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Old 04-02-2010, 04:13 PM   #1
jimkottke
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slide-outs&shear pins

I went to close the slide-out after a nice stay in Texas, when the shear pin broke. After trying to be quite at 5:30 in the morning I figured I should go to get a pin. Put new pin in and it came in. My question is should the slide-out be of equal distance on both sides when in the out position?
 
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Old 04-02-2010, 04:41 PM   #2
firetrucker
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Yes, it should. Check the clearance around the inside of the slide when it's open (or the clearance on the outside when it's almost closed). It should be evenly against the weather stripping all the way around.

I broke the gear pack on my 3400 recently, which saved me from having to replace the shear pin. It's easier to get a gear tooth or two off than it is to get the two shafts off by 180*, so I was careful to measure the opening on both sides of the slide before I put the new gear pack in place.

Bob
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Old 04-03-2010, 03:01 PM   #3
Bill-N-Donna
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Where exactly are these shear-pins located, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it. Does anyone have a photo of them?
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Old 04-03-2010, 05:01 PM   #4
firetrucker
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Look at the tube that connects the gear packs on both sides of the slide. At each end is a 1/4" bolt that SHOULD act as a shear bolt. Normally, shear bolts have a smaller diameter at some point along their length, which is where it should fail. Mine was a standard bolt, so the gear failed first.

Shear bolts are available at most hardware stores, but I'm not sure they are designed for this application. I've heard of people using grade 2 bolts, which are weaker than grade 5 or 8. Some people have ground grooves at the appropriate points in the bolt to make sure it will fail.

It's easy to measure the free end of the gear pack shaft to know where to put the grooves, so I guess I'll make up a bunch of them before our next trip.

Bob
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Old 04-04-2010, 04:26 PM   #5
dieselguy
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Here's a shot of the shear bolt. It the bolt just under the slide cylinder rod.
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Old 04-04-2010, 04:33 PM   #6
dieselguy
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Here's a quote from a previous post of Dale Brubaker, a guy that used to work for (or still does) Lippert, the outfit that makes the slides, in regards to the bolt selection.

Good afternoon everyone, just got done with another weekend at the campground with co-workers and friends. Food, beverage and a little rain. We were going to hook up my boat and head for Klinger Lake just west of Sturgi, MI. so we could have a little fun but, mother nature had other ideas.

Now, lets tend to business.

It used to be that we installed zinc-coated grade 8 1/4-20X1 1/2" long hex-head bolts. However, we are now recommending that you use the same bolt but, 2" in length. You will also need 1/4" ny-lok nuts. Those are the nuts that have the plastic insert to lock it when tight.

The shorter bolts, we found, left part of the threaded section of the bolt inside the cross-shaft. The threaded portion of a bolt is the weak area if there are two pieces of steel acting like a scissors. Eventually, it cuts thru the thread enough to weaken it and suddenly it snaps. If you use a bolt 2" in length, the shoulder is 1" long and the thread is 1" long. The shoulder is the stronger portion of the bolt and will not shear as quickly and the end of the shoulder will come out near the surface of the cross-shaft. On the smaller end of the cross-shaft, you will not be able to tighten the nut to the shaft surface. Simply bottom the nut to the bolt shoulder.

If any of you have any questions or would like to have this explained to you in more detail, please call me at my desk.
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Old 04-05-2010, 03:38 AM   #7
Tom S.
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Just so there's no confusion, this is the shear pin:

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Old 04-05-2010, 04:59 AM   #8
Unhitched
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What's a Guy to do if he is not Mechanicly inclined, and does not know how to change the bolt, or even know where to look for it, if the problem arose?

Should we all be carrying spare bolts in case this happens?
Is this a common occurance?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
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Old 04-05-2010, 05:39 AM   #9
firetrucker
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At least a handful of people have had the bolt snap (possibly because they were too short). After reading Dale's (MIMF) description, though, it doesn't sound like the new bolts are designed to be used as shear bolts.

After my experience, I'd carry a couple of them in my tool kit as insurance. Personally, I'll have a bunch made up specifically as shear bolts, which don't have the same weakness as a regular bolt that is stressed on the threads.

Bob
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Old 04-05-2010, 06:14 AM   #10
8.1al
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Unhitched,
This is not something I would lose any sleep over as it is not a common occurence but it does happen. Go to Home Depot or a good hardware and get a bolt as described in Dieselguy's post then take a good look at Tom S picture. Look under your slide and locate that pesky bolt, there is one at each end of that square tube, then stick that bolt someplace you can fine it. If one of those bolts ever breaks I'm sure you can find someone who will assist you, RVers are just that way.
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Old 04-06-2010, 01:13 PM   #11
sreigle
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Jimkottke, yes, as others said, the distance should be the same on each side. You probably know you can adjust this by removing the shear pin and turning the tube until the adjustment is right. Then reinsert the shear pin.

We have broken just one but it happened on a Sunday morning as we were breaking camp and were in Moab, UT, which has, at least at the time, I think just one small hardware store. And it was, of course, not open on Sunday. Fortunately I had a couple of spares I got from Dale Brubaker at one of the rallies. So now I make sure I have a couple of spares with us.
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Old 04-06-2010, 02:27 PM   #12
JimF
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Lost one, nut fell off, found a short link of a brand x, grade z metal and braded it in there, been fine for about 2 years. When desperate you can find something to do it with. Note, before I braded the metal, and because I was in a hurry, I wrapped it in tape to hold it in place so we could get down the road. Us Combat Engineers know stuff.
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Old 04-06-2010, 02:54 PM   #13
Glass Guy
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I also had one break last summer, and not like most mine broke at home just after returning from a weekend trip, so now I carry a couple extras.
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