Slide

[Bobm1964]

Any ideas?
Slide works perfect, but all of a sudden now does not close flush on one side.

[Nursx2]

My 2015 Hurricane 34 J does same thing. The flange is also starting to pull away from the side - silicone is coming off. I figure it is just a result of the shoddy craftsmanship of Thor.

[gmc]

The Schwintek system counts on timing - the same number of revolutions on each motor to open/close... Partially opened (and probably other things) can cause the timing to get out of synch - it should be always fully opened or closed.
I haven't had to do this yet on mine -but here is a You Tube video on retiming the system:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSafAnjxIV4

[Bobm1964]

I will try this when I get home, have you seen this before as the cause of this issue?

[neeliec]

We had this problem in the first few days of having our coach home. We spent a long time looking through manuals, checking online, etc. and found this solution.

It worked - just like the video clip shows. So far things have worked just fine. We always remember to hold down the slide button an extra 5 seconds after the slide is either in or out. That seems to do the trick!

Hope this solves your issue!

[Bobm1964]

So here we are with this:
I've re-synced the motors, made sure coach was level prior to syncing, extending and retracting.
When the slide is extended, all is well, it moves beautifully, doesn't seem to bind at all, and the outside molding/plate is perfectly flush with all rivots sitting in their appropriate holes, the 2 on the bottom need a tap, but they sit well.
When the slide is retracting, the bottom rivot and the one above it pop out causing the slide to not seal properly. I will try to put pictures .
Does anyone think I should try to put new rivots in where the ones pop out ( can a rivot go bad?).
The question is, is it the rivots causing the problem, which it's an easy fix, or does anyone think something else might be going on?

[Bobm1964]

Another pic

[Bobm1964]

Sry the pic are sideways

[09 Challenger]

The rivets have obviously loosened I would suspect something is torqueing them causing them to loosen or they just weren't installed correctly

[fhenn]

I would try and replace them they could be the cause of your problem

[Bobm1964]

Is this something I may have caused by opening the slide on non level ground.
could it be that simple as to just pop in new rivots?

[Yosemitebob]

The system is designed to stop with obstructions, better that way than tearing things up. So not saying that is your problem, but it is enough of one to fix and try it again. Start elimating, and that is the most visible one so far, right? It is extreamly important to only operate your slide when level, be it the ground or on jacks.


You should be able to drill the top of the rivit with probably an 1/8" drill bit (check to make sure) and if it starts turning on you grab the head of the rivit with a plyers and carefully drill it out. Once the head is drilled off, it should just drop out. Replace with a like rivit, don't compound the problem by using too big of a rivit.

[Bobm1964]

I really appreciate the reply, I think in my haste to open the slide in my un-level driveway to show my family, I may have started the journey of un-necessary repairs.
I have since learned that lesson and don't do anything unless I've not only read about it, but watched the factory videos.
My question is if the old size rivot pulled, think it's probable that the same size replacement may do the same?
You sound experienced with this!

[Yosemitebob]

You will have to buy a pop riveter along with the correct size rivets. At least until you figure out how big the inside hole became. As I said drill the head of the rivet off the rest will fall inside. Can you get to the inside, if you can then you can add a rivet washer before expanding the rivet itself and that will cover the enlarged hole. If you can not get to the inside, then you have two options, drill a new hole to one side or the other and put the same size rivet in that came out or you can go to a larger rivet, but you want to be careful in either case you choose. Make sure a larger rivet will still work for clearance or if you drill for a new one, make sure you are not drilling into something you should not. I can't help you there, you have to check these.

You might want to check first to see how the rest of the rivets are along that same edge? There are others, right, these aren't the only ones?

If you have not done any riveting before, then experiment with some scrap material, try drilling a piece of thin metal drill two pieces of metal, insert the rivet and use the hand gun to set the rivet, watch what happens and you will understand the process.

[acsnook]

Hopefully, this isn't the problem you are having but I had to have my Schwintek slide serviced and they had to reset one of the tracks as it was off 1/4 inch from the factory.. it sounds like the rivets are being overly stressed for some reason..

[Bobm1964]

My hope is that when I opened the slide on a pretty un level ground not realizing that this was probly one of the worst things to do, caused it.

[Kirby]

on replacing the rivet. I would also suggest using an aircraft style rivet like cherry max or something like that. they are solid core and much stronger than normal hardware store pop rivets.

[Kenneth Neal]

I too have a Schwintek slide out which has been a headache. Be careful. Dealing with rivets this size is not for amateurs. If you use rivets they will have to be larger than the ones that are loose. You'll need an industrial strength rivet gun and experience on how to use it. I had problems with my rivets and I had them all replaced with male/female bolts (a.k.a sex bolts. barrels bolts, Chicago bolts). Holes were drilled all the way through the framing member so there is a bolt head on the inside as well as outside. These bolts come with low profile heads and don't interfere with opening and closing of the slide. This method gives superior strength and is easily reversible should the need arise. BTW my Lippert owners manual indicates that the slide should be attached with screws, but Thor has chosen to use rivets. For this temperamental slide out system to function reliably all components must be square, level and plumb.

[Bobm1964]

That was my thought was to put bolts through it, is it an accurate statement that on the other side of the rivots is the metal strip?
I actually am not going to attempt this myself, worth it to me to have a professional do this.
I do like the idea of bolts!!!
Did you ever find out the reason why your rivots popped?

[Kenneth Neal]

My rivets didn't pop or come loose. I own a 2012 Daybreak. On that model year the only way to replace defective slideout motors was to approach from the outside by removing all the rivets. My motors had to be replaced three times. Each time they had to drill bigger holes and use larger rivets. My mechanic suggested using male/female bolts instead of rivets. It not only provided a more secure attachment, it's reversible. No more drilling larger and larger holes.