slideout destroys vinyl flooring

[tjblocker]

Last spring I purchased a 2022 3231CK Montana fiver. The day that I took delivery the living room slide out damaged the flooring via a BB sized pebble. This happened the very first time I operated the slideouts.



The dealer said that the damage was my fault and quoted me 1400 dollar to repair. I chose not to. The damage was about 2 inch squared.



Every since this we have carefully swept the floor before bringing in the slideouts. However, another area was damaged a couple months ago... still my fault per the dealer. We had swept but missed a pebble that was no larger than a BB.



Yesterday I had the unit serviced and the mechanic brought in the slideouts when he was finished with his work. But this time it left a V shaped tear in the vinyl that's about 6 inches long (3X3 inch V). They tried once again to blame it on me, but it was their mechanic that did it and not myself. The pebble was little larger than a BB.



They are starting to rethink their position and are saying that they think the slideout's adjustment is off. I think they are going to fix the floor for me this time, for it's hard to blame me when I wasn't even on the premises when it happened. Oh yea, they still tried but I wasn't having it.



I'm posting this to hopefully help someone else from being blindsided by this defect. I just learned today how to do the vertical adjustment on the slideout. If only we had done this a year ago... I am convinced that it just needs adjustment not to mention a new floor.



So if you're taking possession of a Montana fiver, be aware that the floors need to be carefully swept being careful to not miss a single pebble. There's also a product called slideout sleds that might be useful. Look up "slildeout sled" on Amazon. I am considering this.



I'd also like to hear from anyone else that's struggled with slideout damage to flooring.

[Foldbak]

Are you using these? The dealer made my buy them for just this reason.
https://www.amazon.com/AP-Products-0...a-582767707093

[Montana Man]

Our flooring got scratched but it was due to staples protruding from the rub bar. I layed a 2’x3’ piece of lexan plastic on the floor. It stays there all the time but is covered by a kitchen mat when parked. The plastic takes the abuse while providing extra clearance between the floor and slide.

[Daryles]

We sweep every time.
I made my own Slide out slickers and use them every time.
You can see where it rubs

Make your own Slide Slickers. Home depot, Lowe's, Menards. $2 each.
https://www.menards.com/main/floorin...4445975391.htm
Cut it in half, cut off the curved part. Now you have two 4"x24".
Put them under your bed rollers to prevent dent in the floor and/or
Place them at each end and in the middle of your living room/dining room slide on the floor.
Even if you do not now have issues with this I strongly recommend using these on any slides to prevent it from happening to you. It's just a matter of time. One staple, nail or piece of grit and it will damage your floor.
Always sweep or vacuum your floor before retracting the slide.

[tjblocker]

No, but I have thought about it. Thanks

[BiggarView]

Originally Posted by Daryles

We sweep every time.
I made my own Slide out slickers and use them every time.
You can see where it rubs

Make your own Slide Slickers. Home depot, Lowe's, Menards. $2 each.
https://www.menards.com/main/floorin...4445975391.htm
Cut it in half, cut off the curved part. Now you have two 4"x24".
Put them under your bed rollers to prevent dent in the floor and/or
Place them at each end and in the middle of your living room/dining room slide on the floor.
Even if you do not now have issues with this I strongly recommend using these on any slides to prevent it from happening to you. It's just a matter of time. One staple, nail or piece of grit and it will damage your floor.
Always sweep or vacuum your floor before retracting the slide.

X2, sweep then use these(price has gone up but still inexpensive solution).

[CWolff]

We had that problem. Went to rally and had it looked at by texts on grounds. Ended up having it fixed free by Keystone. Took time but so worth it.

[CWolff]

Originally Posted by tjblocker

No, but I have thought about it. Thanks

What are they?

[tjblocker]

https://www.amazon.com/AP-Products-0...%2C1791&sr=8-2

[tjblocker]

Update from OP
The service department discovered that the slideout floor is coming detached from the slideout causing the underside of the slideout to be pretty damaged in addition to tears in the vinyl floor. Keystone is paying for a new floor and repairs to the slideout floor.
The service manager says that the slideout sleds are a good idea, so I've ordered them.

[tjblocker]

OP update:
Here goes a frustrating update. Today the bedroom slideout tore the bedroom vinyl floor. It's a large V shaped tear that's about 35 inches total tear length. The slideout is sitting sideways in the bedroom elevation wise. The clearance from bed to floor at aft foot is about 1/2 inch and the clearance from bed to floor forward (closest to the closet) is torn where there is no clearance. It was not torn by rocks. It was torn by the edge of the bed where the slideout is in full contact with floor while bringing slideout in or out.
I suggest that anyone buying a Montana have a technician inspect the slideouts. Two of my three slideouts are mal-adjusted. I have three tears in living room and one huge tear in bedroom. keystone is covering the damage in the living room, and I've hopes they will do the bedroom as well.

I suggest that anyone buying a Montana should consider slideout sleds all around.

[Foldbak]

Question. Was the trailer level when you opened the bedroom? Was the bedroom side of the trailer on a downhill slope? It's a very common problem that if the bedroom side is on a downhill slope and you don't use blocks under the wheels to relieve frame twist before leveling your bedroom slide will bind causing all kinds of damage including torn flooring.

[tjblocker]

I'm afraid you might be on to something. The drivers side was about .5 inches lower than passenger side per the lippert leveling system. I remember checking the level just before bringing in the slides.

thanks

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by tjblocker

I'm afraid you might be on to something. The drivers side was about .5 inches lower than passenger side per the lippert leveling system. I remember checking the level just before bringing in the slides.

thanks

I went through a major Schwintec failure early on. They had to rebuild the entire bed frame and slide mechanism. The conclusion is, if the bedroom side is lower then the door side and you try to rely on the auto level the big bedroom hole in the side of the trailer get out of square. This is due to too much weight from the hanging axles causing the frame to bow. Putting block or legos under the wheels relieves this pressure.



What I do now is level left to right using blocks under the tires before using auto level. So far so good! It's a design flaw. Too big of a slide for a Schwintek! Check Zroom slide. This guy figured out a solution!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTH3kIByLYM

https://vroomslidesystems.com/