Schwintek slide screws

[Ragman]

Not one of the fifty screws on my 16' slide were tight.
Secured with blue Loc-tite. 2015 Hurricane 32n.
Thank you!!!!

[Tom Bowe]

I had to replace the screws on the lower slide trim with stainless steel screws, also on a ‘15 32n. Heads were popping off the original screws.

[VJRocky]

Originally Posted by bruno1950

Have a full side slide on my ACE. Word to the wise here. Check all the screws used to attach the gear brackets to the slide. There are about 8 or ten screws holding the two top brackets on both sides of the slide
If you haven’t done it, make sure they are all in tight. I had one start to back out which caused the slide to stop about 4 inches from full retraction. It bent the screw head, which made it a bitch to get out. Had to use manual override to get it closed. Probably will have to replace a motor soon. Making a grinding noise.
I think when I get to my next stop I’ll spend the whole day going over every screw, but and bolt I can find. Probably should have done that a year ago.

I recently checked the slide track screws on my Hurricane. I was able to tighten most of them from a half turn to more than a full turn. Thanks for the heads up.

[Mel556180]

Attempted to check my slide track screws, but none of of the bits in my my “every bit known to man” kit fit...

What is the bit For the Thor OEM screws?

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Mel556180

Attempted to check my slide track screws, but none of of the bits in my my “every bit known to man” kit fit...

What is the bit For the Thor OEM screws?

Normally its a Robertson #2 square bit

[rlcpe]

Originally Posted by Mel556180

Attempted to check my slide track screws, but none of of the bits in my my “every bit known to man” kit fit...

What is the bit For the Thor OEM screws?

#2 square drive bit works on all screws on mine

[BradnKaren]

Bringing up an old thread for some help. We have a 2017 Challenger with rusty screws on the slide tracks. We're getting ready to replace them with stainless now. Nearly every one of the screws on both slides is rusted. My husband just pulled out a couple on the lower track of the bedroom slide, and all were pretty wet. The whole screw is rusted, not just the head. We have had light rain this morning and a high wind and rain event on Friday with the slides extended.

My concern is that the screws are wet because there's a leak in the bedroom slide window that is above that area where the screws were removed. Screws on the other side of that same slide, also with a window, show no signs of being wet. No sign of wetness inside the RV.

Or is it possible that rain just got into the screw holes because they were not tight? This is what my husband thinks happened. His plan is to put a dab of silicone on each new screw as he puts them in. he's using a slightly larger #12 screw.

Thoughts and/or personal experience appreciated!

[BradnKaren]

First pic is of the bedroom slide track where the wet screws came from. Second pic from the dry side of the slide. 3rd pic is the wet and very rusty screw that came out of the bedroom slide track.

I'm afraid to start removing screws from the big slide.

[Ragman]

I don't like the looks of the corroded screws. Is your RV parked close to salt water? What year is your RV?

I think I would replace the screws with stainless steel ones, one at a time. If the first new screws strips out, you can go up a size.

If that works, fine. But the cause of the cause is still undetermined. To get to the bottom of this could get expensive. Do you have insurance?

If the screw replacements work, I'd call it good unless you plan on keeping the RV for many years.

[Nanaimo]

Brad and Karen, some of my screws look like that also. I am removing them all filling hole with silicon and then replacing with a stainless screw. I am surprised how loose most of the screws are. I have a 2015 Challenger. Let us know how it goes, and make sure to reseal joints and cracks every year. I have used a lot of Eternal Bond tape on seams and skylights.

[JamieGeek]

When you take a screw out push a Q-Tip (if it fits) or a toothpick in the hole and pull it out. Is it wet? If so yes you have a leak.

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by Ragman

I don't like the looks of the corroded screws. Is your RV parked close to salt water? What year is your RV?

I think I would replace the screws with stainless steel ones, one at a time. If the first new screws strips out, you can go up a size.

If that works, fine. But the cause of the cause is still undetermined. To get to the bottom of this could get expensive. Do you have insurance?

If the screw replacements work, I'd call it good unless you plan on keeping the RV for many years.

Yeah, some reason the nuts on the windshield wiper blades on my MH looked about the same, rusty and about that quickly too.

