Problem with 06 3500

[Tom S.]

FYI:

I just returned from Alaska and ran into a problem with my trailer. Underneath the slideouts is a plastic runner to keep the wires, etc from hanging down when closing the slides. All of mine were cracked, with one broken completely. They cracked about an inch back from where they fasten to the outside edge of the slide. Replacing the piece would involve removing the wires to feed them out of the old piece and into the the new, and to top it off, I doubt the replacement would hold up any better. Since the trailer is out of warranty, I am fixing mine using pieces from an old heavy duty rubber mudflap. I cut pieces about 10 inches long and bolted it to the remaining piece, then bolted the rubber to the same spot the broken end was mounted to the slide.

[bsmeaton]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the Forum! Pretty good use of resources to get that fixed. It's actually a common problem unfortunately, and is affecting all brands that use those things.

I've already had to fix one of mine on our 2007. I used a steel hinge (like a door hinge) from Home Depot and bolted it onto the slide frame and then the plastic strip. Seems to be a good fix as well that is widespread through the MOC here.

[Tom S.]

Brad & Dory,

Thanks for the welcome! When I noticed the first one was broke, I fixed it by 'stretching it out and redrilling - then hoped it would hold until I got home (it did). At first I had also thought about using a door hinge, but since I had lost almost 3 inches, I didn't know if a hinge would be long enough to work. Then the idea of cutting up a mudflap came to me. It's a mudflap off a 18 wheeler, so its quite thick, but still flexible. If it doesn't work out, I'll be back to repost. The original design isn't bad, it's just not flexible enough.

I also had an issue with the rear axle being w-a-y out of alighment and ruined two tires. They both wore on the inside, as in only the first inch and a quarter of tread, but wore completely down to the cords. I was extremely fortunate to notice it before they blew out, but ended up changing tires at a rest stop in Montana. Since I only had one spare, I replaced one bad tire with it and rotated the other bad tire to the front axle and the front to the rear. Did I mention it was 106 while I was doing this? Then I very carefully drove 25 miles to the next town. The guy who religned the axle said it was the worst he'd ever seen. Another casualty was the spare tire winch. I'm still trying to fix that!

[bsmeaton]

Tom,

Sorry to hear about the axle issue. Of course it had to be 106 . It probably cooled off after you finished, eh?

[jrgwdenner]

Tom, welcome to the forum.

Be sure and check to see if your axle is bent. That has been a problem with some of the Montanas and it shows up in tire wear.

[Sunshine]

The wiring harness is broken under one of our big slides, and the other is cracked. Since we just got the unit in June, we are having them fixed under warranty (whenever the parts get in . If they are the same as the old parts we anticipate doing the fix ourselves next time. Thanks for the suggestions.

[rwlyman]

[quote]Originally posted by Tom S.
[I had all three of mine replaced under warranty at the 11 month time-frame. One of those broke in six months. I just drilled new holes at the separation point and it's been holding for four months, so far!