will you admit you did it??

[halfwright]

I am looking for someone who will admit they caught something behind a slide (in my case, it was a shoe) and bent the edge of the slide enough so that does not seal against the wall. And, then, after you talked about it in language that killed the plants in a 50 yard radius, how did you fix it?? I do not have a sledge hammer, so I am thinking of using my hydraulic jack as a hammer and a board to prevent scarring up the trim. Does anyone have a better way??

[bethandkevin]

Peppermill in the entertainment slide=3" hole in wall. CW supplied us with some trim tape that matched well after I pulled the panel out as much as possible.
The jack sounds like a better solution than a hammer-constant pressure and you can watch the result as you go. Once you swing the hammer-what happens, happens good or bad. (Or worse than when you started.)

[BB_TX]

So far just a partial roll of paper towels. No damage on that one.

[remhob]

Funny you should mention it. We just got home from snowbirding and when I opened the slides, I didn't notice that my brand new Christmas present laptop had slipped down on the floor. Got smashed in the dining room slide. Neither one has been fixed yet. The computer is at the Geek Squad. Fortunately my loving husband, how knows me pretty well also bought me the insurance on it.

[HamRad]

Jim,
We have had several things get caught behind the slide. Once a drawer came open and the slide caught it. Another time it was a can of soup. Each time we caught the fascia boards. One time we just took a rubber hammer and a rag and hammered it back into position. One time we had to drill a couple of holes for some screws. Worked fine and no problem with them sealing properly. Good luck. Dennis

[Glenn the fifth]

On my last Montana I had a cabinet door on the back side of the kitchen penninsula open up during travel. I did not check them all prior to opening slides back then (but do now). I had also just prior to that installed the second auto reset breaker for the slides because I had been having trouble with them stopping. Needless to say, the entertainment slide had plenty of power to break the cabinet door off and break the cabinet face on the hinge side of that door. A few new boards, some glue and some stain later...good as new! Lesson learned for about $25.00 and a couple of hours of wood working.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

First, a drawer under the fridge came open and the slide caught it. Fortunately, the noise was so awful that I stopped the slides in time so that no damage was done. That slide comes in all the way to the island counter in the kitchen, and I couldn't get around it to see behind it. Now I get on my hands and knees, crawl under the table and chairs, and poke a flashlight and hand mirror around the slide to check things before opening it.

Next, at a rally 2 years ago, one of the living room slides caught the living room-side door of a cabinet under the kitchen island. That bent the door hinges and pulled the door off, but Wayne was able to get the hinges into their original shapes so that they worked perfectly again. I did have to fill in the screw holes with liquid wood so that they'd hold the screws again. Now I bungee that door to the drawers on the kitchen side of the island.

Last (it better be the last!), even after crawling around the rig with a flashlight and checking behind the slides, etc., a can of "Aspen Flowers" Pier 1 room spray managed to bounce out of a basket on the floor and roll behind a piece of slide trim and out of sight. It didn't stop the slide or damage anything, but I heard a huge POW, followed by a long "whoosh," and then smelled a wonderful aroma. The slide compressed the can, exploding it and giving me an hour-long project digging it out with a screwdriver and pliers.

So, yes--some of us have been there and done that, and we admit it! After I added "check slide areas" to my departure/arrival check list, I've had no more problems. It is, however, hard as the dickens to crawl around in our trailer (the 3585SA floor plan) when the slides are in. But, on your hands and knees is the ONLY way you can check the living room and kitchen slides.

Carolyn

[Parts Ed]

We picked our 5th wheel trailer up from the dealer and brought it home to show the "kids", as I was running the rear slide out I heard a noise which didn't sound to good and the slide stopped moving. So the wife shimmies back to the kitchen area to find that the drawer wasn't fully closed at the dealership and had moved outwards hitting the slide and getting caught. Well it ruined the drawer, bent all the slides for the drawer and broke the inside support for the drawer. The dealership stepped up to the plate and ordered everything needed for me to replace the drawer and now we have a child-proof latch/catch on that drawer so it doesn't ever happen again.

[DonandBonnie]

Only caught a blister pack of medication that fell out of an overhead cabinet. No damage to the slide but the pills were DOA. Our new rule is to move the slideout only far enough to squeeze past to inspect the slideout for fallen objects before fully opening.

Please don't ask about improper hitch ups resulting in dropped trailers.

