Bulge in Side Panel: on the road and need help

[SteveandTerri]

The wife and I are on the road in Mojave, CA at the moment. Left home in Vacaville, CA 2 days ago. When we got here I noticed a bulge on the driver's side, at the lower skirt area, right in front of the Dining Room slide. Pictures are posted. Anyone have an idea what's happening? Thank You!

[1retired06]

From the picture, the sidewall appears normal, and bulge is limited to the skirting which may be separating/pulling away.

[SteveandTerri]

Thanks 1retired06 -

One other thing: when I extend the slide, it now seems to stick (only on that side) when it first starts to move. Viewing the slide from the interior - when extending it - the front of the slide seems to raise up 1/4 to 1/2-inch as it moves out the first inch or so. As my Dad would say, 'it seems to have a hitch in its get-along'... It didn't used to do that.... It's a 2017 305RL with cable slides.

[speedster100]

We lost the entire skirting coming home from Florida last year, they just use self tapping screws to hold it to the frame without any washers on the head of the screws and the vibration from travel eventually wore the holes large enough the skirting let go. When I was home I installed very large washers with a dab of silicone on the screws prior to reinstall on the new skirting and on all the skirting where it is attached to the framing. I did put a post on this site informing everyone that they need to check theirs and likely do the upgrade that should have already been done at the factory....

[SteveandTerri]

Originally Posted by speedster100

We lost the entire skirting coming home from Florida last year, they just use self tapping screws to hold it to the frame without any washers on the head of the screws and the vibration from travel eventually wore the holes large enough the skirting let go. When I was home I installed very large washers with a dab of silicone on the screws prior to reinstall on the new skirting and on all the skirting where it is attached to the framing. I did put a post on this site informing everyone that they need to check theirs and likely do the upgrade that should have already been done at the factory....

Thanks - I’ll check it!

[daveinaz]

From the picture, it just looks like the molding has pulled away. The sidewall looks okay to me.

[SteveandTerri]

Closing the story...

I took the rig to Allied RV Service in Sacramento (very good shop) and had them look at the bulge. They immediately recognized the problem: the metal track that's attached to the floor (about 15-inches long) had broken loose. The track piece only had one screw holding it down and it had failed. They've seen the same problem and fixed it before. As the slide was opened and closed, friction from the rubber seal caused the wall (between the slide and the cabinet) to move. They installed a piece of angle aluminum - at the base of the wall - on the inside of the wall. They pulled the carpet up to set the angle in place and then fastened the angle to the floor and wall. Pictures attached. It's been over a year since it was fixed, we've gone to Michigan & Texas, 9,000 miles, and no problems.

[SteveandTerri]

And thank you Keystone: they reimbursed me for the cost of the repair, a little over $300.