[lazinskm]

Well i went to look at my screws and they are defintely bad i have the slide rail moving about 1/2 inch and right now Is it lined up correctly. However the slide is still working fine. Anybody have to realign this before putting new screws in? As well what depth screw are you using for these and are you putting them in the same holes or drilling new ones

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by Tearstone

I don't know about you all, but I bought my rig brand new with the screws already rusting out. I've been replacing them with stainless steel ones as I have time. I see they addressed this with the 2018 models along with a better entry door lock.

Now this has me a bit concerned, I'll need to go through and check all my slide screws to ensure they are all in before retracting the slides now. Thank you for the heads up!

Seems like they use cheap hardware. Also seems like replacing every nut, bolt, washer and screw with stainless steel is worth doing but intensive work. Maybe when doing it, get the size and thread of the screws, write it down and get some baby food jars to store the extra.

[Beau388]

Be advised the strength of 18-8 stainless steel screws and bolts is no better than grade 2 as most grades of stainless steel can not be hardened. Unless you search out the industrial grades of stainless steel (316 or 410) you risk loosing strength over a grade 2 bolt (typical hardware grade). The silicon bronze bolts and screws offer better corrosion resistance and 20% more strength than 18-8 stainless steel.

[lazinskm]

Man, I just saw my post in May about doing this and am kicking myself If anyone has had a slide rail move and has fixed please speak up- i am nervous about this. if it doesn't move easily do i just put back in its current location- the slide is moving fine w/ it this way. There is no motor at the bottom correct- does anyone know what the mechanism is down there? .

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by Beau388

Be advised the strength of 18-8 stainless steel screws and bolts is no better than grade 2 as most grades of stainless steel can not be hardened. Unless you search out the industrial grades of stainless steel (316 or 410) you risk loosing strength over a grade 2 bolt (typical hardware grade). The silicon bronze bolts and screws offer better corrosion resistance and 20% more strength than 18-8 stainless steel.

I had that same thought. I’ve had a few failures in the past after replacing steel hardware with stainless. I don’t do it anymore save for light duty or decorative applications. Or unless I can add a few new screws or bolts to supplement the original. Probably be ok but, as I said, I’ve had failures.

[BradnKaren]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

When you take a screw out push a Q-Tip (if it fits) or a toothpick in the hole and pull it out. Is it wet? If so yes you have a leak.

Have only removed a few screws so far but I tried that with a toothpick covered in a tissue with the one that was badly rusted, and it came out dry. Others were dry also. Hopefully it's just that water got in that one screw hole because the screw was loose. Thanks for the tip! Will be curious to see what all the other screws look like as we remove them.

We've got some replacement screws of the same size, and some one size up. LOTS and lots of rusty screws on this rig. I just can't believe they used cheap screws that rust to hold this 6 figure coach together. Scary stuff.

[BradnKaren]

Originally Posted by Ragman

I don't like the looks of the corroded screws. Is your RV parked close to salt water? What year is your RV?

I think I would replace the screws with stainless steel ones, one at a time. If the first new screws strips out, you can go up a size.

If that works, fine. But the cause of the cause is still undetermined. To get to the bottom of this could get expensive. Do you have insurance?

If the screw replacements work, I'd call it good unless you plan on keeping the RV for many years.

Ordered 200 good quality stainless screws in two sizes. The RV is parked near saltwater 6 months out of the year, usually with the slides extended for long periods of time. It's our beach house.

We intend to keep this RV at least until DH retires in 5 years, then may upgrade to a DP for that cross country trip we have planned for the first year of retirement. Gotta keep this one in tip top shape. Fortunately DH is handy and I'm really OCD about keeping stuff looking like new, much to DH's chagrin.

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by BradnKaren

Ordered 200 good quality stainless screws in two sizes. The RV is parked near saltwater 6 months out of the year, usually with the slides extended for long periods of time. It's our beach house.

We intend to keep this RV at least until DH retires in 5 years, then may upgrade to a DP for that cross country trip we have planned for the first year of retirement. Gotta keep this one in tip top shape. Fortunately DH is handy and I'm really OCD about keeping stuff looking like new, much to DH's chagrin.

Don't know much about this subject about corroding screws on RVs (I was in the Navy a long time and they looked at this corrosion very differently- remove the screw, remove corrosion, replace with new screw, zinc chromate the area then paint the area), but can you also buy corrosion resistant screws or other hardware from maybe a boat dealer that deals with this all the time? How do the boat folks do it?