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Old 01-08-2022, 06:32 AM   #21
ChuckS
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If you loosen up the two carriage bolts on the bracket on that guide arm you may find that it has some preload against it which it should not have... this may allow the guide arm to align itself to the gear pack teeth and provide a more even side to side mesh of the gearpack..

I take my gear packs off about once every two years and clean them and lubricate the bronze bushings and look over the gearpack teeth and reinstall.. takes me about a hour to do one slide ( two gear packs ) and thats with a cup of java during the process...

Yes - the two carriage bolts you would loosen on that arm bracket are for side to side adjustment of the slide .. you are not going to be moving the slide side to side - just taking off the preload that I imagine you will find on that one gear pack to guide bar arm... this will also not affect the vertical height because you are not loosening that adjustment bolt and locknut

ONE other consideration that could also be causing the gear pack to guide bar teeth alignment mismatch is... inside the guide bar rod tube assy there are THREE wear tabs... if the wear tab is worn down on the one side it will allow that guide bar to shift over further and further because there is no wear tab OR very little...

These are also easy to change once you remove the guide bar from the frame mounted guide bracket.
 
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Old 01-08-2022, 11:43 AM   #22
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I just saw this late last night, so didn't post. You will need to get a jack under the end of the slide tube and lift it enough so you can slide the gear and rollers together before tightening the two gear pack bolts. I'm thinking you should have about a 1/4" of threads extending beyond the side of the nuts. That will help keep the gear in better alignment with the rack. Changing the gear pack is fairly easy, jack up the end of the slide tube until the gear is loose, then remove the small bolt from the drive shaft and then remove the two gear pack bolts. Installation is just the reverse. The gears on rigs from about 2013 and back used 18 tooth gears and all the newer ones use 15 tooth gears. When I replaced my slide tube that had a broken rack gear, I went back with a 15 tooth gear compatible slide tube.
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Old 01-09-2022, 09:09 PM   #23
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Can anyone think of a good reason the factory welded the slip joint on the tie bar that connects the two gear packs? It was actually just a tack weld, but caused me grief getting things apart. I ground the weld off and am now wondering if I should tack weld it again when everything is back in place. I see no reason for it.

I pulled one of the packs off yesterday and found that I could hardly turn the shaft; it took a hammer to get things apart. Now I'll be taking the other three out and servicing them. You're right Chuck, this is something that needs to be looked at every couple years. When I put this gear pack back together, I used some washers to keep the gear from moving off the track; photos to follow. I still can't account for why there is so much slop in it.

Thanks for everyone's help.
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Old 01-10-2022, 09:07 AM   #24
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Mine is also tack welded on one side, so it’s not just yours.
I wonder if there is enough “give” that the gear pack could be dropped enough to get it out without having to slide the tie bar in, or lower both gear packs at the same time?
Maybe they figure without the weld the joint may flex enough that eventually it gets sloppy, I don’t know how far the bars overlap?
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Old 01-10-2022, 01:06 PM   #25
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Quote:
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Mine is also tack welded on one side, so it’s not just yours.
I wonder if there is enough “give” that the gear pack could be dropped enough to get it out without having to slide the tie bar in, or lower both gear packs at the same time?
Maybe they figure without the weld the joint may flex enough that eventually it gets sloppy, I don’t know how far the bars overlap?

I was able to get the gear pack out with the bar in place, but there's more........ There are gussets welded to my frame that make it very difficult to pull the inside bolt on this gear pack; if it's not one thing, it's another. Anyway, I got it out and back in; pulling the bar and grinding the tack weld off made it easier. I could weld it back, but I think a better option (if anything is needed) would be to put a small bolt through the slip joint. There is a ton of overlap; didn't measure it, but at least 24".

I just wonder what the reasoning was for welding the slip joint.
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Old 01-12-2022, 01:51 PM   #26
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If they are all off in the same direction, it could be that the slideout is not centered horizontally in the opening. If that turns out to be the case, it is not too hard to center the slideout. Ask me how I know.
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Old 01-12-2022, 03:52 PM   #27
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Just one more thing I need to check after 11 yrs of owning my 3000RK. Good thing I watch these posts to keep up on things I should be doing. This is a great forum and lots of knowledge.
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Old 01-12-2022, 05:02 PM   #28
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Ok, I’m done with this project. The most important thing I learned (thanks Chuck) was that these gear packs need to be serviced periodically. All four of mine were tight; the end pieces with the bronze bushings took a small hammer to come off. After disassembly, cleaning, removing all the factory paint, and greasing they spin freely.

The second issue is the gear/track alignment; don’t get crazy over this. I think they were probably ok. Keep in mind these gears are not powered; they just keep the slide square as it moves. However, as long as I had them apart, I fixed it. I did this by installing a large washer on the outside of each white guide wheel. This eliminated the space where the gear could move on the shaft. With less space for the gear to move on the shaft, I had to be careful not to over tighten the bolts holding the gear pack to the frame mounts; that could have made it too tight for the guide wheels & gear to move. When I disassembled, I noticed the bolts were not very tight; they don’t have to be. I put them back with a little blue Locktite and made sure everything was free to move. When you are done, you should be able to put a box wrench on the head of each bolt and turn it with little resistance.

My slides work better than when it was new. The have always squeaked and groaned while in motion; not any more.

