Slide gear pack - Montana Owners Club

psomers · 02-09-2020, 07:23 AM

Hopefully there is a photo enclosed. The pinion gear is about 1/2 engaged. Of more importance is the roller on right of gear is barely under giving little support. Notice exposed shaft to left of gear. Looks like pinion assembly needs to be centered with flat washers used as spacers.
Picture was taken with slide out.

Jeff n Susan · 02-09-2020, 08:09 AM

it certainly looks like an adjustment is in order

mlh · 02-09-2020, 08:21 AM

Is the rack on the other side like that one. If so can you move both gears at once and is the rack on straight, does it change and get closer to the center as you move the slide. It appears from what I can see it doesn’t.
That should be fixed. It certainly wasn’t designed that way.
Lynwood

BB_TX · 02-09-2020, 09:02 AM

I agree it needs to be fixed. There is too much play on the shaft holding the pinion gear (what Lippert calls the spur gear). Looks as though there should be some kind of spacers on the shaft to keep the spur gear centered under the gear rack. Fallen out due to wear or aging maybe? I don't see one that looks exactly like yours in the Lippert manual. But none of those shown have that much play on the shaft. I would send a picture to Lippert and ask what the solution is.

https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/...ice-Manual.pdf

prndl · 02-09-2020, 10:54 AM

You will have to remove the gear pack to add shims which were not there in the beginning.
Why not just order the correct heavy duty gear pack and replace them both. I just did mine and it was an easy job. Open the slide halfway, jack up under the gear rack enough to take the pressure off the gear pack, R&R the gear pack and you're done.

ChuckS · 02-09-2020, 11:04 AM

I was curious so I took a couple of pics of my hyd slide out gear packs for reference for you to compare. It looks like the metal washer/bushing is missing from left side of gear pack. I could be in error but worth further investigation for sure..

prndl · 02-09-2020, 11:13 AM

I don't know if this is the one for the OP's slide out but if you look you will not see any spacers. You will need to know the size of the beams in your slide out to order as well as the number of teeth for the gear. On my YM 2010 I had to order the additional gear and swap them out before installing.
https://www.amazon.com/Lippert-28133...EAKX8G8X9CJGNP

ChuckS · 02-09-2020, 11:30 AM

He would most likely be using the 2.5 x 2.5 heavy duty gear pack. The 2.5 standard duty won’t hold up

rohrmann · 02-09-2020, 02:58 PM

I would suggest just replace the gear pack, as it looks like it is worn too much, and even the gear appears to be worn on the one side it is contacting the rack. If the gear pack was in good shape, the rollers have bosses on either side of each roller that keeps the gear centered. The first photo is of the gear pack I had to replace due to broken teeth on the gear, and it was an original pack to our rig and the rollers are still just fine. The second photo is of a new gear pack with an 18 tooth gear on it with the 15 tooth gear in front. The gear packs only come new with 15 tooth gears and you have to order the 18 tooth gears separate and swap them out. You can see that the rollers have the same spacer molded on both sides to keep the gear centered. These are the links to the Lippert pages for the gear pack and the 18 tooth gear for the 2.5" slides.
https://store.lci1.com/25-x-25-stand...ts-324869.html

https://store.lci1.com/18-tooth-spur...pa-122739.html

psomers · 02-10-2020, 07:13 AM

First thanks to all. The left gear pack while not perfectly centered, is close enough. Will try today to see what it looks like with slide in. Have not determined if 3x2 2 1/2x2 1/2 or what size yet.