[bigskyjimmy]

That's the big reason I do not use the remote to open and close the slides, been there done that fortunately I have caught it before there was damage

[TLightning]

quote:Originally posted by halfwright

...I am looking for someone who will admit they caught something behind a slide...

Would you like a list?? We've caught a number of things behind a slide. However, when moving a slide, one of us is inside pushing the button (no remotes in 07) and watching and the other is outside watching. If the slide even hicups, it's power off, check it out. Although we've caught lots of things, no damage that can't be very easily fixed.

[Bill-N-Donna]

I’ve done it; I got a drawer caught on the slide in our previous Montana 3295RK. That cost me a trip to a carpenter shop but all is well.

[DarMar]

Lamp here!!! Fortunately only the shade was crushed, simple replacement of shade and we are back in business.

[snfexpress]

Well, in two rigs, we've had three "incidents".

Entertainment slide took out cabinet door that came open. It was on our 3400 and was the door facing away from the kitchen.

On our 340RLQ, we had the Level Up system put in. It has a much larger pump and as a result, the slides move much quicker. So,

Our kitchen slide contacted a decorative shelf that fell down, putting a small hole in the wall and shifting the rack and pinion off a few teeth on the drive side. Fixed this in a parking lot, including adjusting the teeth problem by adjusting with the slide remote and a 2x4.

Our Dining Room slide got bent all out of whack when something got in its way. It was really bad, at first look. Took off the trim and saw that the piece of wood that attaches to the aluminum frame was broken and at an angle. Again, used the slide remote and a larger 2x4 to help put the wood back in position. Once back, used additional drywall screws to hold it in place with the aluminum frame. Put the trim back on after a trip to the hardware store to get some finish nails.

Like many others, we do not use the slide remote to regularly open or close the slides. Kat opens and closes them from the inside so she can watch and listen. If we have to open the slides in cramped quarters, we are on the phone and I use the remote from the outside, but Kat is still on the inside. Also, we only open one slide at a time by using the control valves.

Oh well...I'm sure we've all had some mishaps!

[DQDick]

Lost a cabinet door and a wall decoration.

[tim43]

Speaker cover came off, landed on the top of the BR slide and went to the outside when opened. Had fun getting it out from under the rubber gasket. Tore a cabinet door off in an SOB once. Now, all cabinets that can be are Velcroed shut and I do a walk through the rig prior to opening the slides.

[grampachet]

I keep a nice atomic clock on the wall above the living room slide. After one trip my DW was putting out the slide and called for my help. She said it wont pgo out. So I figured it was in a bind so ran it in and back out. There was a very loud bang and I visualized the whole slide falling out. After picking up some flying pieces I realized what it was. Thankful it wasn't the slide, disappointed I ruined the clock. No damage to the Monty.

[Art-n-Marge]

I let my BIL operate the slides and while I was outside ensuring the extending slide didn't hit anything (the slide has the entertainment center, fireplace and desk with desk chair). I had parked into a tight spot and measured that we should fit, but I just wanted to see to make sure. As the slide extended I heard a disappointing crunch coming from inside the Monty. I slammed on the side of the slide to get him to stop and raced inside. As the slide moved out somehow the desk chair got caught on something and it became a splintered mess but there was no other damage to anything else. Needless to say, the chair was damaged beyond repair.

I still haven't replaced it! Since we have the two recliners and a three seat sofa, that seems to satisfy most seating needs even with visitors. Or we grab a chair or three from the dining table. We don't really miss it and I feel fortunate that was the only casualty, but I'm sure I'll replace it with something in the far future.

[Phil P]

Only once.

The first time I opened the slides.

Wife had put a metal container on the rear entertainment counter. Caught the drivers side rear slide and pushed the trim off the slide frame. I just used a 2X4 and hammer to put the wood back and the nail set to drive the trim nails back in.

On the 3665RE you can run the Dinning room slider (passenger side slide) out far enough to walk between it and the counter to look at all of the living area slides before they are fare enough out to contact any thing.

The bedroom slide can be opened enough to lie across the bed and make sure wife’s slippers aren’t on the floor LOL.

Phil P

[Clemson1881]

To make repairs the wood facia boards can be popped off easily. Just be careful. Then you can put some more screws in to pull the board back. The facia boards just tap back on. I helped a guy at Ocean Lakes who messed up his kitchen slide pretty badly. Cabinet door got it. But we got him back to where you couldn't tell it ever happened.