Now to address the original reason I climbed under here; installing the plastic slides to stop the Darco from wearing out.
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Old 01-12-2022, 05:09 PM   #29
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Just for clarification, photos of the gear pack off the frame and disassembled. This is an easy job. On the top photo, you will notice one of the bronze bushings came out of the end piece; this only happened on 1 of the 8 because it was so tight on the shaft. After clean up, it was easy to put back in.
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Old 01-14-2022, 07:51 AM   #30
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Very nice work and follow up of your work with pictures that others can easily use to address their slide out gear packs and determine a course of action...

I drop my gear packs once every two years and clean and lube... I also just made an initial measurement on how far out the upper guide rail track gear teeth measured to the outer end on each slide gear pack before dropping to have as a reference point for side to side synchronization of the packs if need be..

In eight years I've not had either of my large hyd slide outs not be in sync with the amount of travel of the upper guide bar...

I would also imagine one could make some measurements and order either some bronze washers to use as shim OR some UHMW washers of the correct ID/OD instead of metal as a shim... if one had the time to wait...

https://www.mcmaster.com/uhmw-polyethylene-washers/
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Old 01-14-2022, 08:57 AM   #31
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Scott, Thanks for the write up and pictures.
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Old 01-14-2022, 09:35 AM   #32
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Just a follow up on this post, Scott. We just had teeth break on our main slide and our dealer got us in the next day to a dealer in Albuquerque through the priority network. The outer tube that the inner ram tracks in can become crowned. That is the case on ours, which allowed the gear to skip teeth. Our dealer overnighted the parts and they installed the new gear, retimed, but said we needed a new inner tube with the rack. However, our dealer in Iowa provided a Lippert field repair, which entails putting a half washer between the two plastic wear tabs and the outer tube. The dealer would not do this and I got it back with the slide again going out crooked and trying to skip teeth. After consulting our service manager, I got 5/16” washers, cut a slot to make a horseshoe shape and slid one on each wear tab. Next, with two 9/16” wrenches, I dropped the gear pack (just took front bolt out and let it hang) after using my bottle jack to relieve the preload on the pinion gear. After the gear pack was dropped, we used the hydraulic ram to get the slide room square (timed between the two rack/pinions). I measured from side of camper to front lip of the slide room on each side. Once I had it square, I raised the gear pack into alignment and tightened everything back up. So far it is working good. Hard to believe that the thickness of a 5/16” washer could make that big of difference. Also, that a dealer would not follow a Lippert field service repair. It cost me about $70 dollars for the repair. I bought a small vice to hold the washer while I cut the slot, a Dremel style rotary grinder with cutoff wheel, a washer pack and a set of needle nose pliers at Harbor Freight. This is the procedure if you are jumping teeth.
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Old 01-14-2022, 10:00 AM   #33
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The repair for the skipping teeth link…

https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws...cd-0002436.pdf
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Old 01-14-2022, 12:33 PM   #34
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Thanks. Something to file away for future use.
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Old 01-15-2022, 07:13 AM   #35
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Just a follow up on this post, Scott. We just had teeth break on our main slide and our dealer got us in the next day to a dealer in Albuquerque through the priority network. The outer tube that the inner ram tracks in can become crowned. That is the case on ours, which allowed the gear to skip teeth. Our dealer overnighted the parts and they installed the new gear, retimed, but said we needed a new inner tube with the rack. However, our dealer in Iowa provided a Lippert field repair, which entails putting a half washer between the two plastic wear tabs and the outer tube. The dealer would not do this and I got it back with the slide again going out crooked and trying to skip teeth. After consulting our service manager, I got 5/16” washers, cut a slot to make a horseshoe shape and slid one on each wear tab. Next, with two 9/16” wrenches, I dropped the gear pack (just took front bolt out and let it hang) after using my bottle jack to relieve the preload on the pinion gear. After the gear pack was dropped, we used the hydraulic ram to get the slide room square (timed between the two rack/pinions). I measured from side of camper to front lip of the slide room on each side. Once I had it square, I raised the gear pack into alignment and tightened everything back up. So far it is working good. Hard to believe that the thickness of a 5/16” washer could make that big of difference. Also, that a dealer would not follow a Lippert field service repair. It cost me about $70 dollars for the repair. I bought a small vice to hold the washer while I cut the slot, a Dremel style rotary grinder with cutoff wheel, a washer pack and a set of needle nose pliers at Harbor Freight. This is the procedure if you are jumping teeth.
What keeps that cut washer from falling out?
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Old 01-15-2022, 07:46 AM   #36
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They are snug on the plastic wear tab and as the slide actuates it’s pushes tight against the outer sleeve.
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Old 05-17-2022, 03:59 PM   #37
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Not sure this is of any help, but I vaguely remember reading a post by Bob Rohrman about changing his gear packs. IIRC, there are 2 different gear packs with a different number of teeth depending upon which one you have. If you have to change the gear pack, make sure you get the right ones. I think I also remember something about being able to adjust the rod to align the gears better and make the slide run true.
The 18 tooth is for light duty and yhe 15 tooth gear is hdHD. Alignment is done by moving the slide halfway out. A jack and wood is need to take the weight off the gears. .the bolt sizes are 7/16.. ratchet and box end or drill with socket. Can't recall gear pack bolt size.
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