Hidden Slideout Wheels and Loud Squealing

[prndl]

I have a 2011 Montana 2955RL with lippert hydraulic slides.

I have a loud squealing noise when putting the LR slide in and out. I have replaced the gear packs and rollers and no change.

I understand that there are some wheels that are not seen and maybe inside the slideout beams. Or maybe located somewhere in the underbelly.

Anyone ever worked on these wheels or has an idea about getting some lube where ever it needs to be to stop the squealing.

Thanks

[Mikendebbie]

Prndl - I don’t know about a 2011 model, but the screen shots below are from “Home with the Hoopers Keystone Montana factory tour” YouTube video.

You can see the white rollers in openings that have Schwintek slides, but there are no rollers for the living room hydraulic slide. This is a 2020 model. I believe it has a wear bar. In the 2nd screen shot they are about to install curbside living room slide box and you can see the wear bar.

Hopefully someone here can advise you on what the squeal noise might be.

[prndl]

I still think there are wheels/rollers at the inboard end of the rails that extend and support the slide. There must be something to support the cantilever.

[rohrmann]

The manual for the slide out system does not recommend any lubrication. This is copied from the manual, https://support.lci1.com/documents/h...-owners-manual, on page #5:


The Lippert Through Frame Slide-out System has been static tested to over 4,000 continuous cycles without any noticeable wear to rotating or sliding parts. It is recommended that when operating in harsh environments (road salt, ice build up, etc.) the moving parts be kept clean. They can be washed with mild soap and water. No grease or lubrication is necessary and in some situations may be detrimental to the environment and long term dependability of the system.

I suspect the squeal heard is more likely coming from the hydraulic ram rather than from the slide hardware. There are plastic wear tabs everywhere that keeps from having metal to metal contact. I stopped lubing anything on the slides after having to replace one of the inner arms. Even lubing the gear and racks can cause the gear teeth to slip up away from the teeth on the rack, instead of maintaining solid contact.
This is a photo of the rear roller on the inner slide arm.

[prndl]

I know there had to be rollers in there somewhere.

Pg 12 of the Lippert Manual addresses squeaky rollers and how to lube them using dry silicone lube. I have done this to no avail.

[prndl]

OK found out how to do it. Looks so simple when there is no slide out room in the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJr1pQf1wg

[rohrmann]

Unfortunately, the Lippert video is worthless. They should have filmed an actual removal and re-install of an inner slide tube on a real rig. I was lucky that the tube I had to replace was the forward one on the large curb side slide and I only had to remove the fender and loosen the skirt to get the tube out and new back in. These are a few photos of what I had to work with. The last photo is the old 18 tooth tube with broken teeth, and the photos of the new tube are the 15 tooth tube which has larger teeth so should be much stronger.

[prndl]

That is not a job I would look forward to doing.

What were the symptoms that caused you to undertake this repair?

[rohrmann]

The slide would start moving weird when the broken tooth area of the slide tube got to the gear pack. Until I got the new tube, I would have to assist the slide to move while Becky was pushing the slide button. I decided to go with the 15 tooth slide tube because we had issues in the past with teeth breaking on the gear pack, and I'm sure because the teeth were too small to handle the weight of that large slide. I think it was in 2013 when they started using the 15 tooth gear packs, probably because they were having issues. I didn't replace the rear tube and gear because I had never had a problem with it. The slide moves in and out like when the trailer was new now, so we are happy.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by prndl

I still think there are wheels/rollers at the inboard end of the rails that extend and support the slide. There must be something to support the cantilever.

Since I've had the entire underside of my unit apart and have expected every single square inch of it I can tell you with absolute certainty there are rollers on the ends of the arms that are attached to the slide out itself.
When the slide out is extended the weight is pressing down on the rollers next to the gears and on the inboard and where that roller is is pressing up against the top of the tube that's welded to the camper frame.
If I'm not mistaken they are steel rollers and everything is welded together in there.
The bottom of the channel welded to the camper frame is open which will allow you to squirt some grease in or brush it in or however you want to do it. But you will have to remove the chloroplast or cut a series of holes in it and tape them back up.
With the slides all the way extended out you could try to shoot some kind of Grease back in there past the gears and rollers

[rohrmann]

That roller on the inboard end of the slide tube is plastic and uses plastic buttons to secure it and the buttons also act as wear tabs to prevent metal to metal contact on the inner end of the tube.

[beeje]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

That roller on the inboard end of the slide tube is plastic and uses plastic buttons to secure it and the buttons also act as wear tabs to prevent metal to metal contact on the inner end of the tube.

The roller that I put eyes on was definitely Steel.

[prndl]

My friend just told me that if I were to lube the TOP of the extendable rails the slide would operate without problems. He did this to his and all is well now.

I will try some dry lube on that tomorrow and report back.

[NCFischers]

This comes straight from Lippert. Spray dry silicone lube on the gear packs only. It quieted mine right down.

[rohrmann]

Originally Posted by beeje

The roller that I put eyes on was definitely Steel.

The rear roller is definitely plastic. https://store.lci1.com/rear-arm-roller-plastic-104474


And this is a list and pictures of the components of the slide mechanism,
https://support.lci1.com/documents/2...out-components