of a couple people who had full-wall slides that would not retract because they were not properly level. When one of them measured their slide box with the slide out, they thought it was not square. When they adjusted the jacks for a better level, the slide came in and the measurements were within spec.

I’m just saying your slide issue may not be due to it being out of square. A little too much twist or torque in the chassis with these long full-wall slides and they could essily measure as out of square and cause slide problems the Schwintek mechanism can’t handle.

If Vroom doesn’t want to do your slide in Tucson because of the size, I would contact Patriot RV Repair in the Dallas area to try and get on their schedule to have them install the Vroom System.
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Old 10-04-2022, 03:59 PM   #5
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Question for judge, if sometime in the future you did need parts to repair vroom system, is Bryan going to supply individual parts. We're heading from Pennsylvania to patriot rv for vroom installation on our 24ft slide next month.
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Old 10-04-2022, 04:12 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShoppingNinja View Post
.... the problem as the hole where the full-wall slide is installed is not square.
Is it not squared because the aluminum wall studs where welded not square or because the guy with the router did a lousy job?

In my case, when they went to change the full wall slide mechanism under warranty and took the slide out "out" , the dealer found that hole in the wall as not cut right and so they had to trim the fiberglass/luan in order to have the opening properly square....
If that is the case, the wall should be fixed and not chims added....
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Old 10-04-2022, 04:19 PM   #7
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Judge,
what exactly is happening with the rollers?
are they simply failing (plastic roller cracking, etc) or the rollers are sinking into the floor?
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Old 10-04-2022, 08:56 PM   #8
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Model: Hurricane 31S
State: Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RACarvalho View Post
Is it not squared because the aluminum wall studs where welded not square or because the guy with the router did a lousy job?

In my case, when they went to change the full wall slide mechanism under warranty and took the slide out "out" , the dealer found that hole in the wall as not cut right and so they had to trim the fiberglass/luan in order to have the opening properly square....
If that is the case, the wall should be fixed and not chims added....
Thor plant 750 no longer uses a pattern and a hand router to cut holes in the walls and side skirts (basement). Plant 750 now uses a CNC router table where the wall/skirt is laser aligned. Since the outer slide wall is the same panel cut from the coach's wall, measuring the diagonals will tell if the computer program made a mistake.

That doesn't prove the slide room is square. In plant 750 most living-room slide's sides, top and bottom are cut from the same panel on the router table, so they should be square. The room's assembly is where the problem lies. The room is assemble in a jig before it is bonded. The floor workers use cargo straps to pull it into square, then bond it to the outer wall. Hopefully it remains square on today's roads.
Entegra REDs install the slides without the outer wall. The floor worker then use adjustable spacers to align the coach's wall gaps with the slide's wall and top, so the gaps are the same even if the room is not square. Entrgra uses an electric in-floor slide system, so the floor of the slide is always parallel to the coach's frame and floor. Only when the slide fits perfectly in the opening is the outer wall bonded to the slide room. Since this takes a long time, there are five stations on the production line devoted just to assembling the 4 slide rooms on most coaches. The slides are installed with the coach on air, so Entegra state no slides are to be moved unless the engine is running and the coach is on air and not jacks

Factory visits are informative.
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Old 10-04-2022, 09:20 PM   #9
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Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
State: Florida
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THOR #12751
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrapped View Post
Question for judge, if sometime in the future you did need parts to repair vroom system, is Bryan going to supply individual parts. We're heading from Pennsylvania to patriot rv for vroom installation on our 24ft slide next month.

I had Brian retrofit two LCI motors for me when he was installing the system last year since my feeling was the motors or controller would fail before the actual Vroom hardware. I already carried a spare controller so with two motors I was set to address most issues on my own.

I don't have anything in writing but Brian told me last year he would probably warranty his hardware for 10-years. I'm not sure that is realistic and whether that was his final decision but I have had enough interaction with him that I am confident he will provide any of his hardware should there be a failure.
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Old 10-04-2022, 09:35 PM   #10
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
State: Florida
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THOR #12751
Full wall slide not square - anyone had to deal with this?

Quote:
Originally Posted by RACarvalho View Post
Judge,

what exactly is happening with the rollers?

are they simply failing (plastic roller cracking, etc) or the rollers are sinking into the floor?




There are two adjustable rollers on the Thor full-wall slides.... one in the front of the slide and one in the back. The plastic roller is connected to a two-piece metal housing that is moveable around a hinge so the roller can be adjusted as necessary.



The hinge is nothing more than one small pin / pivot point on each end of the metal housing. The slides are so big and heavy that the metal housing pulls away from the pin / pivot point and it collapses. Then the roller can't spin and it drags under the slide floor.



On the surface it looks like the metal is strong but when you see the pivot point, it is obvious (to me at least) that the heavy weight of the slide and the movement back and forth would cause the metal to begin to spread and come off the pins and allow the roller assembly to collapse.

If there was a metal rod through the entire assembly acting as a true hinge, then I think the roller assembly might hold up better.
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Old 10-04-2022, 10:26 PM   #11
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Model: 2020 Magnitude BH35
State: Utah
Posts: 95
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A couple of thoughts -

1. Even if you are a second owner, I think you are still under warranty with a 2022 unit. Have you spoken with Thor?

2. I had a tech tell me the same thing when I had the DS slide motor replaced. I contacted Thor Owner Support. They apparently have had issues in this area, because the rep sent me a specific set of measurements for the tech to make. He stated that if those measurements showed the opening wasn't square that Thor would repair it under warranty (and my one year coverage was up!). Again, worth chatting with the Owner Support folks even if you are out of your one year end to end coverage.

3. In my case, the tech was up in the night. When he replaced the motor, he neglected to perform the re-timing sequence. Once I did that, I was back in business.

4. Just out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say the slide is inoperable?

I am heading to Tucson next month for Brian to do our BH35 DS slide. 22 feet, and no problem.
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