We have a front living room model. We noticed our hydraulically operated bedroom slide (passenger side, aft part of Monty) wasn't completely closed at the bottom front edge, with about a 1 inch gap. Back edge looked normal. When we tried to cycle it in/out, it was trying to shift sideways and move at an angle, not straight in or out. We thought maybe something had fallen between the slide and the frame. Not the problem...
Thanks to the Forum, last year I had heard of this condition in conjunction with broken bolt(s) that secure the "follow-up" mechanism underneath the slide. This "torque tube" connects the two big gears that ride on the toothed tracks under the slide. This is what keeps the slide moving straight in or out, even though the hydraulic actuator piston is mounted way off center of the slide.
Crawled underneath and, sure enough, the bolt was missing from one end of the torque tube. We were able to get the slide alignment back to correct by "bumping" the switch until the slide was straight, best we could tell. Realigned bolt hole the same way, then installed a new bolt. I had purchased the necessary bolts last year. Everything seems OK for now.
Now, the questions for the Forum...first, when checking the slide area, I discovered a crack in the fiberglass at the upper rear corner of the slide opening. It is about 2 1/2 inches long, normal "crack" width, and extends at a 45 degree angle up and back from that corner. (Picture posted below) It appears to be a stress crack, most probably caused by the mis-alignment of the slide when we retracted it without knowing about the missing bolt. I will "stop drill" it, caulk it, and watch for any changes. Any other repair suggestions?
I probably should contact Keystone to get the info into our records there, just in case it is a more significant problem than we believe. It is possible that an underlying slide frame problem caused the slide to bind somewhat, causing the bolt to shear to begin with. We will obviously keep an eye on that possibility and observe the slide operation carefully. Any comments/suggestions re that thought?
Last, I tried a Forum search for the item from last year which related to this problem. No luck. Anyone else able to dig it out of the postings/archives? I remember Dale (MIMF2) giving us the bolt size/type specifics.
Thanks,