Quote:
Originally Posted by 182flyer
... Do you have any suggestions for weak links we need to watch out for. ... Jack Horn
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Woke up this morning and found one of our cables broken. We arrived at this campground yesterday, set up camp. All went well. So, I have no clue when the cable broke. It broke on the outside (bottom left) where that little metal tip hooks into the L bracket on the slide. It pulled right out. This is our 4th cable that's failed since we've had the camper.
I had my dealership fix the last cable as it was frayed into a bowl of spaghetti and I couldn't even untangle the mess. While there, I had them inspect, align, check and retention all my other slides (4 in all). All was good.
Then yesterday, one broke. Who would have known. Before leaving the house, I even reinspected each one for trension and they all seemed to be well adjusted. I suppose wear and tear just can't be seen.
To answer your question? No, there is really nothing you can actually "watch" for to prevent a cable failure. I know, I've been watching mine for over 3 years now, very carefully, and there is absolutely no indication a problem is going to happen. It just happens. Snap! Boing! Wham! and it's too late.
The best you can do is check them and make sure they are tensioned OK and not getting too much slack when in the relaxed position. Inspect them to make sure there are no frays starting. But, if a problem exists, (as in my case), you may never, ever see it until it ... just happens.
Just a short wile ago, I ordered a cable repair kit off Amazon. This cable is cleanly broken, no frays, so I can remove the old one easier. I've finally decided it's time to fix these things myself. So when we get back home (in 3 weeks), I'll fix the broken cable. If all goes well, I'll go ahead and order a couple more kits to carry in the camper. It seems, whenever I order extra parts for any camper I've ever had in the past, that part never failed again. Maybe I'll finally get lucky and never have another cable failure again. (one can only hope).