groaning slides on our Miramar

[jbrosecity]

Hi... we have a 2019 Thor Motor Coach Miramar 32.2... it has ben registered less than 2 years. We are always careful to level the coach before operating the slides. There is one full body slide on the driver's side and a small slide on the passenger side for the king size bed. Both slides have taken to groaning when going in and out. The rubber seals seem supple enough. I cannot tell if the noise is coming from the seals or the slide tracks or what. They seem to operate ok... but the groaning is much worse that any other motorhome or 5th wheel I have owned. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Scubawise]

We have been in wet high humidity areas and rubber makes noise..in dryer goes away

[jbrosecity]

Thanks for the reply... I wish it were that simple... but we have been in the desert for the past week -We're in Victorville, CA tonite and it is quite noisy... no humidity at all

[m1noel]

I would suggest getting on a ladder and checking your tracks for wear. Pull the outer seal back and check the v-rollers. One of our v-rollers disintegrated due to the tracks being out of parallel from the factory. Made for some pretty good groaning.
Mike

[jbrosecity]

Originally Posted by m1noel

Pull the outer seal back and check the v-rollers.
Mike

Thanks Mike... I'm on the road and don't have a tall ladder with me. What exactly are the v-rollers? the ones the bottom of the slide rolls on? Anyhow I only have a 4 footstep ladder on board. My wife and I both feel like the groaning is from the slide sides rubbing against the rubber seals. IT's tha kind of sound. I was thinking to try Premium RV Slide Out Lubricant from Thetford -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TRBIG4/
may spray the length the rubber seals - Maybe even pull them away from the slide side and spray underneath? Anyone have experience with slide seal lubrication? I have never had to do it with RV I have owned and this is newest one. seems odd

[Jimbo56]

Might try a good coat of wax. Assuming you’ve got schwintech slide gears. You can look at the rails and see if there is wear on teeth. A 4 ft ladder will get you there. Once you’re able to, try to lube the gibs. There are several good how to videos on YouTube.

[m1noel]

Originally Posted by jbrosecity

Thanks Mike... I'm on the road and don't have a tall ladder with me. What exactly are the v-rollers? the ones the bottom of the slide rolls on? Anyhow I only have a 4 footstep ladder on board. My wife and I both feel like the groaning is from the slide sides rubbing against the rubber seals. IT's tha kind of sound. I was thinking to try Premium RV Slide Out Lubricant from Thetford -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TRBIG4/
may spray the length the rubber seals - Maybe even pull them away from the slide side and spray underneath? Anyone have experience with slide seal lubrication? I have never had to do it with RV I have owned and this is newest one. seems odd

The v-rollers are nylon wheels mounted to the slide frame, just below each track. If you pull out the seal just below the lowest track, maybe use a flashlight, you will see what to look for on each other location.

[m1noel]

You might watch this video- He shows all the parts and how they work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQPIrVaSOlk

[wrapped]

With the slides in you can pull the rubber seals back and see the v rollers mine disintegrated ,there white and easy to see they ride in the bottom V groove of each track. Your floor rollers at each end should be adjustable if they are to low I believe this puts to much load on the v rollers and destroys them.

[jbrosecity]

thanks for the advice guys... I will check rollers in Las Vegas where we're headed today. I rather doubt there's any wear showing on the schwintek tracks.. I checked them not long ago and they looked factory fresh. I'm gonna stop by Camping World in Las Vegas and pick up some slide seal lube and I'll also try waxing the slide sides and I'll report back! Thanks again!

P.S. - did a quick overnight in Victorville CA behind a Cracker Barrel with their express permission and enjoyed the Friday night fish fry in there last night! Very tasty cod fillets! Steak fried and coleslaw were excellent also!

[MLP]

I have a huge slide. Finally found that cleaning, polishing all the slide surfaces, cleaning, lubing all rubber sweepers inside and out, and using dry lube on the gear tracks did the job. a Everything causes drag. You need to keep everything clean and slick. The RVIA/RVDA certified tech at my dealer told me to do all of this and keep it up. Works great now. Remember to clean the slide roof and the sweeper there as well.

[jbrosecity]

Thanks MLP.... I am gonna try all tis but my Schwintek tracks are showing some wear as I looked closely. I got a little advice from Lippert I am gonna try as well as the wax and lube ideas...I am to measure the gaps between track and frame all the way out and 3" from fully pulled in and compare... and then report that to them. Here's the video instruction they gave me:
In-Wall Slide-out Visual Inspection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pee-5W1ce8A

They also suggested I inspect the floor rollers underneath the slide to ensure they are all making full contact with the floor. Not too sure how to do that... I peeled back the seal on the bottom side and peered in but I don't see the rollers. I may have to get this looked at I guess, As for cleaning the top of the slides, no way to do that that I know of with a full body slide, unless a person could disconnect the slide topper. Beyond my pay grade

I have a hunch it is the Schwintek slide mechanisms. I'll report back after I have done everything.

[MLP]

Yes. Take a good flashlight and pull back the sweep seal ti see. The rollers are under the metal on the top of the slide. At least my slide has metal for the rollers to roll on. This also has to be clean. You can sink the system by holding the in and out switch for eight seconds after the slide comes in or out. Both need to be done to make sure that the controller knows the true end points. My slide failed and had to be fixed. It was not a motor, but the rails. My problem after about thirty ins and outs was the popping and noise when the slide went in. Out seemed to be ok. Once the Tech looked at it he knew that nothing was wrong except the excessive drag. Once I cleaned, waxed, or treated the sweep seals, it was smooth and no drag or noise. Perhaps your rails are warn too much, but if they need replacing, afterwards do not follow Swintech or Lipperts advice to spray dry lube on the motor's drive gear, but on the track itself. That is what my tech said and it runs smooth. Do not use anything but dry lube on the gear rails. I did not have to pay for the slide work because I had an extended warranty, but is was just over 4k here in California. I suspect less in most other states. The tech made a mistake in reassembly and routed the motor control cable outside rather than inside the internal columns and the cable was run over by the guide wheel. It froze the slide and destroyed the external frame and columns. Pushed the rivets out of the external frame. The dealer fixed it at their expense. I was lucky since it happened prior to thirty days after they delivered it back to me. Otherwise a small claims battle would have happened. I was not going to pay 4.5k in repairs do to the mistake their tech made. I and glad I did not just put it into storage, but exercise the slide at home twenty times.

[wrapped]

Pull up rubber flap on bottom of slide inside on floor with it all the way out, rollers are bolted to floor look outside under slide wherever there is a metal plate, look inside on floor there will be a roller, only the one at each end are adjustable with 1/2 inche socket and short extension, the rest of the rollers aren't adjustable. RV Care Pros are coming today to replace my rails, gear blocks and whatever else they find.

[MLP]

Sorry. Bad wording. The rollers are bolted to the floor under the slide and the bottom of the slide moves on top of the rollers. Keep that metal clean as well.

[wrapped]

Good news, the 2 gentleman from RV Care Pros did a rebuild on our schwintek full wall slide all good now, very courteous, knowledgeable and neat, cleaned up everything, I highly recommend them.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by wrapped

Good news, the 2 gentleman from RV Care Pros did a rebuild on our schwintek full wall slide all good now, very courteous, knowledgeable and neat, cleaned up everything, I highly recommend them.

Good to know ..looks like around the country?