laverdur · 02-19-2020, 05:25 PM

This can happen if your slide is not centered in the opening. With the slide extended, measure from the side of the slide to the edge of the opening at the front and at the back. If the measurements are not about equal, and they are skewed in the same direction as the roller gear on the pinion, horizontal adjustment of the slide is in order. Lippert has instructions on their web site. I had to move mine a few years ago as it was off center by over an inch. To move it, I had the slide partially extended, loosened the bolts on both slide tubes that control horizontal adjustment. Then I pulled the wiper at the bottom loose so that it would not be damaged. Then I took a couple of pieces of wood and a pry bar. The wood protected the edge of the opening and the side of the slide. Then a good push to move it over. Keep moving it until the measurements at front and back are approximately equal. Regarding how much weight the roller is carrying, the replacement roller-gear assembly has different rollers that appear to be more substantial. How do I know all this, you might ask? As stated, my big slide was off center toward the front. Eventually, the slide started coming in crooked with the active end leading and the passive end lagging behind. This put the fascia on the inside of the slide dangerously close to the front of a cabinet door. Investigation revealed gears like in your picture. In addition, that drive shaft that goes from the active end to the passive end had split at the active end. The split allowed the driven end of the slide to move a lot before the slack in the damaged drive shaft was taken up. Also, due to excess drag, the drive gear had jumped a tooth. The other symptom was that when the slide was closed, the front did not pull in tight against the side of the coach. Solution: new roller-gear assemblies for both ends of the slide, repair of the drive shaft and horizontal adjustment. All is well now.

psomers · 02-20-2020, 07:40 AM

Thanks for your reply. My slide is almost perfectly centered. My picture is right gear pack. The left gear pack is centered almost perfectly. You can see in my photo a lot of shaft is exposed left of gear. According to LCI the 1/2” bolts should compress the gear pack to 3&3/4” measured outside to outside. Mine is 4&1/4”. Haven’t done it yet but that would push gear left to near centered. Will be returning home next month and will wait till then to adjust. In Florida now and not sure the out of adjustment wasn’t done to compensate for something.

prndl · 02-20-2020, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psomers

Thanks for your reply. My slide is almost perfectly centered. My picture is right gear pack. The left gear pack is centered almost perfectly. You can see in my photo a lot of shaft is exposed left of gear. According to LCI the 1/2” bolts should compress the gear pack to 3&3/4” measured outside to outside. Mine is 4&1/4”. Haven’t done it yet but that would push gear left to near centered. Will be returning home next month and will wait till then to adjust. In Florida now and not sure the out of adjustment wasn’t done to compensate for something.

After your comments about tightening the gear pack to achieve the minimum distance I looked again at your first picture. I believe that the gear pack you have installed now is the wrong size. The mounting flanges are not meant to be pulled in by the bolts to accommodate an improper installation. Like I said before, you need to measure your beams and install the correct gear pack for your rig. There are no shims/spacers/ used or required for a correct installation and no bending of the mounts is required either.

psomers · 02-21-2020, 10:45 AM

Gear pack has not been replaced. It is as it was went it left Keystone. LCI says 3&3/4” outside to outside. That is the measurement on other gear packs.
Thanks for your input though.

prndl · 02-21-2020, 04:39 PM

Actually according to LCI:
Gear Pack Replacement Instructions
In the event a gear pack needs to be replaced, follow these steps:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Run slide-out room half way out.
Place a jack under the inner arm of the slide-out.
Jack room up just enough to remove pressure off the gear pack.
Remove drive bolt from the cross shaft.
Remove bolts which hold the gear pack assembly in place on the outer rail.
Drop out the damaged gear pack.
Install the new gear pack.
Install bolts to hold gear pack assembly in place on the outer rail.
Install cross shaft and bolt.
Gear pack assembly does not need to be torqued down, only adequately and securely tightened.

Line 10 says adequately and securely tightened. I did not find any specifications for the distance you are measuring that was standard across all the different beam widths. The distance you are referring to would vary depending on the gear pack installed. i.e. 2X2, 2.5x 2.5 etc. No matter as you need new gear packs and I would suggest you measure first your beam size and then make the purchase. I have done this repair as my gear pack axle was bent and looked similar to yours. I, like others here are just trying to help you. It's your trailer as you see fit.

psomers · 03-12-2020, 08:47 AM

Back home from Florida. If some of my comments seemed unappreciative I apologize. Wouldn’t post here if I didn’t value the help.
My beams are 2.5x2.5 and gear is 18 tooth. I am ordering new gear pack. I am posting another picture and the gear has too much space to walk left and right. Hope new gear pack resolves.
Thanks for the help.

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